Clearview AI founder linked to Trump world and Far-Right, NYPD denies facial recognition firm's boast that it helped catch terrorist suspect

Hoan Ton-That, founder of facial recognition tech firm Clearview AI, previously connected to Trump world figures and online hate extremists, reports Buzzfeed News

Chuck Johnson, Mike Cernovich, and Rudy Giuliani are among the linked figures named in Buzzfeed report

NYPD disputes facial recognition firm Clearview AI's claim that it identified a terrorism suspect

Clearview AI is reported to have built a database of billions of photos that it says can reveal pretty much anyone's identity.

Twitter just told them to stop scraping photos, lawmakers are concerned about the implications, and now Buzzfeed News raises troubling questions about the company's past.

From the Buzzfeed report by by Ryan Mac, Caroline Haskins, and Logan McDonald:

Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that says its amassed a database of billions of photos, has a fantastic selling point it offers up to police departments nationwide: It cracked a case of alleged terrorism in a New York City subway station last August in a matter of seconds. How a Terrorism Suspect Was Instantly Identified With Clearview, read the subject line of a November email sent to law enforcement agencies across all 50 states through a crime alert service, suggesting its technology was integral to the arrest.

Its a compelling pitch that has helped rocket Clearview to partnerships with police departments across the country. But theres just one problem: The New York Police Department said that Clearview played no role in the case.

That's the first question. The NYPD says they're full of shit. Read the rest