Subvolts take Ring's chief inventor sees AI drastically cutting crime, raising privacy questions. Nov 17, 2025 - Business
- Learn how a major consumer hardware company is integrating AI for ambitious public safety goals and the associated market implications.
- Everyday users
- Understand Ring's vision for AI in crime reduction, its potential benefits, and the privacy implications of increased surveillance in your neighborhood.
Features the leader of a major consumer hardware company discussing ambitious AI applications for public safety.
Ring's Jamie Siminoff thinks AI can reduce crime
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Decoder with Nilay Patel features Jamie Siminoff, Ring's chief inventor, discussing his vision for AI to significantly reduce neighborhood crime. Siminoff believes Ring's technology could nearly eliminate crime in some areas within two years. The conversation also touches on privacy concerns and the expansion of surveillance technologies.
Ring's founder believes AI can help cameras and other devices nearly stop crime in neighborhoods. He thinks this could happen quickly, but it also means more surveillance, which worries some people.
This episode offers insight into how a major consumer hardware company views AI's role in public safety. It's for consumers interested in smart home security and anyone concerned about the balance between safety and privacy. Siminoff's ambitious claims connect to ongoing discussions about AI's societal impact, particularly how frontier labs' advancements in AI could be applied to real-world surveillance and crime prevention, raising questions about ethical deployment.
- HostNilay Patel
- GuestJamie Siminoffchief inventor, Ring
- Guest: Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor of Ring
- Show: Decoder with Nilay Patel
- Length: 70 minutes
- Claim: Ring could 'almost zero out crime' in some neighborhoods within a year or two.
Jamie Simonoff, founder of Ring, won't let me call him the CEO. He says his title is and always has been 'chief inventor.' His mission with Ring is to make the world safer, and he has a pretty expansive view of what that means. He told The Verge last month he thought Ring could 'almost zero out crime' in some neighborhoods within a year or two.
That's a big promise — and also potentially a very troubling one, as we face the erosion of privacy and a surveillance panopticon that only ever seems to expand.
Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.
Links:
- Ring CEO: Cameras can almost ‘zero out crime’ within 12 months | The Verge
- Ring plans to scan everyone’s face at the door | The Washington Post
- Ring’s Search Party is on by default; should you opt out? | The Verge
- Ring now works with video surveillance company Flock | The Verge
- US spy agencies getting a one-stop shop to buy personal data | The Intercept
- Do Video Doorbells Really Prevent Crime? | Scientific American
- Ding Dong: How Ring went from Shark Tank Reject to Everyone’s Front Door | Amazon
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Questions people ask
- What is Ring's goal with AI?
- Ring's chief inventor, Jamie Siminoff, aims to use AI to significantly reduce crime, potentially 'almost zeroing out crime' in some neighborhoods within a year or two.
- What are the concerns about Ring's AI plans?
- The episode touches on potential privacy erosion and the expansion of surveillance panopticons as Ring integrates more AI and surveillance technologies.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to The Verge.