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Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff has indicated that the company's controversial Search Party feature might not always be just for lost dogs, according to emails obtained by 404 Media. A creepy surveillance tool being used to surveil. Who could have predicted that? "I believe that the foundation we created with Search Party, first for finding dogs, will end up becoming one of the most important pieces of tech and innovation to truly unlock the impact of our mission," Siminoff wrote in an email to staffers. "You can now see a future where we are able to zero out crime in neighborhoods. So many things to do to get there but for the first time ever we have the chance to fully complete what we started." The Ring<->Flock partnership is even worse than imagined, it was setup to be a AI powered mass surveillance system from the start. See this email from the Ring Founder, Jamie Siminoff (https://t.co/kLbZdR6Is1) pic.twitter.com/W9TFQpriRh Maricopa County Libertarian Party (@LPMaricopa) February 18, 2026 The words "zero out crime in neighborhoods" are particularly troubling. It is, however, worth noting that this is just an email and doesn't necessarily indicate a plan by the company. Siminoff wrote the email back in October when Search Party first launched, which was months before the public backlash started. He did end the thread by noting he couldn't "wait to show everyone else all the exciting things we are building over the years to come." One of those things could be the recently-launched "Familiar Faces" tool, which uses facial recognition to identify people that wander into the frame of a Ring camera. It seems to me that a combination of the Search Party tech, which uses the combined might of connected Ring cameras, with the Familiar Faces tech could make for a very powerful surveillance tool that excels at finding specific individuals. Siminoff also suggested in an earlier email to staffers that Ring technology could have been used to catch Charlie Kirk's killer by leveraging the company's Community Requests feature. This is a tool that allows cops to ask camera owners for footage, thanks to a partnership with the police tech company Axon. Here's that Ring #SuperBowl commercial: pic.twitter.com/1gAxIJATdz philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 9, 2026 Ring had planned an expansion of this program via a partnership with a surveillance company called Flock Safety. The companies canceled this partnership after a Super Bowl ad spotlighting the Search Party tool triggered public outcry. Ring didn't cite public sentiment for this decision, rather saying the integration would require "significantly more time and resources than anticipated." Ring has responded to 404 Media's reporting, saying in an email that Search Party "does not process human biometrics or track people" and that "sharing has always been the camera owner's choice." This response did not provide any information as to what the future will hold for the company's toolset. The organization has been friendly with law enforcement since inception. "Our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods has been at the core of everything we do at Ring," founding chief Jamie Siminoff said when Amazon bought the company for $839 million back in 2018. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ring-could-be-planning-to-expand-search-party-feature-beyond-dogs-175805706.html?src=rss
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YouTube's "Ask" button is making its way to the living room. The Gemini-powered feature is now rolling out as an experiment on smart TVs, gaming consoles and streaming devices. 9to5Google first spotted a Google support page announcing the change.Like on mobile devices and desktop, the feature is essentially a Gemini chatbot trained on each video's content. Selecting that "Ask" button will bring up a series of canned prompts related to the content. Alternatively, you can use your microphone to ask questions about it in your own words.The "Ask about this video" feature on desktopYouTubeGoogle says your TV remote's microphone button (if it has one) will also activate the Ask feature. The company listed sample questions in its announcement, such as "what ingredients are they using for this recipe?" and "what's the story behind this song's lyrics?"The conversational AI tool is only launching for "a small group of users" at first. Google promises that it will "keep everyone up to speed on any future expansions."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/youtube-is-bringing-the-gemini-powered-ask-button-to-tvs-173900295.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Rivian suggests that vehicle owners can leave their phone at home (or perhaps in a glove box) and instead control some aspects of their EV using a new Apple Watch app. With a tap of your watch, you can unlock and lock the doors, sound the alarm and vent the windows. After the digital key is set up, R1S and R1T Gen 2 owners can unlock their vehicle automatically simply by walking up to it thanks to the passive car key feature.It's possible to set the cabin temperature and a target state of charge by turning the digital crown on an Apple Watch. You also can choose four quick controls to put front and center in the app and add a battery status indicator to your watch face if you so wish. Rivian says it will update its Apple Watch app with new features in the future.Rivian first enabled digital car key support on Apple, Google Pixel and Samsung devices back in December. Apple started supporting digital car keys on iPhone and Apple Watch in 2020 and a boatload of automakers have adopted the tech. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivian-rolls-out-an-apple-watch-app-with-vehicle-controls-and-digital-key-support-172642545.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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