Banjo is a Utah-based surveillance software company that claimed to use AI[1] to identify events for public safety agencies. It was founded in 2010 by Damien Patton.[2] The company gained notoriety in 2020 when the State of Utah signed a $20 million contract for their "panopticon" software. In May, the company experienced backlash and suspending of contracts after Patton's membership in the Ku Klux Klan and participation in a drive-by terrorist attack on a synagogue was revealed.

In 2020, the company had approximately 200 employees in South Jordan, Utah, Park City, Utah, Washington D.C., and Menlo Park, California and had received approximately $126 million in funding.[3]

In 2021, an audit requested by the State of Utah that tried to assess algorithmic bias in the AI declared that "Banjo does not use techniques that meet the industry definition of artificial Intelligence".[1][4][5]

History

Social media application

After building a "friend-finding" app called Peer Compass for a Las Vegas hackathon in 2010 and then a Google hackathon in 2011 (the app won both events),[3][6] Damien Patton founded Banjo as a social media application for phones to aggregate and discover live events by scraping public, geotagged content from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Path, Google Plus, VKontakte and EyeEm, then indexed by location, time and content. In 2016, Banjo was gathering information from more than 1.2 billion public social media accounts.[7] Shortly after the Google event, BlueRun Ventures invested $800,000 in the company.[6] Techcrunch called it "the creepy/awesome cyber-stalking app" and stated it had 500,000 downloads by December 2011, when the company launched a web version.[8][9] The app had one million users by April 2012.[10]

After attending South by Southwest in 2011 and seeing other friend-finding apps like Glancee, Sonar, and Highlight, Patton told his investors in 2012 that he was pivoting to Banjo and fired all but one employee. Banjo's location-enabled social aggregation application launched in November 2012,[11][6] though it was still described in December 2012 as an app to find friends who are nearby.[12]

News application

After Patton realized Banjo's potential application to the Boston Marathon bombing manhunt, Banjo went from social media to brand marketing and to service news companies, launching in January 2014 and calling it Banjo Enterprise.[13][6][14] He also said the company quickly uncovered the 2014 Shooting of Michael Brown, and was alerted about the 2015 East Village gas explosion 58 minutes before the Associated Press reported it.[13]

The company's revenue in 2014 was under $1 million. In March 2014 the company completed a $16 million Series B round of financing from Balderton Capital with BlueRun Ventures investing again and VegasTechFund as a new investor. In May 2015 the company received their Series C financing when SoftBank invested $100 million into the company. At the time it had 60 employees on staff, including their chief data scientist Pedro Alves, a Mensa member. The company was based in Las Vegas. Patton said the company was looking into applications in the financial markets and had no intention on doing business with federal law enforcement agencies, stating "I don't think those agencies could fucking deal with someone like me".[15][16][6][17][18][19]

A profile of Patton in 2015 called him a "damn good driver" and gave an anecdote about their software uncovering a Florida State University shooting in 2014, explaining that is why NBC and ESPN were paying customers.[6][3] Other customers included Anheuser Busch, the BBC, and Sinclair Broadcasting.[20][3]

In 2016 Entrepreneur said the software was used by "thousands of news outlets, insurance firms, security contractors and more".[14]

Live Time Intelligence application

The company pivoted to their Live Time Intelligence application, used to highlight events on surveillance cameras for police and fire, in 2019. Social media is only used with any PII removed. Banjo suggests their service can be used for car crashes, school shootings, and fires.[21][22]

Banjo courted the state of Utah with its services, moving the company from Vegas to Park City, Utah in 2018 and signed a $750,000 contract in November 2018 with the attorney general's office. Park City signed a contract for free access to their services as part of a pilot program in February 2019, and the city reported about half of the city's private business surveillance cameras were feeding the system.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

In 2019 a lobbyist for the company told the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center that the company "essentially do what Palantir does, but they do it live."[29][3][30][25]

In 2020 the state of Utah signed a $20.7 million five-year contract with Banjo, leading to increased scrutiny. Vice said they were "Turning Utah Into a Surveillance Panopticon".[3][30][31][22][32] Senator Mike Lee, who said he's known Patton for several years, complimented Live Time and their commitment to privacy.[22][26] The Utah Attorney General's Office, Utah's Department of Public Safety, and University of Utah all signed contracts with the company, though the Utah Transit Authority demurred.[26][33]

Utah's Libertas Institute has expressed concern about Live Time, as has American Civil Liberties Union's Utah branch and the Electronic Freedom Foundation.[22]

In March 2020, VICE's Motherboard uncovered a "shadow company" named Pink Unicorn Labs that developed apps for iPhone and Android with no outward connection to Banjo. The apps were designed to harvest social media data and "secretly farming peoples' user tokens", with app names like "One Direction Fan App", "EDM Fan App", and "Formula Racing App." It led to comparisons to Cambridge Analytica.[34]

The Salt Lake Tribune discovered that Utah's Intermountain Healthcare had a $60,000 contract with Banjo, signed in April 2020. Intermountain would provide patient counts (room occupancy) and receive access to the LiveTime app.[35]

Goshen, Indiana's Police Department signed a $20,000 contract with Banjo in early March 2020.[36]

In April 2020, Matt Stroud of OneZero uncovered CEO Patton's involvement with the Nashville, Tennessee-based Dixie Knights chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. When Patton was 17 (June 1992), he drove Grand Knight Leonard William Armstrong during a drive-by shooting with a TEC-9 on the West End Synagogue. Police arrested Patton and confiscated an AK-47. He was then released to the custody of Christian music producer Jonathan David Brown. Patton then fled the state with the assistance of Brown.[3]

Patton confirmed his membership in the KKK and involvement with the white power skinheads, which he called "the foot soldiers for groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations". OneZero republished a picture printed in The Tennessean of Patton at an Aryan Nations meeting where he and other members are giving the Nazi salute.[3][37]

Patton served in the U.S. Navy and admitted to fraternizing with skinheads.[3] In a 2015 Inc. profile, he said he wanted to enlist after seeing the 1990 Gulf War on TV. He said he rose up the ranks on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, leaving after two tours, ending up in San Diego, California. He then became the chief mechanic on a NASCAR racecar sponsored by Lowe's after starting on a pit crew in 1993.

Contract suspensions

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes suspended the $20 million contract in late April 2020 after the KKK ties came out and would review its use.[38]

The University of Utah suspended its use, stating it has "no tolerance for racism or bias. The university expects this of itself and its business partners." In May 2020 the university terminated its $500,000 contract and demanded all data be returned.[22][38][39]

NAACP's Salt Lake Branch president stated they were "appalled" and it was "extremely alarming as to the data that he has acquired".[22][40][24] The Indiana contract was also suspended.[41][42]

On April 29, 2020, Banjo stated they would suspend all contracts in the state, though they did not mention Intermountain Healthcare.[43][40][44][35]

Rep. Andrew Stoddard stated the investigation into the company was "long overdue", and Rep. Cory Maloy also expressed concern.[45] On May 4, Utah's Attorney General Office asked Utah State Auditor John Dougall to review their contracts with Banjo, to look for algorithmic bias, and to ensure privacy.[46][47][48]

The AI Now Institute linked Banjo with Clearview AI, as both have far-right ties. While Banjo doesn't have explicit far-right algorithmic goals like Clearview does, it still raises concerns about algorithmic bias, even if unintentional. Other historic Silicon Valley links to far-right ideology mentioned include Jeffrey Epstein, William Shockley, and James Damore.[49]

Resignation

On May 8, 2020, Patton resigned from the board and as CEO of Banjo, removing all decisionmaking authority. Justin R. Lindsey, who has been CTO for less than a year, has been named CEO. Lindsey had been CTO of the FBI immediately after 9/11.[50][43][51][52]

Rebranding as safeXai

In February 2021, it was discovered that the company quietly renamed itself as safeXai. The name had been filed in September 2020; Patton remains a minority shareholder.[53][54][55]

References

  1. 1 2 "Government audit of AI with ties to white supremacy finds no AI". VentureBeat. 2021-04-05. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  2. ↑ Holmes, Aaron (May 11, 2020). "CEO of SoftBank-backed startup Banjo resigns after hidden neo-Nazi past surfaces". Business Insider. New York, New York. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stroud, Matt. "CEO of Surveillance Firm Banjo Once Helped KKK Leader Shoot Up a Synagogue". Medium. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. ↑ Richardson, Holly. "State Auditor announces the release of a review of Banjo, Inc. and its public safety application". utahpolicy.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  5. ↑ Iglesias, David R. (14 September 2023). "Life In the Surveillance State". realclearpolicy.com. Retrieved 15 September 2023. In 2020, Utah came dangerously close to implementing a public-private partnership between the attorney general's office and the private tech firm, Banjo.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bourne, Will (April 2015). "The Most Important Social Media Company You've Never Heard Of". Inc.com. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "How (and Where) Artificial Intelligence Is Making Its Mark in Media | HPE Newsroom". HPE Newsroom. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  8. ↑ "Half A Million Downloads Later, Social Discovery App Banjo Hits The Web – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Creepy/Awesome Banjo App Now Pings You When Your Friends Are Nearby – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "Social discovery service Banjo hits 1 million users in just 9 months". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  11. ↑ "Is Discovering People Nearby Still The Future? Banjo: No. Sonar: Partly. Highlight: Hell Yes". Fast Company. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "When Going Solo Is Not the Goal". nytimes.com. Retrieved 1 May 2020. Banjo, an app for iPhone, uses location technology to facilitate spontaneous meetups while you're on the go. Its creator, Damien Patton, came up with the idea after learning that while in an airport he missed connecting with a friend he hadn't seen in years. Both of them had posted their locations on social networks — but not the same ones. Banjo is designed to ensure that sort of thing doesn't happen; it combines all your social networks into a single stream of real-time updates.
  13. 1 2 "Why social media startup Banjo will strike a chord with marketers". Fortune. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  14. 1 2 Friedman, Lindsay (12 July 2016). "The Boston Bombings Inspired This Entrepreneur to Use His Application to Make a Difference in the World". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  15. ↑ Banjo. "Banjo Raises $16 Million In Series B Funding". Banjo. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  16. ↑ Etherington, Darrell. "Banjo Raises $16M To Grow Its Experiential Real-Time News And Events Platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  17. ↑ MacMillan, Douglas. "Banjo Raises $100 Million to Detect World Events in Real Time". WSJ. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  18. ↑ "Banjo raises $100 million, but the pressure comes from within". Fortune. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  19. ↑ Bradshaw, Tim (7 May 2015). "Banjo latest California start-up to attract big funding round". ft.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  20. ↑ "Banjo Puts News And Live Events Front And Center With Version 4.0 Of Its Mobile App – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  21. ↑ "Banjo". Banjo. Retrieved 1 May 2020. Is Banjo a social media company? NO. We operate a single service, Live Time, to deliver information to first responders. Today, publicly available social media is only used to verify an event after all personal identifiable information (PII) is removed. We were founded as a social media company dedicated to connecting users with their friends. Then, we became a news company. Today, we are neither and all apps/products from those two ventures have been discontinued and all associated data deleted.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Utah A.G. halts $21 million Banjo contract as founder's past ties with KKK unveiled". Deseret News. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  23. ↑ "Banjo suspends surveillance, data collection in Utah after reports of founder's past involvement in the KKK". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  24. 1 2 "Utah attorney general suspends state contract with Banjo in light of founder's KKK past". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  25. 1 2 "In Their Words: Damien Patton | Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development". Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  26. 1 2 3 "Utah company Banjo is building a massive surveillance system with the help of the state's attorney general". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  27. ↑ Brown, Bubba. "UPDATED: Banjo CEO Damien Patton under scrutiny after report details past involvement with KKK". Park Record | UPDATED: Banjo CEO Damien Patton under scrutiny after report details past involvement with KKK. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "CEO of surveillance firm hired by Utah is former KKK". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  29. ↑ "OPERATIONS BOARD MEETING" (PDF). vecc9-1-1.com. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  30. 1 2 Koebler, Jason; Maiberg, Emanuel; Cox, Joseph (4 March 2020). "This Small Company Is Turning Utah Into a Surveillance Panopticon". Vice. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  31. ↑ "State of Utah contract with Banjo" (PDF). utah-das-contract-searchsp.s3.amazonaws.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  32. ↑ "Lawmakers criticize Utah's planned next-generation surveillance program as 'North Korea-esque' and 'Big Brother'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  33. ↑ "Banjo AI surveillance is already monitoring traffic cams across Utah". Engadget. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  34. ↑ "Surveillance Firm Banjo Used a Secret Company and Fake Apps to Scrape Social Media - VICE". vice. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  35. 1 2 Larsen, Leia. "Banjo had a contract to collect coronavirus data from Intermountain Healthcare". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  36. ↑ "Goshen, Ind., Police Get OK to Use Intel-Sharing Platform". govtech.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  37. ↑ Williams, Phil (23 August 1992). "Will still use farm for white causes- owner". The Tennessean.
  38. 1 2 "Utah Attorney General's Office Statement On Reports On Banjo Founder". Utah Attorney General. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  39. ↑ "University of Utah terminates its contract with Banjo". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  40. 1 2 "Banjo suspends state surveillance contracts after report details founder's white supremacist past – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  41. ↑ Gershgorn, Dave. "Banjo Suspends All Operations in Utah Following OneZero Investigation". Medium. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  42. ↑ "Utah pauses Banjo's AI surveillance after learning of owner's racist past". Engadget. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  43. 1 2 "Banjo Blog". Banjo. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020. (5/8/20) Banjo, Inc announced today that the company's current CEO and founder, Damien Patton has resigned and that the company will be transitioning to a new, reconstituted leadership team effectively immediately. Banjo's new CEO will be Justin R. Lindsey, the current CTO of the company. "I'm deeply honored to have worked alongside the Banjo team and am proud of all we have accomplished thus far," Patton said. "I am confident Banjo's greatest days are still ahead, and will do everything in my power to ensure our mission succeeds. However, under the current circumstances, I believe Banjo's best path forward is under different leadership." "Nine months ago I was inspired by Banjo's mission to join the company full time as the CTO," Lindsey said. "As CEO, I'm looking forward to continuing Banjo's dedication to technology solutions that protect privacy." (4/29/20) Following yesterday's announcement by the Utah Attorney General's Office, Banjo has decided to suspend all Utah contracts by not ingesting any government data or providing any services to government entities until an independent third party audit has been contracted and completed. Banjo believes that any company working with the government should be subject to audits and oversight.
  44. ↑ "Banjo pauses Utah contracts as AG Reyes launches audit for racial/religious bias following revelations of founder's white supremacist background". Deseret News. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  45. ↑ "The IUP Panel on Banjo, virtual conventions and reopening businesses". ABC 4. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  46. ↑ "Government contracts with Banjo could be on pause for months as state conducts audit". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  47. ↑ "Utah State Auditor to look into Banjo's data privacy and other issues". KSTU. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  48. ↑ "State auditor will tackle scan for 'algorithmic bias' following revelations of Banjo CEO's past ties with Ku Klux Klan". Deseret News. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  49. ↑ Sarah Myers West (4 May 2020). "AI and the Far Right: A History We Can't Ignore". AI Now Institute. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  50. ↑ "Banjo CEO resigns to preserve the company's AI surveillance deals". Engadget. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  51. ↑ "Banjo CEO steps down as fallout from revelations of past ties to KKK continues". Deseret News. Retrieved 11 May 2020. When asked about what structural changes might be in store to ensure Patton's functional disconnection from the company, a Banjo spokesman described the former CEO's status as one in which he "is not an employee, no longer on the board and has no operating capacity on the company."
  52. ↑ "Banjo CEO steps down after news of past KKK membership". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  53. ↑ "The Cybersecurity 202: Biden will sign an executive order to fuel the U.S. semiconductor industry". Washington Post. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021. Banjo rebranded as safeXai after its then-CEO, Damien Patton, was identified as having links to the Ku Klux Klan and the company's future appeared to be in peril
  54. ↑ Stroud, Matt (12 February 2021). "Banjo Quietly Rebranded Itself Following Report on Former CEO's KKK Past". Medium. Retrieved 16 February 2021. But new evidence suggests that in the months following OneZero's report, Banjo quietly rebranded as safeXai. Patton is still a minority shareholder in the company and an inventor of each of its patents.
  55. ↑ "In the wake of Banjo controversy, state auditor calls on governments to limit partnerships with software vendors who collect private and sensitive data". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021. Justin Lindsey, who stepped in to take Patton's place as CEO, is now listed at the CEO of safeXai, a Utah-based software company that "uses advanced signal processing and artificial intelligence to make the world a safer place," according to LinkedIn.
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