TechCrunch has announced that Flock Safety's founder and chief executive, Garrett Langley, will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 about artificial intelligence, surveillance and the future of public safety. The session is notable given Flock's position at the centre of an intensifying debate between privacy advocates and proponents of AI-driven public safety technology, having attracted both major investment and significant public backlash.

Atlanta-based Flock Safety, co-founded by Langley in 2017 alongside Matt Feury and Paige Todd, is best known for licence-plate recognition cameras but has expanded into broader surveillance tools and drone first-responder technology following its acquisition of Aerodome. The company raised $275 million last year at a $7.5 billion valuation, up from $4.8 billion previously, bringing total funding to $950 million, but has faced criticism from groups such as the ACLU over its work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including camera vandalism by opponents, and recently lost partnerships with Amazon's Ring and the LAPD. Disrupt 2026 takes place from 13 to 15 October at San Francisco's Moscone Center.