AI Powers Surveillance at Home and at War

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Surveillance: The New Name of the Game

As the war in Iran continues, AI companies like Anthropic are coming under scrutiny for their technological support of U.S. military efforts in the Middle East. The evolving relationship between AI companies and the United States military has become a point of tension for the public and government officials. Two investigations by Pulitzer Center AI Accountability Network Fellows dig deeper into surveillance in international and local contexts.

For The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Niamh McIntyre, Edwin Okoth, and Cam Wilson explore the secretive world of gig work in Africa, often outsourced by large companies based in wealthy countries. Their investigation focuses on the company Appen, its elusive, often large military contracts, and the gig workers who produce the data needed to fulfill them.

Companies like Appen often rely on gig workers from countries lacking sufficient datasets in local languages. Countries like the United States rely on these datasets to fuel surveillance missions. Gig workers participating in transcription projects are often unaware of who benefits from these projects and what they support. Often, they are fleeing challenging situations in their home country, leading them to take this work as refugees or during asylum processes. 

Surveillance is the new name of the game for militaries around the world, and the AI systems that power them are often built on the labor of those who suffer most at the hands of U.S. occupation abroad.

The ethical questions around surveillance and how it’s used and obtained are not just questions for federal governments, but also a conversation happening on a smaller scale in states like Texas. For the Texas Observer, Francesca D'Annunzio writes about the controversial, widespread use of phone-tracking software in investigations by local sheriff departments and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Whether surveillance software benefits these investigations remains up for debate in the state, but its use comes with a hefty price tag.

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This message appeared in the March 13, 2026, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.