Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch. Terms and more at applecard.com. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Ring's Super Bowl ad showcasing AI to help find lost pets has put a new spotlight on the expanding role of artificial intelligence in home security. And it's raising fresh questions about surveillance.
Joining us now is Jamie Siminoff, founder and chief inventor of Ring. Jamie, it's safe to say these cameras have become ubiquitous. I saw in weapons, you know, they were highlighted as a way to investigate the disappearance of children. That was a fictional movie. But clearly, clearly, law enforcement is hoping to use these cameras more and more.
How do you where do you draw a line between, you know, helping people find lost pets or people and trying to limit the surveillance of U.S. citizens?
I mean, the line for us is simple. And it always has been that you control your video. And if you want to share it with law enforcement, if you want to share it with a neighbor, you can do that. But you always control your video. In the case of Search Party for Dogs, we just tell you, hey, this dog looks like this dog in front of your house. Do you want to contact your neighbor?
If you say no, you're 100% anonymous. If you say yes, then you talk to your neighbor just like you did when you found their dog in front of your house years ago and called the number on the tag.
I do want to just ask you, because there's this big question of surveillance and the usage of it. You had told Fortune, talking about the missing case of Nancy Guthrie, basically saying that there were more cameras in the house, you might have been solved. And Jamie, you faced a little bit of backlash online for those comments.
So I would love to just give you the opportunity just to explain your thinking there and clear up any misunderstandings.
I mean, if you actually saw the quote, it's not that. But what I did say and what I do is I wake up every morning with a mission and knowing that the business that we're in has been extremely impactful and we see it. The video evidence that so far that they have in the Nancy Guthrie case, I think everyone would agree is some of the most impactful evidence in the case.
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Chapter 2: What role does AI play in home security according to Jamie Siminoff?
I'm sure it's something you think about often, Jamie. So what kind of work do you do to counter that kind of cyber attack?
Yeah, I think cyber and security is a living, breathing thing. You have to just continue. I mean, you have to continue to invest in it. You have to have people always looking at it. It's always changing and evolving. I think we're best in class in it. Also, we offer, I believe we're one of the only companies in the world that offers in this space end-to-end encryption as an option.
So we really do focus on security. We focus on trust. We need, we call our customers neighbors. We need our neighbors to trust us or else obviously they're not going to want to have our products. And then I can't achieve my mission of making neighborhoods safer.
And Jamie, just on this point, bringing it back to AI too, because AI is advancing so rapidly. There was this story, for example, of a Chinese home vacuum robot brand that someone used Claude to hack into and accidentally hacked all 7,000 of those robot vacuums in the world. AI is getting really advanced, but it's also exposing some security flaws.
What do you and the team need to do at Ring to make sure you're keeping up with the technology, not just mistakes like that, but bad actors who are increasingly able to use AI?
I mean, there's always been security threats. And the security threats, I'd say, what's good is that as AI gets better, it means that your counter security, your countering these kind of things is also getting better. And so it's just a cat and mouse game that we've always had from the beginning of the company. I believe we're best in class at it, but it is something you have to stay focused on.
I mean, security for every company in the world, you've got to stay on your toes, but you always had to. AI is just the new thing that's happening today, and then you also help use this technology to also do the countermeasures.
I want to ask about manufacturing because President Trump is trying to bring manufacturing back to the shores and Ring Camera obviously is a booming business that uses a lot of hardware. I would imagine for the most part manufactured in Asia.
How do you, when you talk to the administration or when you talk to government leaders, impress upon them the fact that we just can't in this country really compete in terms of price on manufacturing this kind of hardware?
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Chapter 3: How does Ring balance pet recovery and surveillance concerns?
When you're a founder and you've faced bankruptcy many times and trying to raise money and things changing that are completely out of your control, I think he just hardens you a little bit. I have a pretty thick skin. We just have to keep our heads down. I tell the team, all we can do is control our inputs.
Just keep inventing great products, making neighborhoods safer, and we'll get rewarded for doing that. And we just got to hope that the world continues to go in a positive direction, which so far it has.
So I'm not thinking about the hardware that goes into it, Jamie. I'm thinking about the coding and the software and the technology within it. What does your talent pool look like? Are you still expanding when it comes to hiring engineers?
Chapter 4: What measures does Ring take to ensure video privacy for users?
Or are you looking at technology that's making your employees more efficient and maybe means you need less of them?
I mean, certainly we are embracing AI. I am pushing every team member here to be AI first, think in AI. We are seeing great efficiencies from that. We're also growing really fast, though. So it's hard to tell. We are still, I'd say, a net grower. And so we are still growing. Our features are coming out faster, though, now. Our product cycle times are growing.
definitely been reduced by almost triple digit percentage. I mean, it's incredible how efficient we are now getting with AI and what it's doing. That said, we're also still growing. We have lots of ideas and business to build. So on the bigger picture, I don't know where that goes, but I do know for Ring, we're still growing and still building.
And Jamie, can I just say, it's always very cool when a founder stays with a company through this era of big growth, too. So really fantastic insight as both the head of Ring and an inventor himself, Jamie Simenov of Ring. Thanks for joining us.
Hello, I'm Stephen Carroll. I'm in Brussels, where many of Europe's biggest decisions get made.
And I'm Caroline Hepke in London. We're the hosts of the Bloomberg Daybreak Europe podcast.
We're up early every weekday, keeping an eye on what's happening across Europe and around the world.
We do it early so the news is fresh, not recycled, and so you know what actually matters as the day gets going.
From Brussels, I'm following the politics, policy and the people shaping the European Union right now.
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