--- title: "Billionaire Drools That “Citizens Will Be on Their Best Behavior” Under Constant AI Surveillance" description: "Larry Ellison, cofounder of the software giant Oracle, believes that an age of surveillance supercharged by AI will soon be upon us." date: "2024-09-16" modified: "2024-09-16" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-constant-ai-surveillance" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "generative ai" - "government surveillance" - "larry ellison" - "the digest" --- # Billionaire Drools That “Citizens Will Be on Their Best Behavior” Under Constant AI Surveillance ![Larry Ellison, cofounder of the software giant Oracle, believes that an age of surveillance supercharged by AI will soon be upon us.]() *23 May 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Various surveillance cameras in front of the Munich Football Arena (Allianz Arena). On June 14, 2024, the opening match of the European Football Championship will take place in the arena. The European Football Championship takes place from June 14 to July 14. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images\* ## Say Cheese! If it were up to Larry Ellison, the exorbitantly rich cofounder of software outfit Oracle, all of us will soon be smiling for the camera — constantly. Not for a cheery photograph, but to appease our super-invasive, if not totally omnipresent, algorithmic overseers. As [*Business Insider* reports](), the tech centibillionaire glibly predicts that the wonders of AI will bring about a new paradigm of supercharged surveillance, guaranteeing that the proles — excuse us, "citizens" — all behave and stay in line. "We're going to have supervision," Ellison said this week at an Oracle financial analysts meeting, per *BI*. "Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there's a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person." "Citizens will be on their best behavior," he added, "because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that's going on." ## Cop Out Of course, many of these surveillance apparatuses — security cameras, bodycams — are already in place. The novel dystopian development would be that AIs would be deployed to monitor these feeds constantly — which [already happens]() to some extent in experimental forms, but not as pervasively as Ellison envisions — so those poor, outnumbered Feds at intelligence agencies everywhere have a little backup. Hell, it might even give patrol cops a run for their money, according to Ellison. Why have them engage in a risky car chase, for example, when you can get an AI drone to tail a suspect instead? "You just have a drone follow the car," Ellison said, per *BI*. "It's very simple in the age of autonomous drones." ## Ivory Power This is all very rich coming from a guy who's, well, *very* rich. Depending on whose estimate you go by, Ellison's [net worth]() is north of $200 billion, making him the second wealthiest person in the world behind Elon Musk (another tech bigwig who, it's worth mentioning, is [currently profiting]() off [government surveillance]()). Under Ellison's stewardship, Oracle has been attempting to position itself as another leader in the AI race, and has [quickly integrated the tech into its cloud computing services](). It's not a stretch to say that the Austin-based corporation will want to be part of that royal "we" Ellison is so fond of using that will oversee the "citizens." Here's something worth noting, though: in 2022, Oracle was sued for running a "[worldwide surveillance machine]()" which was facilitated by allegedly collecting billions of people's personal information and pawning it off to third parties. It settled the case in July, [agreeing to pay $115 million](). Make of that what you will. **More on AI surveillance:** *[Project 2025's AI Policies Are a Baffling Stew of Grievance and Contradictions]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()