Ex-UK police officer raises funds for new AI tools for police

In short: A former senior UK police officer has raised venture funding for a new company, 22one, that plans to sell AI tools to police forces.

What happened

Steven Richardson, a former detective chief superintendent at Merseyside Police, has founded a UK start-up called 22one. People familiar with the matter said the company has raised money at a valuation of almost $400 million.

The investors reportedly include Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Creandum. UK corporate filings show the company was incorporated last December. 22one is in “stealth mode”, meaning it is not publicly describing its product yet, and it only has a simple website that says “investigate”.

People familiar with the venture said 22one will focus on AI tools for law enforcement that aim to improve efficiency. AI, short for artificial intelligence, is software that can help with tasks like sorting information and drafting text, like an assistant that can read very fast.

Richardson previously worked at Amazon Web Services as UK policing lead and at Palantir. He also co-founded and sold Riven, an AI tool for scanning data and redacting documents, which means hiding sensitive parts of a file before sharing it.

Why it matters

UK police forces are under pressure to speed up investigations and reduce paperwork, and the government has been pushing wider AI use, including through a new body called PoliceAI. But police use of AI is also controversial, because mistakes or misuse could affect real cases, including what evidence is shown in court.

Source: Financial Times