NYPD suspends planned $750,000 no-bid contract with Israeli surveillance firm, reopening bidding after backlash over AI tracking

The New York Police Department has suspended plans for a $750,000 no-bid contract with Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte and is restarting procurement to accept competitive proposals, the New York Daily News reported. The department confirmed the restart on Tuesday, after Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to address growing outrage over the city’s plan to acquire AI surveillance technology.

The proposed contract would have equipped police vehicles with Cognyte’s “FalcoNet,” an AI-driven mobile cell-site simulator that acts as a fake cell tower to intercept nearby mobile-device signals and track targeted individuals.