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ICE gives Clearview AI a $7.7M no-bid face-recognition contract
On September 5, 2025, ICE signed a facial-recognition purchase order with Clearview AI after giving notice it would award the work without competition. Procurement records updated September 1, 2026 show $7,687,500 obligated against a $9,225,000 ceiling.
What happened
On August 11, 2025, ICE gave notice that it would award Clearview AI a facial-recognition contract without competition under FAR 6.302-1. It cited the company’s “unique proprietary capabilities.” On September 5, 2025, ICE signed purchase order 70CMSD25P00000111 with Clearview for facial-recognition software.
ICE obligated $3.75 million at signing against a $9,225,000 ceiling over a base year and three option years. The software is for use by Homeland Security Investigations to identify “victims and offenders in child sexual exploitation cases and assaults against law enforcement officers.“
Procurement records updated September 1, 2026 show $7,687,500 obligated and performance through September 4, 2027. Clearview markets a database of more than 50 billion scraped images. Peter Thiel was an early Clearview investor. The $7,687,500 figure is the amount obligated, not the ceiling.
Who benefited
Clearview AI has $7,687,500 obligated on one ICE order with a $9,225,000 ceiling. Homeland Security Investigations gets the facial-recognition software. Peter Thiel was an early Clearview investor.
Who wanted something
Clearview AI had a no-bid award on the table from August 11, 2025. ICE cited its “unique proprietary capabilities” and said the work would go to it without competition. Homeland Security Investigations wanted the tool to identify victims and offenders in child sexual exploitation cases and assaults against law enforcement officers.
Who lost out
Competing vendors had no chance to bid, because ICE awarded the work without competition under FAR 6.302-1. The public money obligated to date is $7,687,500, spent on software built on a database of more than 50 billion scraped images.
Why it matters
ICE bought access to a database of more than 50 billion scraped images without competition, citing the vendor’s own “unique proprietary capabilities.“ The obligation grew from $3.75 million at signing to $7,687,500 by September 2026. The amount is public contract money, not a payment to the Trump family.
Sources USAspending.gov (primary)Biometric Update404 MediaBiometric Update