The majority of Axon's AI ethics board have resigned after the company announced that it's developing taser-equipped drones. In response to yet another shooting in a US school, Axon founder and CEO Rick Smith began thinking about how the company could help put a stop to the all too regular occurrence. The shooting kicked off the usual debate over whether stricter gun laws are needed. Unfortunately, we all know nothing is likely to really change and we'll be back to rehashing the same arguments the next time more children lose their lives. "In the aftermath of these events, we get stuck in fruitless debates. We need new and better solutions," Smith said in a statement.

Nine of 12 members of an ethics board appointed by Axon to advise its technology decisions have resigned, citing the company's plan to install Taser-equipped drones and pervasive surveillance at schools. "After several years of work, the company has fundamentally failed to embrace the values that we have tried to instill," the departing members write. "We have lost faith in Axon's ability to be a responsible partner." Axon (formerly Taser) has grown into a juggernaut of law enforcement software and hardware in recent years, providing not just the familiar and formerly eponymous electric weapons but body cameras and entire digital platforms for evidence management. Setting aside for now the inherent risks of privatizing such things, Axon has been rather surprisingly thoughtful with its tech, soliciting the advice of the communities these tools will be used in as well as the cops who will wear or wield them.