THIS WEEK IN AI

Mar 17

Candice Bryant Consulting
Strategic Intelligence & Public Affairs

PROTECTING THE OSCARS

Sunday night was Hollywood's biggest night. "One Battle After Another" won Best Picture. Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler both took home their first Oscars for "Sinners." The Academy added a new award — Best Casting — for the first time in 25 years. Conan O'Brien joked in his opening monologue that security was tight because of “concerns about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.” And behind the red carpet, one of the most security-intensive Academy Awards in memory was keeping everyone safe.

This week, I'm tracking security at the Oscars and today’s counter-drone technology.

For those already across the headlines, skip to "What I'm Watching" for insights, and the security landscape ahead of the World Cup.

OSCARS ON HIGH ALERT — The LAPD and FBI expanded security at Sunday's 98th Academy Awards after an unverified tip that Iran aspired to conduct a drone attack from a vessel off the California coast. The White House said the threat was never credible. The LAPD deployed uniformed officers, surveillance cameras, drones, SWAT teams, bomb squads, and rooftop snipers across a one-mile perimeter around the Dolby Theatre, with more than 1,000 security personnel assigned to the operation.

WHAT I'M WATCHING

Most people were watching the Oscars red carpet. Law enforcement was watching the airspace.

The Oscars have been ratcheting up security every year since 9/11. But this year was different. The last ceremony held in the early days of a war was 2003 — just days after the U.S. invaded Iraq.

On Sunday night, snipers sat on rooftops. AI-powered cameras scanned the crowds. The FBI gathered intelligence and monitored social media in real time.

On the ground, over 1,000 security personnel formed a ring of steel around the Dolby Theatre. The venue was swept multiple times a day.

One source said, "There's what we usually do to secure the event, and now we've cranked it up to 11."

The shadow over the event was drones.

And while the White House said the risk of an attack from Iran was never credible, small unauthorized consumer drones — which can be weaponized — have become a recurring security problem at major events. The NFL has logged more than 2,000 drone incursions into restricted stadium airspace in each of the past three seasons.

Beyond monitoring the airspace, we don't know what counter-drone measures were in place during the Oscars. But today's capabilities can detect and identify an unauthorized drone from miles away, pinpoint its operator on the ground, intercept it with nets midair, or jam the signal and force it to land.

The Oscars were just a preview. Next up is the World Cup: seventy-eight matches across 11 U.S. cities during America's 250th birthday.

— Candice

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Candice Bryant