Decoder with Nilay Patel – "Ring's Jamie Siminoff thinks AI can reduce crime"
Date: November 17, 2025
Host: Nilay Patel, The Verge
Guest: Jamie Siminoff, Founder & Chief Inventor, Ring
Overview
In this episode, Nilay Patel speaks with Jamie Siminoff, the founder and "Chief Inventor" of Ring, the video doorbell and security camera company. The conversation covers Jamie's journey founding Ring, leaving after its sale to Amazon, returning in 2024, and his vision for a safer world using AI-powered technology. They dive into AI’s role in Ring’s mission to reduce crime, the structure and integration of Ring within Amazon’s devices ecosystem, complex privacy concerns, and the ongoing debate about surveillance, law enforcement partnerships, and neighborhood safety.
Main Discussion Themes
Jamie Siminoff’s Journey: Leaving and Returning to Ring
- Founding & Departure: Jamie describes building Ring from his garage through its explosive growth and acquisition by Amazon.
- “I just was flat out for so many years... I could feel myself not being the best leader of the overall business... I just was burning out.” (05:32)
- Return to Ring: After leaving for nearly two years, Jamie realized he was most passionate about Ring’s mission and returned as Chief Inventor.
- “As the chief inventor of Ring, like, I pop out of bed, like, I'm ready to go… I just want to get here and do stuff.” (06:30)
- Change in Perspective: Time away gave Jamie a “holy cow moment” seeing the impact Ring had and a renewed clarity for its mission. (07:44)
Evolution of Ring & Amazon’s Device Ecosystem
- Integration within Amazon: Discussion on leadership changes at Amazon and the evolving strategy of integrating Ring with other Amazon device brands.
- “Alexa for sure is the centerpiece. It's like the center of the universe. It's where gravity comes from.” (16:56)
- Balancing Growth and Integration: Jamie acknowledges the challenge of integrating products like Blink while maintaining strong brand identities.
- “It's hard to integrate when you're growing fast… It's like you get one or the other. It's like, do you want to grow fast or integrate?” (15:01)
- Founder Autonomy: Jamie retains decision-making flexibility similar to a standalone CEO within Amazon.
- “There is something that you get from being the founder… you give them, whether it's a CEO title, but they certainly have the power to make the decisions.” (33:50)
Organizational Changes upon Return
- Structural Reforms: Jamie restructured teams, streamlined processes, and accelerated product cycles.
- “We took this product, we sort of broke everything down... Instead of it taking probably 18 months… it shipped in six months.” (21:27)
- Hands-On Decision-Making: He focused on breaking down unnecessary bureaucracy and empowering contributors.
- “I brought some people… that maybe wouldn’t normally report to me and I had them report to me.” (22:04)
- “More willing to break stuff this time. Like a little bit more willing to try to break things.” (22:04)
Amazon Culture: The Good, the Bad, and Siminoff’s Adaptation
- Valuable Takeaways: Jamie praises Amazon’s memo-writing culture for facilitating deep thinking.
- "The thing about a doc that's so amazing is you get to teach yourself the information." (29:03)
- Two-Way Door/One-Way Door Decisions: He critiques how the decision-making framework sometimes gets weaponized as an excuse for inertia.
- “The one way door... I think it's been weaponized too much... My mental model is, if you can break down the one way door, it's a two way door.” (29:05)
Technology, AI, and Ring’s Vision for Neighborhood Safety
The AI Opportunity
- AI’s Impact: The leap in AI capabilities since his initial tenure at Ring is seen as transformative.
- “I left before AI... what we see in AI today was not there when I was... And so I started seeing things like our, our search party for dogs.” (11:22)
- AI as an Enabler: Product innovation like Search Party for Dogs leverages interconnected cameras and AI, making community features possible at scale. (13:01, 73:10)
The Quest to "Zero Out" Crime
- Big Claim: Jamie believes Ring—with enough devices and AI—can almost eliminate crime in neighborhoods.
- “If you have all of our different products in a neighborhood, I do think with AI that we can finally see a path... where we can actually start to get to... crime in a neighborhood... close to zero.” (53:30)
- Mechanics: AI enables cameras to offer not just motion alerts, but context-aware, intelligent notifications: “We should be telling you what's there... only when it matters.” (57:39)
- Deterrence & Awareness: The goal is collective, opt-in intelligence so neighbors can proactively help each other—and deter criminals—without invasive presence. (54:57-57:29)
- “The model is that doing crime in a neighborhood like that is not profitable. And I think... you want people to move into another job.” (56:36)
Privacy and Surveillance Dilemmas
- Law Enforcement Partnerships: Siminoff defends Ring’s opt-in system for police footage requests, stressing user control and digital audit trails.
- “We allow our customers to anonymously decide whether or not they want to partake in that... If they decide they don't want to be part... they just say no.” (41:35)
- AI Deepfakes and Evidence Chain-of-Custody: Jamie is concerned about future risks from AI-generated fake video.
- “I do think it's where we have to. In the end, the source of truth is going to have to come from like a secure server...” (44:10)
- Responsibility with Intelligence: On facial recognition and database interconnection:
- “There's a balance between not allowing technology to exist... that helps people... and then also, obviously, not creating... a dystopian place.” (59:58)
- Always User-controlled Video: Jamie reiterates customers always control their video—even in scenarios where authenticity/chain-of-custody becomes critical.
- “You will decide if you want to or not want to share that video, which is your property, with someone.” (46:35)
The Limits and Potential of AI Technology
- Cloud as Advantage: “The cloud’s a two way door... The older ring doorbells are doing smart video descriptions [thanks to cloud AI].” (39:36)
- Processing, Not Capability, Is the Bottleneck: Models can do what’s needed, but processing costs are still high for advanced features.
- “The cost to do that thing is still so expensive that it's not rational to do...” (64:37)
- No Full "Autonomous" Policing: AI assists users but stops short of automated judgment for criminal identification.
- “The idea is that these things drive to a human decision though... they're not creating some sort of autonomous decision making cycle.” (63:32)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
"When I wake up in the morning as the chief inventor of Ring, like, I pop out of bed, like, I'm ready to go." (06:30, Jamie Siminoff)
"Alexa for sure is the centerpiece. It's like the center of the universe. It's where gravity comes from." (16:56, Jamie Siminoff)
"The one way door and two way door thing... if you can break down the one way door, it's a two way door." (29:05, Jamie Siminoff)
"I do see a path to get where we can actually start to get to where like, yeah, we take down crime in a neighborhood to call it close to zero." (53:30, Jamie Siminoff)
"If you want people to make decisions that don’t have big impact, make the decision. If it’s super impactful, we should talk about it... my superpower is I'm good at making these decisions." (30:59, Jamie Siminoff)
"We allow our customers to anonymously decide whether or not they want to partake in that... If they decide they don't want to be part... they just say no." (41:35, Jamie Siminoff)
"In the end, the source of truth is going to have to come from like a secure server because I do believe these AIs will be able to generate [fake video]." (44:10, Jamie Siminoff)
“The model is that doing crime in a neighborhood like that is not profitable... you want people to move into another job. Like, I don’t think that crime is a good thing.” (56:36, Jamie Siminoff)
"The cloud’s a two way door... The older ring doorbells are doing smart video descriptions...[because] now there’s AI chips in the cloud." (39:36, Jamie Siminoff)
"Just because someone sends you a video doesn't mean it's true is as deep a flip of our expectations of photography and video as has ever existed in, like, the history of photography." (48:35, Nilay Patel)
Key Timestamps
- 05:32 – Jamie on why he left and why he returned to Ring/Amazon
- 06:54 – Transition from startup grind to household name status
- 11:22 – “I left before AI...” Jamie on the tech leap that drew him back
- 16:56 – Alexa’s place in the Amazon device ecosystem
- 18:26 – Organizational changes Jamie implemented upon return
- 29:03 – On Amazon’s memo culture and decision-making models
- 39:36 – Shifting processing to the cloud and updating legacy cameras with new AI features
- 41:35 – Ring's law enforcement partnerships and opt-in privacy
- 44:10 – The threat of AI deepfakes and evidentiary chain of custody
- 53:30 – Jamie’s “zero out crime” ambitions explained
- 56:36 – Debate over the consequences of a surveillance-heavy neighborhood
- 59:58 – Balancing AI-powered features against privacy risks
- 63:32 – AI hallucinations and Ring’s approach to limiting harms
Conclusion
Jamie Siminoff passionately believes in Ring’s mission to make neighborhoods safer and sees artificial intelligence as the accelerator that can take Ring’s impact to new heights—even as he acknowledges the profound privacy, surveillance, and social tradeoffs in play. The episode underscores the ongoing tension between safety, privacy, and the risks of ubiquitous technology, while offering a candid window into the structure, decision-making, and ambitions inside one of Amazon’s most influential consumer device brands.
Further Reading:
- Jamie Siminoff’s Book: Ding Dong: How Ring Went From Shark Tank Reject to Everyone’s Front Door
- Verge reporting on AI surveillance, privacy, and law enforcement partnerships
For anyone interested in how a founder wrestles with the stewardship of everyday surveillance technology and the frontier promises and risks of AI, this is a can’t-miss conversation.