Under the city's agreement, the cameras will be used to manage traffic, improve safety, and keep cars moving along the road linking FIFA fan events to NRG Stadium, where the games take place.
Before the Mayor finalized the agreement, councilmember Alejandra Salinas raised her concerns.
"This, I believe, is the second set of AI cameras that we will be voting on to install, and while they do pose potentially great benefits to something like traffic management, they also pose a great risk of mass surveillance," Salinas said.
City documents show that the video detection system, called Derq, was bought from MoboTrex, LLC. According to the MoboTrex website, they claim the system uses AI to track vehicles and pedestrians to improve traffic flow, and it can even predict what someone might do up to two seconds before a violation happens.
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Houstonian Joan Staunton said she is concerned about where her data or personal information might go, especially if she doesn't know it's being collected.
"I wouldn't like to have an AI with my license plate and my face. I don't have anything to hide, but I don't think that justifies surveillance," Staunton said.
Kailai Wang, an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Houston, said AI is already part of everyday life. He believes companies should work with communities and stakeholders to build trust and be open about how data is used.
Wang said products like the one Houston bought have advantages and are better than the red-light cameras many cities use. However, he also warned that these systems could face new security risks, such as hackers breaking in and disrupting the city's grid.
"Unauthorized access to signal systems, manipulation of signal timing at the intersection, a lot of accidents can happen because of ransom attacks. Disruption during major events like FIFA World Cup, like post-disaster," Wang said.
We contacted MoboTrex to learn more about their product and address residents' surveillance concerns, but they did not respond.
The city's agenda notes that Almeda has 10 traffic lights in a row, but it does not say which intersections will get cameras or when they will be installed. ABC13 also asked the city for more details about locations and tracking concerns, but did not get a response.