Kairos acquires startup EmotionReader as ICO approaches halfway mark

Kairos has announced the acquisition of Irish startup EmotionReader to support its push for improved accuracy of facial recognition in real-world conditions, and it will also open a new Singapore office to take advantage of the AI talent in the area and serve as a platform for its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

“In our mission to fix biases in today’s face recognition algorithms, we’re thrilled to welcome to Kairos some of the best deep learning talent in the world,” says Kairos CEO Brian Brackeen.

EmotionReader was founded in 2017 by Dr. Stephen Moore and Dr. Padraig O’Leary. Moore has built a research and development team in Singapore, and will head Kairos’ new office there as the company’s new Chief Scientific Officer under the multi million-dollar deal.

“The EmotionReader team is looking forward to working with Kairos to make state of the art in face recognition accessible to all,” Moore said. “EmotionReader’s technology is a perfect fit for the Kairos platform. I believe with recent advances in AI and deep learning we’re at a tipping point where AI will change the lives of millions of people for the better. Kairos is perfectly placed to make this a reality and do it in a socially responsible way to benefit all.”

The announcement focusses on Kairos’ potential IP opportunities and future development of algorithms that work without bias, that automatically learn ageing, and for anti-spoofing solutions.

Brackeen believes Kairos will raise close to its $30 million goal by the end of the third quarter through its currently live token offering, the South Florida Business Journal reports. Kairos is offering ID tokens to be used for verified blockchain transactions, in a system the company says democratizes the use of facial recognition as a primary means of identity verification. The ICO is currently 43.5 percent of the way to $30 million, in addition to the $8.5 million in funding the company has previously raised.

In a recently contributed editorial to TechCrunch, Brackeen argues that facial recognition technology is too vulnerable to bias, invasion of privacy and abuse for governments to navigate its use. He cites the “social credit” system used by the Chinese government as an example of misuse of the technology. Kairos also recently put Brackeen’s beliefs into practice by declining to provide its software to police body camera maker Axon.

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  biometrics  |  Brian Brackeen  |  emotion recognition  |  facial recognition  |  Kairos