Truepic raises $26M to fight deepfakes and image fraud

Truepic has concluded the second round of funding that saw it raise $26 million to fuel its growth and develop its photo and video verification system, which can be used to detect ‘deepfake’ and ‘cheapfake’ images, according to The San Diego Union Tribune.

The funding, led by Microsoft’s venture capital arm M12 — with the participation of other companies such as Adobe, Sonny Innovation Fund, Hearst Ventures and Stone Point Capital — will help the camera technology startup, among other things, continue the development of a Software Development Kit (SDK) that would allow mobile developers to include its authentication system in their apps.

A beta version of the SDK is expected by the end of the year.

The company’s chief executive Jeffrey McGregor also stated that Truepic’s efforts are aimed at countering the growing distrust being generated around the authenticity of digital media because of the upward trend of synthetic photos and videos, especially in the form of deepfakes.

Explaining how Truepic works, Founder and President Craig Stack told The San Diego Union Tribune: “From the instant that light hits the camera sensor, we can secure the capture operation, so we know that the pixels, date, time and location are authentic. Then we seal that information into the file and can verify that what came out of the camera hasn’t been modified.”

“Truepic’s technology is critical in our ability to enable digital image provenance, and their unique ability to capture secure media makes their platform unparalleled in the market,” stated Will Allen, VP of Product for Adobe. “We’re delighted to support their efforts in tackling this important issue and are excited to continue our work together to restore trust online,” the Tribune quoted the executive as saying.

A member of the deepfake-fighting Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), Truepic says its technology is used by about 100 customers, including insurance companies to verify the authenticity of photos from accident scenes.

The San Diego Union Tribune notes that prior to this funding round, Truepic had raised almost $10 million to realize its growth objectives.

Article Topics

authentication  |  biometrics  |  deepfakes  |  funding  |  investment  |  research and development  |  SDK