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Truepic Works to Debunk Fake Photos, Videos

Truepic, the San Diego-based tech startup, leverages artificial intelligence technology to recognize whether a photo or video has been manipulated.

Founded in 2015, the company recognized the dangerous trend of image manipulation which often leads to visual disinformation, widespread fraud, and increased fake news and “deep fakes” across the internet.

In today’s technology world, AI software has the power to extend beyond everyday reality and is introducing an element of uncertainty over photos and videos that we rely on daily to help us make the important personal and business decisions in our lives.

Take this website as an example: ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com uses a complicated algorithm to instantly produce a computer-generated face that looks human, but in fact is not actually real.

The ability to manipulate and generate realistic imagery at scale affects how modern societies think about evidence and trust. Such software could also be extremely useful for creating political propaganda and influencing campaigns.

Truepic’s mission is to help restore trust on the internet, specifically, in regards to visual media for photos and videos, according to a company official.

The local startup raised a total of $10.5 million in funding over the past three financing rounds, according to Crunchbase. The company’s latest financing round, a Series A, closed at $8 million. It was led by untraditional startup investors such as Dowling Capital Partners, former Thomson Financial (which become Reuters) CEO Jeffrey Parker, Harvard Business School professor William Sahlman and others.

Truepic developed Controlled Capture technology — the world’s first technology to verify the contents of images and videos at the point of capture.

The purpose of this technology was to create an immutable source of provenance for digital images to close the trust gap online. Initially offering the software as a free mobile application for iOS and Android devices, its Controlled Capture technology has been used in over 100 countries and in countless scenarios.

Some users took advantage of the opportunity to document dire humanitarian situations in Syria, protests in Sudan, hurricanes in the United States and flooding in India.

Technology Leadership

Truepic joined forces with local tech giant Qualcomm in 2019. The strategic partnership will allow Truepic’s image-verification technology to be fully integrated into future Snapdragon chips which go into millions of mobile devices each year.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The partnership is game changing, said Sherif Hanna, Truepic’s vice president of ecosystem development, given that Qualcomm heads the research and development for all things related to mobile chipsets in the U.S.

The alliance will allow Truepic technology to fully integrate into the mobile’s hardware and software while maintaining its integrity and privacy encryption, Truepic said.

Overcoming Early Challenges

Despite such nationwide usage and success, the startup faced pivotal challenges early on.

“A unique challenge we faced was the friction of having to download a separate camera application instead of leveraging the native camera, especially in scenarios that require very fast action,” Hanna said.

To overcome this, the company decided to shut down its free mobile application last year and explore other product-market fits. It was a worthwhile move. Truepic has had more significant adoption of its enterprise version of Controlled Capture — Truepic Vision.

Truepic Vision is an end-to-end platform allowing any organization to request, solicit or crowdsource verified images and videos through a smart link.

The company generates revenue by charging companies a subscription fee to use its software, which can easily be built into any other enterprise software.

Collaborating With Competition

Unlike many startups that choose to isolate themselves from competition, Truepic plans to collaborate with its competitors in the space to ensure there are multiple viable options in the ecosystem.

“We are trying to be outright cooperative with our competitors,” Hanna said. “If we are the only company in the world working on this, it would be difficult for everyone to adopt and buy into the technology.”

In addition, the team has added top talent to its leadership, bringing on several industry experts with over 20 years of technical and telecommunications experience.

Hanna said company officials are “laser focused” on technology leadership and being transparent about its business outcomes and who they partner with.

Use Cases

One of the biggest markets Truepic aims to dominate is the lending industry, by short-circuiting the historically outdated approval process.

Credibility, an alternative lender, who used Truepic’s authentication platform, was able to approve loans on the same day.

“If you are a small business trying to get a loan, the speed in which you get the money is essential,” Hanna said. “We (at Truepic) are replacing a very slow and broken process: helping closing the trust gap between the lender and borrower.”

Insurance company Jewelers Mutual has utilized Truepic’s inspection platform to “virtual” inspections for customers trying to underwrite a policy. As a result, the client was able to successfully prove ownership and state of condition of the item, before it got insured.

So far this product has demonstrated early success. Other businesses that could benefit from Truepic’s platform are insurance carriers, home rental companies, health and beauty companies, eBay sellers and car rental businesses, among others.

Hanna said the company is especially interested in doing business with insurance and lending companies, as they are a great fit for Truepic’s product. While the work continues, company officials plan to identify ways to build off of the success of Truepic Vision and develop ways it can be used by individuals and organizations alike.

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