DeliverFund, a non-profit organization founded by former CIA agent Nic McKinley, aims to disrupt global human trafficking markets by combining qualified personnel with technology. The organization works with over 500 law enforcement agencies across the US, providing training and operational support. DeliverFund's AI-driven database, P.A.T.H., analyzes human trafficking data available on the internet and builds intelligence target packages for law enforcement. The organization also partners with financial institutions, hotels, transportation services, and other businesses to disrupt human traffickers. DeliverFund's goal is to ensure that human trafficking victims never need to testify in court, and they have a 100% conviction rate for traffickers who go to trial. The organization offers citizens the opportunity to join their OL-X program and support local law enforcement in countering human trafficking. DeliverFund also created the HT Safeguard app to help parents keep their children safe from human trafficking. The organization is funded through donations and merchandise sales [f4186efe].
WitnessAI, a secure AI enablement platform, has raised $27.5 million in a Series A round co-led by GV and Ballistic Ventures [5e184b64]. The platform addresses privacy and compliance challenges in AI use and includes modules for observability, policy enforcement, and data protection. WitnessAI will start early deployments in June 2024 and is working with over 20 design partners. The funding will be used to develop new AI guardrails and expand the sales and support organization. WitnessAI aims to make AI safe and effective for enterprises. Rick Caccia is the CEO of WitnessAI. Karim Faris, a General Partner at GV, expressed excitement about partnering with WitnessAI to make AI safe for enterprises. Barmak Meftah, Co-founder and General Partner of Ballistic Ventures, highlighted WitnessAI's role in enabling safe and effective AI use for enterprises [5e184b64].
Computer networking company Sandvine has decided to halt its efforts to market a contentious internet surveillance tool called Digital Witness to law enforcement agencies in the United States [53bb2575]. Digital Witness is designed to track encrypted messages sent through popular applications such as WhatsApp and Signal. Although Sandvine had provided trial versions of the technology in the US, economic challenges and concerns over the company's previous collaboration with authoritarian governments have hindered its success. Digital Witness analyzes encrypted traffic on internet networks, collecting and examining metadata about communications. While the technology could potentially assist police agencies in identifying criminal syndicates, it also raises concerns about potential abuse and human rights violations. As a result, Sandvine, which is owned by Francisco Partners, has laid off most of the team working on Digital Witness, effectively ending its efforts to sell the tool in North America and casting doubt on its global sales prospects. Sandvine's equipment, known as 'deep packet inspection' technology, has been associated with government-mandated censorship and surveillance, in addition to its use for managing internet traffic. The company has previously faced controversies over its equipment being employed for censorship purposes in countries like Belarus. The strategic shift into the surveillance technology market with Digital Witness encountered challenges, including concerns raised by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding Sandvine's prior sales to a Belarusian government agency [53bb2575].
In a recent partnership, Veritone, Inc. has collaborated with a state law enforcement agency to implement its Veritone Redact software, an AI-powered tool designed to automate the redaction of audio and video evidence [f54ebc0d]. The technology will assist the agency in managing its backlog of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests more efficiently by obscuring personally identifiable information in evidence materials. The partnership was facilitated by WSI Technologies, a technology provider focused on the public sector. Veritone's Senior Vice President expressed excitement about the partnership, highlighting the benefits of Veritone Redact in freeing up law enforcement to focus on their core responsibilities. The cloud-based nature of Veritone Redact eliminates the need for local servers and associated hardware, potentially offering cost savings and increased security for the agency's data management. This partnership reflects a broader trend of law enforcement agencies turning to technology to handle administrative tasks and allocate more resources to frontline duties.
Veritone, an AI company, has launched a conversational intelligence tool called Ask Veri. The tool allows users to extract insights and execute workflows from their media archive data through a chat-based interface. Ask Veri uses generative AI to respond to queries and provide analysis, summaries, and key findings. It will be integrated into Veritone's aiWARE platform and expanded across the firm's commercial and public sector applications [39fe9587].
Eviden has announced JARVICE AI Platform Software as the latest addition to its AI computing portfolio [538c1279]. JARVICE AI is a software solution that simplifies the work of data scientists and AI infrastructure administrators by providing a 'single and secure pane of glass' orchestration access to geographically dispersed GPU clusters or cloud providers. It is an extension of Eviden's existing JARVICE XE enterprise HPC platform and can orchestrate one-click MLOps frameworks on advanced AI infrastructures. JARVICE AI will be widely available in Q3 2024.