Booz Allen's venture arm invests in deepfake prevention company
Gettyimages.com/ Bongkod Worakandecha
By
Nick Wakeman
Booz Allen Ventures is one of several investors in Reality Defender, which uses artificial intelligence tools to spot deepfakes and other synthetic media.
Booz Allen Hamilton’s venture capital arm has invested in a cybersecurity company that specializes in spotting deepfakes and synthetic media.
Founded in 2021, Reality Defender uses artificial intelligence to identify and combat AI-generated threats to ensure the integrity of digital content. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Booz Allen Ventures is one of several participants in Reality Defender's $33 million Series A round, which was announced in October and led by Illuminate Financial. Jefferies Family Office, IBM Ventures and Accenture's venture arm also got involved.
The investment is connected with Booz Allen Hamilton’s work on AI and cyber efforts and its commitment to fostering responsible, secure and trustworthy AI solutions.
"Sophisticated AI models are increasingly being used to manipulate and deceive, posing a real risk ranging from the battlefield and research labs to financial systems and communities nationwide,” said Matt Keating, head of AI security at Booz Allen.
Keating said enterprises need tools to validate digital content such as videos, images, audio recordings and phone calls.
Reality Defender offers solutions to verify data integrity and uses AI to actively counter disinformation.
The company works with financial entities, government agencies and media organizations to detect deepfakes. Reality Defender has also helped prevent advanced voice fraud and deflect state-sponsored attackers.