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CEO of Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition startup, has resigned

The CEO of Clearview AI, the controversial startup of the face recognition that has taken a searchable database of 30 billion photos by scraping the internet, has resigned, according to a statement he has provided to WAN.

The CEO, Hoan Ton-Shat, said: “It’s time for the next chapter in my life” and that he would stay as a board member of Clearview AI. He refused to comment when he was asked for more details about what led to his resignation specifically. The news was First reported By Forbes.

Clearview AI now has two ‘co-CEOs’, early investor Hal Lambert and co-founder Richard Schwartz, who want to benefit from new ‘opportunities’ under the Trump administration, according to a statement that Clearview AI has sent to WAN.

Both men have a long history in Republican politics. Lambert’s investment company, Point Bridge Capital, is best known for the launch of the MAGA ETF In 2017, which invests in companies that support Republican candidates. In the meantime, Schwartz served as a senior advisor To Rudy Giuliani during his term of office as mayor of New York City.

Clearview AI sells access to the database of face recognition of law enforcement and federal agencies that use it to identify suspects or find missing people. Because the startup has obtained the photos without people’s permission, it has had to ward off several privacy suits and fines.

From September 2024, ClearView AI has delivered more than $ 100 million to GDPR fines from European data protection agencies in the Netherlands, France and elsewhere. Clearview AI has traditionally not remained cooperating and refuses to pay these fines. (Clearview did not respond to a request for comment from WAN asking if it has still paid.)

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Clearview AI has also had a lawsuit of conservative investor and self-described investigative journalist Charles Johnson about claims that he was co-founder and part of the committees owed. Johnson recently has the suit, per A legal application. But the counterclaim of ClearView AI in the court case, which claim that defamation and breach of contract against Johnson are underway, biometric update reported.

Ton-that refused to work out his plans when asked by WAN. According to his statement, ClearView AI is financially in its ‘strongest position’, so that the highest growth and income will be achieved in 2024. However, the startup has difficulty winning large federal contracts and remains unprofitable, Forbes reported.

Clearview AI, whose investors involve Peter Thiel and Marine Ravikant, raised $ 30 million in a series B -round in 2021 that appreciated the company to $ 130 million, according to one Post on her website.

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