Jul 14, 2021 - Technology

Discord acquires anti-online harassment software firm Sentropy

Dan Primack

Computers against purple screen — Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Discord, a San Francisco-based chat platform valued by VCs at $7 billion, agreed to buy Sentropy, a Palo Alto-based provider of AI software for detecting and removing online harassment.

Why it matters: Because engaging with others online shouldn't include an entrance fee of harassment and abuse. Discord once was known as a place where such misdeeds proliferated, but it cracked down after Charlottesville, and this deal reflects its continued efforts around user safety.

ROI: Sentropy had raised around $13 million from firms like Initialized Capital, King River Capital, Horizons Ventures, Playground Global, Chapter One Ventures.

The bottom line: "Discord has a huge network, with more than 150 million monthly users, and servers can be a real challenge to moderate. The service is made up of more than 19 million individual communities, and that scale requires the work of both volunteers and teams within Discord to properly moderate." — Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge

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Discord acquires anti-online harassment software firm Sentropy

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