Jul 22, 2021 - Economy

Clearview AI raises $30 million in Series B funding

Dan Primack

Dollar signs outlining a human face. — Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Clearview AI, a New York-based provider of facial recognition tech to law enforcement, raised $30 million in Series B funding. The company is under investigation for possible privacy violations in the U.K. and Australia, and also is the subject of several class-action lawsuits.

Why it matters: Clearview AI says that new investors have asked not to be publicly identified, as they apparently lack the courage of their checkbooks. Existing backers, via a $7 million Series A round, included Peter Thiel, Kirenaga Partners, Hal Lambert and Andrew Vigneault.

Go deeper: Federal watchdog calls for better tracking of facial recognition use

The bottom line: "Clearview AI, which claims a database of three billion photos of people gathered from sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Venmo, charges law enforcement organizations subscription fees to use its product. A search of someone's face will surface other photos of the same person with links to where they appear on the web, making it possible to identify them." — Kashmir Hill, N.Y. Times

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Clearview AI raises $30 million in Series B funding

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