Apr 25, 2019 - Technology

Startup behind David Beckham deepfake video raises $3.1 million

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Synthesia, a London-based developer of video synthesis technology, raised $3.1 million co-led by LDV Capital and Mark Cuban.

Why it matters: This is the company whose tech is behind a viral video in which soccer star David Beckham speaks nine different languages. As you might have guessed, David Beckham doesn't know how to speak nine different languages, and the video is for malaria awareness, not some sort of Rosetta Stone-like product. It's both mesmerizing and terrifying.

Axios' Kaveh Waddell has been covering the deep fakes phenomenon. Two important pieces are: The impending war over deep fakes and Defending against audio deep fakes before it's too late.

The bottom line: Synthesia's goal is to reduce the time and cost of video production, and tells TechCrunch that it is "actively working with governments and media organizations to create public awareness and develop security mechanisms to ... reduce potential negative effects from synthetic media technologies."

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Updated 11 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 12,009,301 — Total deaths: 548,799 — Total recoveries — 6,561,969 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 3,053,328 — Total deaths: 132,256 — Total recoveries: 953,420 — Total tested: 37,532,612 — Map.
Public health: Houston mayor cancels Republican convention over coronavirus concerns — Deaths are rising in hotspots — Déjà vu sets in as testing issues rise and PPE dwindles.
Travel: United warns employees it may furlough 45% of U.S. workforce — How the pandemic changed mobility habits, by state.
Education: New York City schools will not fully reopen in fall — Harvard and MIT sue Trump administration over rule barring foreign students from online classes.
🎧 Podcast: A misinformation "infodemic" is here.

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Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Photo: Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

An "infodemic" of misinformation and disinformation has helped cripple the response to the novel coronavirus.

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