The tech world has been abuzz with news of a major investment in Protect AI – a San Francisco based startup that offers a cybersecurity solution for Artificial Intelligence (AI) projects. Last month, the company announced it had secured $13.5 million in series A funding to continue developing tools that help protect AI projects from attack.
The funding was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Engineers.ai, Outlandish Ventures, Bedrock Capital and others. This investment follows on from a previous $3.3 million in seed funding from the same organizations.
The platform developed by Protect AI is designed to help detect and respond to threats of malicious AI models. It monitors for threats across all of an organization’s AI applications on an ongoing basis, providing real-time defense and response. By leveraging automation and AI, Protect AI is able to provide real-time protection and accelerated response times.
In addition to the detection and response tools, the platform also provides a range of governance tools designed to help organizations promote a secure AI development and deployment. This includes automated auditing and compliance monitoring, as well as policy-based access control and user management.
The security of AI systems has become increasingly important in recent years as the number of AI applications grows in industries such as finance, healthcare and manufacturing. Research suggests the potential for malicious AI models to cause harm is increasing, and organizations need to be proactive in ensuring AI applications are kept secure.
Protect AI’s funding will no doubt be invaluable in advancing the development of its platform and strengthening its capacity to help organizations protect their AI projects from attack. It is a welcome boost for an industry that is in need of more robust security solutions.