Application
Face recognition
Smartphone users who unlock their device with a glance already understand the creeptastic potential of facial-recognition technology. In China, so do shoppers, airline passengers, ride-share hailers, and students. Unconstrained by strict privacy protections and buoyed by AI-enabled state surveillance—and hefty government investment—Chinese startups are leading the race to ID your face.
$620 million, Series C, May 2018
VCs and state investors contributed millions to make this company the highest valued AI startup, worth more than $4.5 billion. That money funds Asia’s largest AI training database, fueled by more than 8,000 GPUs, which is used for everything from checkout-free shopping to Big Brother-esque CCTV monitoring.
$300 million, Series C, June and July 2018
This Shanghai-based artificial intelligence startup won the accuracy award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology last year, an impressive—and necessary—feat. Because Yitu’s AI is behind services such as ATM authentication, medical imaging, and policing, false positives could be disastrous.
$600 million, private equity, July 2018
Recognized as the world’s largest facial recognition platform, Face++ is employed by more than 300,000 developers in tasks ranging from verifying ride-share drivers to warding off trespassers. Face++ also helps power China’s video surveillance system, unironically dubbed Skynet. In a December demo, the tech tracked down a BBC reporter in just seven minutes.
Debut: Nov 2013 | Retirement: Oct 2015 | Appearances in print: 12
“When I was assigned First to Market, I had no idea how VC funding really worked. I prepared by watching Shark Tank to learn about valuation.” —Victoria Tang, former WIRED research editor and First to Market writer
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