
social media company Facebook, now Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O), had demanded Clearview stop taking its data.Īt least one critic says facial recognition could misidentify people at checkpoints and in battle. VKontakte did not immediately respond to a request for comment U.S. The VKontakte images make Clearview's dataset more comprehensive than that of PimEyes, a publicly available image search engine that people have used to identify individuals in war photos, Wolosky said. Other parts of Ukraine's government are expected to deploy Clearview in the coming days, he and Wolosky said.


The exact purpose for which Ukraine's defense ministry is using the technology is unclear, Ton-That said. Ton-That's letter also said Clearview's technology could be used to reunite refugees separated from their families, identify Russian operatives and help the government debunk false social media posts related to the war. Department of Energy found decomposition reduced the technology’s effectiveness while a paper from a 2021 conference showed promising results. That database can help Ukraine identify the dead more easily than trying to match fingerprints and works even if there is facial damage, Ton-That wrote. The Clearview founder said his startup had more than 2 billion images from the Russian social media service VKontakte at its disposal, out of a database of over 10 billion photos total. Many Western businesses have pledged to help Ukraine, providing internet hardware, cybersecurity tools and other support. Previously, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation said it was considering offers from U.S.-based artificial intelligence companies like Clearview. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense did not reply to requests for comment. The plans started forming after Russia invaded Ukraine and Clearview Chief Executive Hoan Ton-That sent a letter to Kyiv offering assistance, according to a copy seen by Reuters.Ĭlearview said it had not offered the technology to Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation."
Clearview facial recognition free#
Ukraine is receiving free access to Clearview AI’s powerful search engine for faces, letting authorities potentially vet people of interest at checkpoints, among other uses, added Lee Wolosky, an adviser to Clearview and former diplomat under U.S. startup offered to uncover Russian assailants, combat misinformation and identify the dead. March 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's defense ministry on Saturday began using Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology, the company's chief executive told Reuters, after the U.S.
