TrueMedia.org, the nonprofit founded in Seattle that built AI tools to identify and combat deepfakes, is being revived.
Researchers at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy will take over development of TrueMedia’s technology, according to an announcement Wednesday.
TrueMedia shut down its service in January and open-sourced its technology.
Oren Etzioni, the University of Washington professor and longtime AI specialist who founded and led TrueMedia, said the high cost of maintaining the service played a role in the shutdown.
Georgetown will help bring TrueMedia online later this year.
“We are at a pivotal moment where our information environment is saturated with poor-quality text, images and audio,” Dr. Lisa Singh, director of the McCourt School’s Massive Data Institute, said in a statement. “By extending and broadening what TrueMedia has built, we can help foster a more informed and resilient digital society.”
TrueMedia previously operated with a small engineering team, numbering about 15 people, including employees, volunteers and interns. It built its own technologies, including six in-house detection models, and partnered with other AI providers.
The nonpartisan organization, which attracted high-profile media attention from The New York Times and others, was backed by Uber co-founder Garrett Camp through his Camp.org nonprofit foundation.
Sejin Paik, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown who was a product manager for TrueMedia, will help lead development as the nonprofit enters its next chapter.
“As the core team member who helped steward the transition, I bring with me a deep understanding of our users and the features that mattered most,” Paik wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m honored to carry that insight forward and continue advancing open-source, AI-for-good tools that strengthen information integrity and digital trust.”
Etzionil will be an informal advisor to the new group leading TrueMedia. He recently helped launch a new AI startup in Seattle called Vercept. “TrueMedia could not be in better hands,” he told GeekWire.
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