Blackbird AI, a startup developing AI-powered software for risk intelligence, today announced that it raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Ten Eleven Ventures.
Bringing New York-based Blackbird’s total raised to $30 million, the tranche also had contributions from Dorilton Capital, Generation Ventures StartFast Ventures and Trousdale Ventures as well as angel investors.
“Blackbird was born out of a shared vision to leverage technology for the greater good of society,” co-founder and CEO Wasim Khaled told TechCrunch in an email interview. “Recognizing disinformation as one of the most alarming global threats of the 21st century, we were deeply concerned about the alarming ease with which even the most educated individuals were succumbing to the spread of online falsehoods and conspiracy theories.”
Blackbird, founded in 2017, claims that its first product — an algorithm to perform network analysis and adversarial cohort modeling — was used by the U.S. Department of Defense to analyze online propaganda and influence campaigns across high-profile websites. When the pandemic hit, forcing cuts in Blackbird’s Defense Department contract, Blackbird shifted its focus to the enterprise and rebuilt its backend systems to significantly broaden their scope, adding tools to ingest and normalize text, image, video and audio data from social media, news outlets, the dark web and elsewhere.
For organizations, Blackbird attempts to detect cyber “information” attacks directed against them, like mass deepfake campaigns, and equip IT teams with the capabilities to counter influence operations. Using Blackbird, users can delve into details like the content sharing patterns of specific actors or the narratives emerging in active discussions.
Blackbird provides heat map visualizations of how narratives — including toxic narratives (e.g., those involving hate speech) — flow across social media, flagging bot-like accounts and characterizing how high-profile people like influencers impact that flow. Blackbird claims it can discover key influencers within cohorts of people, mapping out how a narrative spreads over time.
“Blackbird enables leaders to swiftly counter misinformation, mitigate aggressive complaints and preempt backlash, positioning them as informed and proactive,” Khaled said. “Beyond threat mitigation, Blackbird also fosters business growth by keeping a finger on the industry pulse, tracking competitors and nurturing media relations. It measures the effectiveness of communication strategies, providing actionable insights for refinement.”
Of course, that’s promising a lot. We can’t speak to the accuracy of Blackbird’s platform, having not been afforded the chance to test it ourselves.
What’s undeniably true is that algorithms aren’t perfect. Machine learning algorithms still struggle to gain a holistic understanding of words in context. Compounding the challenge is the potential for bias to creep into the algorithms.
But even if it does perform as well as Khaled claims, Blackbird is far from alone in the reputation and risk intelligence space. Rivals include Graphika, Logically and Cyabra, which raised $5.6 million in October 2021.
Fortunately for Blackbird, it’s a large enough market to support a range of vendors. According to one estimate, the risk management software sector could be worth $86.53 billion by 2030 — up from $27.80 billion in 2021. A separate Deloitte report found that more than half of companies plan to address reputation risk by investing in technology such as analytical and brand monitoring tools
Blackbird wouldn’t disclose how many customers it has. But Khaled claims the growing threat from disinformation has been good for business.
“Disinformation, in our interconnected world, doesn’t just spread — it gallops, wreaking havoc on an organization’s reputation and operations,” he continued. “And let’s face it, the world isn’t becoming any less unpredictable. It’s in this very unpredictability that Blackbird finds its strength.”
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
