Rupert Small calls superhuman-level AI “the ticking time-bomb at the centre of the internet”.
The researcher-turned-founder — who previously worked at metaverse unicorn Improbable — started his company Egregious AI in 2023 to protect humans from the “spectacular bullshit” pumped out every day by autonomous AI bots and agents.
As AI gets better at imitating humans online, the risk of bad actors deploying the tech at scale for market manipulation, fraud and massive misinformation campaigns grows. The threat is giving rise to startups employing AI to fight AI.
Europe trails the US in this budding niche. Across the pond, there have been big rounds raised by companies fighting malicious AI, such as Alethea (raised $30m) and Blackbird AI ($30.6m). San Francisco-based Human.org, which earlier this month raised $7.3m, claims to be the first company attempting to verify whether an autonomous AI agent represents a real person.
Investment in Europe is smaller, but here are seven startups that have raised VC capital to protect internet users from AI scams, copyright theft, disinformation and deepfakes (and one startup that could be on the fundraising trail soon).
IdentifAI, Milan
This Milan startup, which raised a €2.2m seed round led by Italian VC United Ventures in 2024, is developing what it calls “(de)generative AI” to identify bots. Founder Marco Ramilli says it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between computer and human creations: “I believe it is our right to be informed, at all times, about what we use to nourish our minds, which in turn shapes our opinions.”
Ceartas, Dublin
This startup uses bots to find copyrighted content then automatically requests Google take down the links. Many content creators use the service to remove deepfake pornography from the internet (Ceartas is an official “safety partner” of subscriber platform OnlyFans). Ceartas, which launched in 2021, raised €4m last year from lead investor Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from Upside VC, established by Youtube creators The Sidemen and a raft of angel investors.
Egregious AI, London
This startup has punchy thoughts on the risks posed by AI. According to Egregious, “Superhuman AI is the most disruptive invention in human history.” In January, the startup raised a $1m pre-seed round, led by Fuel Ventures and Oxford Capital, to develop a defensive AI arsenal for the internet.
Refute, London
This startup, run by Tom Garnett and Vlad Galu, detects and responds to disinformation on behalf of companies. It raised a £2.3m pre-seed round led by investors Playfair and Episode 1 in December 2024.
Osavul, Kyiv
A Ukrainian startup formed after Russian missiles destroyed the cofounder Dmytro Bilash’s flat in Kyiv. Headed by Bilash and Dmytro Pleshakov, Osavul uses AI to sift out “false narratives” on the Russian-language internet. The company’s tech can also detect if information is being pushed in a coordinated manner online. The company raised €2.8m last year from German VC 42CAP, US government-backed u.ventures and Ukrainian fund SMRK.
DuckDuckGoose, Delft
This Dutch startup — named for the children’s game in which one identifies a goose among ducks — raised €1.3m in 2024 to verify whether video, images or audio have been manipulated. The company’s “explainable AI” highlights specific areas of media that are distorted.
DarkForest, London
This effort by AI researcher Mustafa Yasir, which hasn’t sought any VC money yet, wants to give internet goers greater control over how AI bots access their content. With a few lines of code, DarkForest will redirect bots to a page of the user's choice or a paywall demanding AI companies implement specific protocols. Yasir, on sabbatical from The Alan Turing Institute in London, is developing his idea at the new hacker hotel in Espoo. Creators will need a new way to monetise traffic in the AI era, says Yasir. "We’re already at the point where 50% of all web traffic is from bots. The entire ad-based digital economy is entirely incompatible with this new paradigm."
Logically, Brighouse
Yorkshire-based startup Logically has created a series of AI-based products designed to help people, businesses and governments identify false stories and narratives on the internet, stopping their spread and tracking sources of misinformation. Earlier this month, Sifted exclusively revealed the company had laid off dozens of employees as part of a company-wide effort to cut costs.
