What is Protect AI：Raises $35 Million to Expand AI
In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), security has emerged as a paramount concern. As AI and ML models become increasingly integrated into our everyday lives, the need to protect these systems from cyber threats has never been more critical. Enter Protect AI, a startup dedicated to hardening the security around AI systems. Recently, Protect AI raised $35 million in a Series A funding round, signaling a significant step forward in the company’s mission to build a safer AI-powered world.
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What is Protect AI？
Founded by Ian Swanson, who previously led Amazon Web Services’ worldwide AI and ML business, Protect AI is an AI and ML security company that aims to strengthen ML systems and AI applications against security vulnerabilities, data breaches, and emerging threats. The company’s mission is to help customers build a safer AI-powered world by providing real-time visibility, detection, and management capabilities for their ML environments.
Key Features of Protect AI
Protect AI’s flagship tool, AI Radar, is designed to address what Swanson describes as AI security “weak points.” AI Radar delivers visibility into the various components used to build an AI model — including the data used for training, testing datasets, and code — and then generates a “machine learning bill of materials,” or MLBOM for short.
AI Radar incorporates continuously integrated security checks to safeguard ML environments against active data leakages, model vulnerabilities, and other AI security risks. The platform uses integrated model scanning tools for LLMs and other ML inference workloads to detect security policy violations, model vulnerabilities, and malicious code injection attacks. Additionally, AI Radar can integrate with third-party AppSec and CI/CD orchestration tools and model robustness frameworks.
How to Use Protect AI？
- Sign up for a Protect AI account.
- Set up AI Radar to monitor your ML environments.
- Use AI Radar to scan your ML models and applications for vulnerabilities.
- Implement continuous security checks to safeguard your ML environments.
- Use the platform’s visualization layer to gain real-time insights into your ML system’s attack surface.
- Regularly update your MLBOM to track all components and dependencies within your ML system.
Application of Protect AI
Protect AI’s solutions are applicable across a range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, and energy. By providing comprehensive visibility and auditability in the AI/ML supply chain, Protect AI enables these industries to de-risk their AI deployments and ensure regulatory compliance.
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Protect AI raises $35 million
Protect AI recently raised $35 million in a Series A funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Acrew Capital, boldstart ventures, Knollwood Capital, and Pelion Ventures. The funding will be used to enhance the capabilities of Protect AI’s platform, expand research efforts, and launch new open-source projects.
Is Protect AI free？
While the company’s website does not explicitly state whether Protect AI is free, it does mention that the company offers a free tool called NB Defense, which quickly scans a single notebook or a repository of notebooks for common security issues.
How does Protect AI work?
Protect AI works by providing real-time visibility, detection, and management capabilities for ML environments. Its AI Radar tool scans the various components used to build an AI model and generates a “machine learning bill of materials,” which tracks all components and dependencies within the ML system. The platform also incorporates continuously integrated security checks to safeguard ML environments against active data leakages, model vulnerabilities, and other AI security risks.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, Protect AI is at the forefront of AI and ML security, providing essential tools and services to protect these systems from cyber threats. With its recent funding round, the company is well-positioned to continue enhancing its platform and expanding its research efforts. As AI and ML become more integrated into our everyday lives, the work of companies like Protect AI will become increasingly important in ensuring the security of these systems.
