RAIC Labs
 | |
| Founded | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Corey Jaskolski |
| Headquarters | Delafield, WI , United States |
Synthetaic is an American artificial intelligence (AI) company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Delafield, Wisconsin.[1]
History
Synthetaic was founded in 2019 by Corey Jasksolski, a National Geographic explorer and fellow. After creating a 3D digitization of a living Sumatran Rhino using a custom imaging system he built, Jaskolski wondered whether synthetic data could be used to train AI.[2][1] While Synthetaic doesn't sell synthetic data, its software uses generative capabilities associated with synthetic data.[3]
In 2021, Synthetaic developed Rapid Automatic Image Categorization, or RAIC, a computer vision software which performs classification and detection on photography, video, and satellite imagery without data labeling.[4]
RAIC is notable for its use of human collaboration with an unsupervised AI model, which allows for iteration upon the algorithm in real-time.[5] RAIC has been described as "ChatGPT for satellite imagery," since it uses transformers to understand imagery in a way somewhat similar to how ChatGPT understands human language.[4]
In May 2023, satellite imaging company Planet Labs announced an official partnership with Synthetaic, through which they would sell RAIC insights for defined areas of interest within Planet data.[6]
Synthetaic announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft in August 2023. Elements of the partnership included selection for Microsoft's Pegasus Program and access to one million hours of GPU cloud computing via Microsoft Azure.[7]
2023 Chinese balloon
On 11 February 2023, Synthetaic used its RAIC product to detect a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in archival Planet Labs data.[8] RAIC's demonstrated ability to quickly analyze Earth observation imagery at scale was deemed novel and a potential "game-changer" by experts including Arthur Holland Michel and Hamed Alemohammad.[9][10]
Synthetaic's work tracking the balloon formed the basis for a New York Times visual investigation, which credited RAIC for providing the precise coordinates of the balloon at twelve different points during its journey.[10][5]
Balloons over East Asia
Later that year, BBC news magazine program Panorama reported additional Chinese surveillance balloons detected over Japan and Taiwan. Security correspondent Gordon Corera cited Synthetaic's RAIC as a tool in their investigation and interviewed Jaskolski.[11]
References
- ^ a b Wiggers, Kyle (15 March 2022). "Synthetaic secures venture funding to expand its synthetic data platform". VentureBeat. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ Jaskolski, Corey. "How the Sumatran Rhino Taught Me to Rethink AI". Toward Data Science. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Quach, Katyanna. "Fake it until you make it: Can synthetic data help train your AI model?". The Register. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ a b Tucker, Patrick. "A 'ChatGPT' For Satellite Photos Already Exists". DefenseOne. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ a b Ocampo, Josh. "A Bird's Eye View of the Chinese Balloon". New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Zaroda, Megan. "Planet Announces AI Partnerships at GEOINT 2023". Planet Labs. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Smart, Ashley. "Delafield-based AI startup Synthetaic announces strategic partnership with Microsoft". BizTimes. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ Erwin, Sandra. "AI startup using satellite imagery to trace the path of Chinese balloon". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ^ Stokel-Walker, Chris (25 February 2023). "How One Guy's AI Tracked the Chinese Spy Balloon Across the US". Wired. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ a b Xiao, Muyi; Jhaveri, Ishaan; Lutz, Eleanor; Koettl, Christopher; Barnes, Julian (20 March 2023). "Tracking the Chinese Balloon from Space". New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ Corera, Gordon (26 June 2023). "New images show Chinese spy balloons over Asia". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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