Is a New TikTok Toy the Latest Deepfake Threat?

Akool, a Silicon Valley-based generative AI startup, may have just launched a powerful new deepfake tool—though that’s certainly not how it is pitching its “Web-Based Real-Time Face Swap” solution.

Rather, the solution is pitched primarily as a marketing and entertainment solution. Its functionality is as its name suggests, allowing end users to swap another person’s face with their own in real-time video streaming.

In a statement announcing the tool, Akool explained that it uses “high precision facial recognition” to seamlessly blend faces, and pitches the solution for “creating engaging content on social media, enhancing virtual events, and developing interactive marketing campaigns.” Among other things, users are invited to leverage the tool to “create engaging and viral content for platforms like Instagram and TikTok.”

Of course, the tool’s launch comes at a time of considerable unease about the threat of deepfakes, which are used to misrepresent real people or to present plausible but phony synthetic identities in online channels. A recent report from Deloitte predicted that in the financial services sector alone, generative AI could push fraud losses up from $12.3 billion last year to $40 billion by 2027, and Frost & Sullivan analyst Danielle VanZandt highlighted the deepfake threat in recent commentary on the ID Talk podcast.

Akool was founded by CEO Jiajun Lu in 2022, and is based in Santa Clara, California. The company is inviting users to sign up for its free trial, and has an API available for developers and businesses.

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July 5, 2024 – by Alex Perala