Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
Clearview AI
The New York facial-recognition company, founded in 2017 by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz, that built "a search engine for faces" (Seventh Circuit, July 2026) by scraping billions of photographs from social media and the open web without consent, and sold searches mainly to police and government agencies. A single upload of a face returns other photographs of the same person and links to where they were found. Clearview became public through a New York Times investigation in January 2020 and has since become one of the most heavily sanctioned AI companies on privacy grounds: data-protection fines in Italy, Greece, France and the Netherlands totalling ~€100m (noyb, October 2025), a UK fine of ~£7.5m (May 2022) that was overturned on appeal (October 2023) and reinstated as within the regulator's jurisdiction by the Upper Tribunal (October 2025), findings of illegality in Canada and Australia, a 2022 settlement with the ACLU that bars sales to most private companies in the US, and a class-action settlement paid in equity — 23% of the company — that a federal court approved in March 2025 and the Seventh Circuit vacated in July 2026. Its database grew from ~3bn images (January 2020) to more than ~50bn (2024, company) while its valuation stayed small (~$225m, January 2024, per court filings). In 2025 its founder-CEO left and the company, under new leadership with political ties to the Trump administration, pivoted to US federal contracts, including a ~$9.2m ICE contract (September 2025, reported). Clearview is this companion's main case of data acquisition as both moat and liability (section 15; section 19).
At a glance
- Founded
- 2017, New York, by Hoan Ton-That (Australian-born software developer) and Richard Schwartz (former aide to Rudy Giuliani, reported), after moving assets from SmartCheckr, which they had co-founded in 2017 with Charles C. Johnson (reported)
- Headquarters
- New York (Manhattan); Delaware corporation
- Ownership / structure
- Private. Early investors include Peter Thiel and Kirenaga Partners (reported); Hal Lambert (Point Bridge Capital) an investor and later co-CEO (reported); BIPA class settlement would give US class members the value of a 23% stake at a liquidity event (approval vacated July 2026, remanded)
- Leadership (2026)
- Amos Kyler, CEO (listed as CEO in 2026 company and conference materials; joined as CTO in 2024; appointment date not confirmed, verify); Richard Schwartz (co-founder; co-CEO from December 2024, current role verify); Hal Lambert (co-CEO from December 2024, current role verify). Hoan Ton-That: CEO to December 2024, president to February 2025, removed from the board by shareholders (April 2025, reported)
- AI products
- Clearview AI search platform for law enforcement and government (face search against the scraped database); Clearview Consent (2022, face matching on customer-supplied images, without the scraped database, for private-sector identity verification); mobile app for officers
- Scale
- Database ~3bn images (January 2020, NYT); >10bn (October 2021, company); ~50bn (June 2024, company, via Biometric Update); >70bn (2025–26, reported, verify). >1m US law-enforcement searches in 2022, roughly doubling in 2023 (company). Accounts at ~2,200 organisations in 27 countries in the leaked February 2020 client list (BuzzFeed News)
- Capital raised
- ~$8.4m initial funding (reported); ~$8.6m (2020, reported); ~$30m Series B (2021, reported). Valuation ~$225m as of January 2024 (company submission cited by the Seventh Circuit)
- Key relationships
- US federal, state and local police; ICE (~$9.2m contract, September 2025, reported); CBP (~$225,000, February 2026, reported); Ukraine's defence ministry and agencies (free accounts from March 2022)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding and scraping the open web (2017); the NYT exposé, platform cease-and-desists and client-list leak (2020); the ACLU settlement and private-sector ban (2022); European fines (2022); Ukraine wartime deployment (2022); the UK tribunal win and its reversal (2023–25); the Dutch €30.5m fine and the noyb criminal complaint (2024–25); the BIPA class settlement paid in equity (2024–26); the leadership change and federal pivot (2025–26)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2017
Founding and Scraping the Open Web
Founding
2020
NYT Expose Cease and Desist and Client List Leak
Press exposé / platform action / security incident
2022
ACLU Settlement and the Private Sector Ban
Lawsuit or settlement
2022
European Fines Italy Greece France and the UK
Regulatory action
2022
Ukraine Wartime Deployment
Launch / government partnership (donated)
2023
UK Tribunal Win and the 2025 Reversal
Regulatory action / appeal
2024
BIPA Class Settlement Equity Stake
Lawsuit or settlement
2024
Dutch 30 5m Fine and the noyb Criminal Complaint
Regulatory action / criminal complaint
2025
Leadership Change and the Federal Contracts Pivot
Leadership change / government contracts