Veritone

Veritone, Inc. is an American artificial-intelligence technology company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Irvine, California. It develops software and related services that apply machine learning and other AI techniques to large collections of audio, video, images, text, and operational data. Its customers and use cases span commercial enterprises, media organizations, government agencies, law-enforcement bodies, district attorney offices, and entertainment companies. The company’s central technology platform is aiWARE, a software environment designed to let organizations deploy and combine multiple AI engines for tasks such as speech recognition, transcription, translation, object and image recognition, content classification, search, redaction, and media analytics. Rather than limiting customers to one model or one modality, the platform is positioned as an orchestration and application layer for extracting structured information from unstructured content. This approach supports workflows in which organizations need to search archives, identify entities or objects, generate metadata, create transcripts, or review evidence at scale. Veritone has developed products for several specialized markets. In media and entertainment, its software supports content discovery, transcription, metadata creation, licensing, and analysis of broadcast or archival material. The company’s wholly owned businesses include Veritone One, an advertising agency, and Veritone Digital, which provides content-management and licensing-related services. Veritone has also supplied technology to media companies and has been associated with customers and projects including iHeartMedia and the NotForgotten Digital Preservation Library. In the public-sector and public-safety market, Veritone offers tools intended to process investigative and evidentiary material. Veritone Redact is designed to locate and obscure personally identifiable or otherwise sensitive information in video and photographic evidence. Veritone’s Track product analyzes visual characteristics in video to help identify and follow people or vehicles. Its use by law-enforcement organizations has attracted civil-liberties criticism because the product’s broader visual-attribute approach raises questions about whether it can avoid restrictions aimed at automated facial recognition and license-plate recognition. The legal and policy status of such applications has remained unsettled. Veritone has also pursued opportunities in energy analytics. In 2020 it announced Veritone Energy, a tool intended to help predict energy-supply mixes and pricing in relation to grid demand. The Energy division was later acquired by GridBeyond in July 2023, indicating a narrower focus on the company’s core AI software and services activities. Veritone became a publicly traded company on May 12, 2017. The company has reported substantial investment and operating losses during its development period, including a reported $59.6 million loss in 2017. In 2020 it received a $6.5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan, then returned the entire amount after public scrutiny regarding the appropriateness of the assistance for a publicly traded company and attention to executive compensation. Ryan Steelberg serves as president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board. Veritone maintains its principal base in Southern California and has reported additional offices or operations in locations including San Diego, Denver, Binghamton, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London.

Veritone was founded in 2014 by Chad Steelberg and Ryan Steelberg as an artificial-intelligence technology company. From its early development, the company focused on applying machine learning to audio, video, and other unstructured information. Its strategy centered on enabling organizations to use multiple AI engines within a common software environment rather than building separate systems for each recognition or classification task. The company’s principal platform became aiWARE. The platform was designed to support functions including automatic speech recognition, transcription, translation, image and object recognition, search, metadata generation, and content classification. These capabilities gave Veritone a route into several industries where organizations hold large volumes of media or evidentiary material but need to make that material searchable and operationally useful. Veritone developed a presence in media and entertainment, government, public safety, and related commercial markets. Its software has been used by media organizations and by projects concerned with preserving and indexing archival content. The company’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Veritone One, an advertising agency, and Veritone Digital, a business associated with content management and licensing. Veritone software has also been used in workflows involving broadcasters, movie studios, law-enforcement agencies, and district attorney offices. A significant stage in the company’s corporate development came on May 12, 2017, when Veritone became publicly traded. The company continued investing in product development and market expansion, but reported a $59.6 million loss for 2017, reflecting the costs and financial pressure associated with scaling an emerging technology business. In 2020, Veritone entered the energy-analytics field with the announcement of Veritone Energy. The product was intended to use AI to forecast the most suitable energy-supply mix and associated pricing in response to grid demand. The initiative was later separated from the core business: GridBeyond acquired the Energy division on July 9, 2023. Veritone also became involved in public debate over AI-enabled surveillance. Its Track product was described as analyzing video to identify and follow individuals using multiple visual characteristics, and as being capable of tracking vehicles by make, model, and other attributes. The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the product, arguing that this approach could avoid regulatory boundaries designed for facial-recognition and automated license-plate systems. The technology was evaluated or used by law-enforcement organizations in the United States, while the legality and policy implications of such practices remained unsettled. The company faced separate scrutiny in 2020 after receiving $6.5 million in federally backed Paycheck Protection Program financing from Sunwest Bank. The program was intended to support eligible small and private businesses during the COVID-19 economic crisis. Public reporting questioned the appropriateness of the loan for a publicly traded company and discussed compensation associated with the Steelberg brothers. In May 2020, Veritone announced that it would repay the entire loan, saying it had sufficient financial flexibility and alternative means of maintaining its capital position. Veritone is headquartered in Irvine, California, and has reported additional offices or operations in San Diego, Denver, Binghamton, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. Ryan Steelberg is identified as the company’s president, chief executive officer, and board chairman. Its business remains focused on AI software and services for processing media, evidence, and other enterprise data, while its former energy activity has moved outside the company through the GridBeyond transaction.

1. 2023Energy division acquired by GridBeyond

   GridBeyond acquired Veritone’s Energy division on July 9, 2023.

   Source
2. 2020Paycheck Protection Program loan received and returned

   Veritone received a $6.5 million federally backed loan and later returned the full amount after public scrutiny.

   Source
3. 2020Veritone Energy announced

   The company announced an AI energy tool for forecasting supply mix and pricing in relation to grid demand.

   Source
4. 2017Public listing

   Veritone became a publicly traded company on May 12, 2017.

   Source
5. 2014Company founded

   Chad Steelberg and Ryan Steelberg founded Veritone as an artificial-intelligence technology company.

   Source

An enterprise and public-sector AI technology provider focused on turning unstructured audio, video, image, and text data into searchable, operational information through a multi-engine software platform.

• aiWAREAI platform

  Veritone’s principal AI software platform is designed to orchestrate multiple AI engines and apply them to unstructured data. It supports workflows such as speech recognition, transcription, translation, image and object analysis, search, classification, and metadata generation. The platform is intended for organizations that need to process large audio, video, image, or text collections and turn them into searchable or operational information.

• Veritone RedactDigital evidence and privacy software

  Veritone Redact is designed to detect and obscure personally identifiable, sensitive, or compromising information in video and photographic evidence. Its target users include police departments, public agencies, and compliance-oriented organizations that must prepare records for disclosure while protecting identities and other restricted information. GovQA has been identified as one organization using the product.

• Veritone TrackVideo analytics and investigative software

  Veritone Track analyzes video using visual characteristics to help identify and follow people or vehicles. The product has been evaluated or used in U.S. law-enforcement contexts. Its broader approach to visual attributes has prompted criticism from civil-liberties advocates, who have raised questions about surveillance, biometric regulation, and whether vehicle analysis can avoid restrictions associated with automated license-plate recognition.

• Veritone OneAdvertising agency

  Veritone One is a wholly owned subsidiary operating as an advertising agency. It forms part of Veritone’s broader commercial offering and is connected to the company’s media, advertising, and analytics activities.

• Veritone DigitalContent management and licensing services

  Veritone Digital is a wholly owned subsidiary providing content-management and licensing-related services. It supports the organization and commercial use of media assets and complements Veritone’s AI-based transcription, metadata, search, and content-intelligence capabilities.

• Veritone EnergyEnergy analytics software2020

  Veritone Energy was an AI tool announced in 2020 to predict optimal energy-supply mixes and pricing in response to electricity-grid demand. The Energy division was acquired by GridBeyond in July 2023 and is therefore no longer a current Veritone business division.

• 2023Divestiture of the Energy divisionM&A

  Veritone’s energy analytics activity was separated from its principal AI software and services business.

  What changed. GridBeyond acquired Veritone’s Energy division on July 9, 2023.

  Aftermath. The transaction removed the Energy division from Veritone’s portfolio and left the company more concentrated on its other AI applications and services.

  Source
• 2020Return of Paycheck Protection Program financingOther

  Veritone received $6.5 million in federally backed pandemic-relief financing, which generated public criticism concerning the company’s status as a public corporation and questions about the intended beneficiaries of the program.

  What changed. The company announced that it would return the full $6.5 million loan.

  Aftermath. Veritone said it had adequate financial flexibility and other ways to maintain its capital position after repaying the funds.

  Paycheck Protection Program loan. $6.5 million received → $0 retained after repayment (2020)

  Source
• 2020Launch of Veritone EnergyProduct launch

  Veritone sought to apply its AI capabilities to energy-market and electricity-grid planning.

  What changed. The company announced Veritone Energy, a tool intended to predict energy-supply mix and pricing in response to grid demand.

  Aftermath. GridBeyond acquired the Energy division in July 2023.

  Source

• 2020Paycheck Protection Program loan controversyControversy

  Veritone’s receipt of a $6.5 million federally backed Paycheck Protection Program loan attracted scrutiny because the program was intended to support small and private businesses and because Veritone was publicly traded. Reporting also drew attention to compensation for the Steelberg brothers. Veritone returned the entire loan in May 2020.

  Source
• Criticism of Veritone Track surveillance applicationsControversy

  The American Civil Liberties Union criticized Veritone Track’s ability to identify and follow people and vehicles using visual characteristics. The criticism focused on potential circumvention of rules governing facial recognition and automated license-plate surveillance, as well as unresolved legal and civil-liberties questions surrounding law-enforcement use.

  Source

• 2023GridBeyond acquires Veritone Energy

  GridBeyond acquired Veritone’s Energy division on July 9, 2023.

  M&A
  Source
• 2020Veritone announces Veritone Energy

  The company announced an AI product intended to forecast energy-supply mixes and pricing in order to help meet electricity-grid demand.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2017Veritone becomes a publicly traded company

  Veritone went public on May 12, 2017. The company reported a loss of $59.6 million for that year.

  Other
  Source

1. Veritone
2. Veritone official website