Samsung Next invest in Memories.ai for privacy-focused AI video analysis

Samsung Next has invested in Memories.ai, a startup developing artificial intelligence technology to analyze long-form video content. The investment is part of an $8 million seed funding round led by Susa Ventures including Fusion Fund, Crane Ventures, Seedcamp and Creator Ventures.

The platform developed by Memories.ai is designed to process and analyse up to 10 million hours of video, enabling businesses to search, segment, and aggregate insights from large volumes of footage. While the startup targets marketing and security companies, according to the media reports, the company's interest in the technology centers on its potential for privacy-sensitive applications.

“One thing we liked about Memories.ai is that it could do a lot of on-device computing. That means you don’t necessarily need to store video data in the cloud. This can unlock better security applications for people who are apprehensive of putting security cameras in their house because of privacy concerns,” said Sam Campbell, a partner at Samsung Next.

The platform's system uses a proprietary tech stack to reduce video noise, compress data, and make video libraries searchable through natural-language queries.

The platform's co-founder, Dr. Shawn Shen reportedly said, “All top AI companies, such as Google, OpenAI, and Meta, are focused on producing end-to-end models. Those capabilities are good, but these models often have limitations around understanding video context beyond one or two hours".

Currently, according to reports, The platform's works with companies that upload their video libraries to the platform for analysis. Future updates aim to support syncing through shared drives and more advanced query functions.

“Shen is a highly technical founder, and he is obsessed with pushing boundaries of video understanding and intelligence,” said Misha Gordon-Rowe, a partner at Susa Ventures. “Memories.ai can unlock a lot of first-party visual intelligence data with its solution. We felt that there was a gap in the market for long context visual intelligence, which attracted us to invest in the company,” he added.

The company's investment reportedly signals its interest in AI applications that can operate on-device without depending on centralized cloud storage, potentially addressing data security and privacy concerns among users of home surveillance systems and smart devices.