HiddenLayer Clinches $50 Million in Series A Funding to Enhance AI Security

AI security provider HiddenLayer Today, HiddenLayer has shared the news of securing $50 million in Series A funding, led by M12, Microsoft's venture fund, and Moore Strategic Ventures.

The funding round attracted notable participants including Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Ten Eleven Ventures.

A research A commissioned report by the company indicates that 96% of businesses view machine learning (ML) as critical or vital to their operations. Yet, many of those surveyed still rely on traditional methods to combat risks to their ML systems.

Given this context, 80% of the surveyed individuals expressed a willingness to invest in solutions that could ensure the security and integrity of ML models within the next year.

"We understand that nearly all enterprises globally are currently leveraging AI in various forms, but it's also clear that no technology has reached such a high level of adoption without appropriate security measures in place,\" stated Chris Sestito, CEO and Co-Founder at HiddenLayer.

The company claims to provide protective measures for AI models utilized by Fortune 100 companies across various industries, including finance, government, defense, and cybersecurity. With this new funding, HiddenLayer plans to grow its workforce by hiring an additional 40 employees by the end of the year.

HiddenLayer asserts that its MLSec Platform features a selection of products designed to automate security for machine learning models. This includes solutions for detection and response, model scanning, and security audit reporting.

The company insists that its products can protect against adversarial threats, security vulnerabilities, and malicious code injections within ML models.

HiddenLayer's flagship offering, known as Machine Learning Detection and Response (MLDR), employs a software-based, non-invasive strategy to monitor the inputs and outputs of AI algorithms, delivering real-time protection for AI resources along with various responsive measures such as alert systems, isolation tactics, profiling, and deception techniques.

Founded in March 2022 by Sestito, Chief Scientist Tanner Burns, and CIO Jim Ballard, HiddenLayer arose from a genuine incident involving an adversarial AI attack that the three founders experienced.

While working at Cylance, a company leveraging deep learning to fight malware, Sestito, Burns, and Ballard encountered an event where attackers exploited vulnerabilities in the Windows executable ML model via an inference attack.

This incident revealed critical weaknesses and led to the development of undetectable binary files that compromised Cylance’s entire client base.

"Motivated by their personal experiences with an adversarial AI attack, the founders of HiddenLayer created a vital platform for any organization using AI and ML,\" noted Todd Graham, Managing Partner at M12, Microsoft’s venture fund. \"Their direct experience with such attacks, combined with their innovative perspective, uniquely positions the company as a premier solution for safeguarding these models.\"