AI FORENSICS LIMITED
AI Forensics is a European non-profit that conducts independent adversarial audits of algorithmic and AI systems, releasing free auditing tools and publishing investigations used by journalists, regulators, and civil-society partners to hold major technology platforms accountable.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- Headquarters—
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What AI FORENSICS LIMITED does
AI Forensics Limited is a European non-profit research organization founded in 2021 by Claudio Agosti, Marc Faddoul, and Salvatore Romano, building on seven years of prior platform-accountability work conducted as the Tracking Exposed project since 2016. The organization develops and operates an independent evidence-collection infrastructure that uses sock-puppeting, scraping, and user data donation to gather behavioral data on algorithms without relying on official platform APIs. This infrastructure has supported dozens of research projects and audits across major platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Meta, X, Snapchat, Amazon, Telegram, and Microsoft Copilot, with investigations producing datasets at scale — for example, 2.8 million messages across 16 Telegram channels, 46,000+ fraudulent Meta health advertisements reaching 292M+ impressions, and 354 Agentic AI Accounts generating 4.5 billion views across 20 languages.
The organization's core products are (1) free-software algorithmic auditing tools released to lower technical barriers for the research community, (2) data-donation and mobile-auditing infrastructure for automated evidence collection at scale, and (3) published technical investigations and reports. Supporting research artifacts include the Agentic AI Accounts Codebook, "The Human Guide to Detecting AI Imagery," the YouTube Safety Panel Monitor Dashboard, and the TikTok API Accessibility Playground. A transdisciplinary team spanning computer science, law, ethics, sociology, psychology, and communications interprets the collected data, with AI/ML techniques (NLP, computer vision, anomaly detection) used as core investigative instruments to classify content, detect synthetic media, and identify algorithmic harms across multiple languages and modalities.
AI Forensics has no commercial revenue model; the organization is funded by philanthropic grants from foundations including Open Society Foundations, Luminate, Mozilla Foundation, SIDN, Civitates, EAISF, GSF, and Limelight. Its beneficiaries are journalists (via a network generating coverage in The Guardian, Le Monde, Wired, Washington Post, BBC, FT, Politico, Der Spiegel, and others), policymakers and regulators (European Commission, ARCOM, Ofcom), researchers, and civil-society partners (Amnesty International, AlgorithmWatch, Nieuwsuur, Fundación Maldita.es, CheckFirst, Hybrid Election Integrity Observatory). AI Forensics' investigations have triggered formal regulatory action, including Ofcom's investigation into Telegram under the Online Safety Act and European Commission inquiry proceedings on Meta political advertising.
AI FORENSICS LIMITED firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AI FORENSICS LIMITED
- Legal name
- AI FORENSICS
- Website
- https://aiforensics.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- AI Forensics is a European non-profit that conducts independent adversarial audits of algorithmic and AI systems, releasing free auditing tools and publishing investigations used by journalists, regulators, and civil-society partners to hold major technology platforms accountable.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AI FORENSICS LIMITED industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Algorithmic Auditing and Platform Accountability Research
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Audit, Explainability & Accountability Tooling (traceability, reporting) (HDAAAKAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE), AI Privacy Engineering & Data Governance (PII, consent, retention) (HDAAAKAB)
Keywords
AI FORENSICS LIMITED business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Foundation Grants and Donations: AI Forensics operates as a European non-profit organization funded through grants and donations from foundations and institutional funders. Their funding supports the development of auditing tools, conducting investigations, and policy advocacy work.
- Partnership Collaborations: Collaborative partnerships with civil society organizations, academic institutions, and other NGOs where AI Forensics provides technical expertise in exchange for collaborative research outputs.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
AI FORENSICS LIMITED product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AI Forensics develops and operates adversarial algorithmic-auditing infrastructure and conducts independent technical investigations into opaque recommendation, advertising, and generative-AI systems on major platforms. Its core deliverables are free/open-source auditing tools (sock-puppeting, scraping, data-donation methodologies developed since 2016), high-profile published investigations, and interactive monitoring dashboards.
Product overview
AI Forensics is a European non-profit research organization (not a commercial product company) that investigates influential and opaque algorithms. Their core offerings consist of free-software algorithmic auditing tools for the research community, data donation infrastructure for automated evidence collection at scale, and published technical investigations/reports. Supporting research tools include the Agentic AI Accounts Codebook for classifying automated content producers, The Human Guide to Detecting AI Imagery for synthetic media verification, and various monitoring dashboards (YouTube Safety Panel Monitor, TikTok API Accessibility Playground). Their methodology combines sock-puppeting, scraping, and user data donation with transdisciplinary analysis to hold major technology platforms accountable.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Algorithmic Auditing Tools Free, open-source software tools that allow researchers to mimic user behaviors and collect behavioral data on opaque algorithms using sock-puppeting, scraping, and data-donation methods, enabling independent audits of platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Meta, Amazon, Snapchat, and others.
- Data Donation Infrastructure Adversarial evidence-collection infrastructure supporting data-donation methodologies and automated data collection at scale across mobile and web platforms for use in research projects and platform-accountability studies.
- Research Reports and Investigations High-profile, publicly released technical investigations into algorithmic harms on major platforms—TikTok, Meta, YouTube, Amazon, Snapchat, X, Telegram, and generative AI systems—delivering actionable insights for journalists, policymakers, regulators, and litigators.
- Agentic AI Accounts (AAA) Codebook Research-tool documentation and classification system for identifying and analyzing Agentic AI Accounts—automated profiles used to perform rapid, repetitive testing of platform algorithms and to produce AI-generated content at scale.
- The Human Guide to Detecting AI Imagery Publicly available expert guide for detecting AI-generated still and moving imagery, structured as steps for assessing synthetic media including AI telltales, synthetic artifacts, digital provenance, and verification techniques.
- YouTube Safety Panel Monitor Dashboard Public interactive dashboard providing real-time monitoring of YouTube safety-panel availability across languages, displaying the presence of Topical Context Information Panels and Publisher Context panels through interactive graphs.
- TikTok API Accessibility Playground Public dashboard for daily monitoring of TikTok Research API accessibility, tracking video-retrieval success rates to verify whether data-access issues persist over time.
Quantifiable outcome
- European Commission launched formal investigation proceedings citing AI Forensics report on Meta political ads
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use AI FORENSICS LIMITED
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
AI FORENSICS LIMITED technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature4 records
AI FORENSICS LIMITED partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- Mozilla FoundationcoreCollaborative research partner on TikTok Lite safety investigation and broader platform accountability work. Joint publications and advocacy campaigns.
- Amnesty InternationalcoreHuman rights organization collaborating on TikTok mental health investigation. Joint two-part audit examining TikTok's content recommendation system impact on youth in Kenya, Philippines, and USA.
- Algorithmic Transparency InitiativecoreCivil society organization partnering on TikTok mental health investigation examining algorithmic content recommendation impacts on youth.
- AlgorithmWatchcoreResearch organization collaborating on Microsoft Copilot analysis during Swiss and Bavarian elections. Joint investigation testing chatbot reliability and election information quality.
- NieuwsuurcoreDutch broadcaster collaborating on chatbot moderation investigation evaluating AI company safeguards across different chatbots, languages, and electoral contexts.
- CheckFirstsupportingVerification organization collaborating on Amazon risky recommendations investigation examining search results on Belgian and French bookstores.
- Fundación Maldita.escoreSpanish fact-checking organization collaborating on climate disinformation investigation following Valencia floods, analyzing YouTube and TikTok content.
- Interface's TikTok Audit TeamcoreAcademic research team collaborating on TikTok 'Others Searched For' feature investigation examining political information discovery and search suggestion impacts.
- Hybrid Election Integrity ObservatorycoreCoalition of organizations monitoring election integrity across social platforms, with AI Forensics contributing analysis during Dutch parliamentary elections 2025 alongside four other organizations.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
AI FORENSICS LIMITED competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AlgorithmWatch: Germany-based non-profit conducting algorithmic auditing and accountability research; confirmed co-investigation partner with AI Forensics on Microsoft Copilot election reliability. Same mission, similar methodology, and overlapping civil-society positioning.
- Access Now: Global digital rights non-profit defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk. Engages in similar regulatory advocacy, strategic litigation, and policy testimony on platform accountability issues.
- EU DisinfoLab: European non-profit focused on tackling sophisticated disinformation operations, with overlapping investigations on political advertising, election integrity, and platform accountability across the EU.
- The Markup: US non-profit newsroom that investigates how technology shapes society, with a focus on algorithmic accountability and platform harms. Operates with a similar model: investigative journalism backed by technical evidence collection and data-driven audits.
- Data & Society: US-based research institute studying the social implications of data-centric technologies and automation. Publishes research on algorithmic accountability, AI ethics, and platform governance that informs the same policy debates AI Forensics targets.
- Citizen Lab: University of Toronto interdisciplinary research lab investigating digital surveillance, platform governance, and technology-enabled human rights abuses. Highly comparable methodology combining technical investigation, policy engagement, and adversarial evidence collection.
Broad incumbents
- Mozilla Foundation: Major internet health non-profit and confirmed AI Forensics funder/partner on TikTok Lite research. Broader mandate across open web, privacy, and AI trustworthiness, but overlapping platform accountability focus and shared grantee ecosystem.
- Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT): Established US digital rights policy non-profit with broader advocacy scope. Regularly testifies on AI regulation and platform accountability, frequently engaging EU regulators alongside AI Forensics' target audience.
Emerging players
- Witness Media Lab: Global non-profit focused on using video and technology for human rights documentation. Thematically adjacent in the civil-society investigative ecosystem, with overlapping funder networks (OSF) and similar evidence-to-advocacy pipelines.
- Tactical Tech: Berlin-based non-profit producing public-interest investigations and tools on technology's societal impact. Smaller scale than AI Forensics but operates in adjacent investigative and capacity-building spaces with civil society partners.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
AI FORENSICS LIMITED social profiles
Digital presenceAI FORENSICS LIMITED financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AI FORENSICS LIMITED leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
AI FORENSICS LIMITED funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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AI FORENSICS LIMITED M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AI FORENSICS LIMITED
What does AI FORENSICS LIMITED do?
AI Forensics develops and operates adversarial algorithmic-auditing infrastructure and conducts independent technical investigations into opaque recommendation, advertising, and generative-AI systems on major platforms. Its core deliverables are free/open-source auditing tools (sock-puppeting, scraping, data-donation methodologies developed since 2016), high-profile published investigations, and interactive monitoring dashboards.
Is AI FORENSICS LIMITED a public or private company?
AI FORENSICS LIMITED is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was AI FORENSICS LIMITED founded?
AI FORENSICS LIMITED was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
How does AI FORENSICS LIMITED make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Foundation Grants and Donations are the primary driver. The others are partnership Collaborations.
Who are AI FORENSICS LIMITED's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AlgorithmWatch, Access Now, EU DisinfoLab, The Markup, Data & Society and Citizen Lab. Broad incumbents are Mozilla Foundation and Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). Emerging players are Witness Media Lab and Tactical Tech.
Does AI FORENSICS LIMITED have an API?
No public API is recorded for AI FORENSICS LIMITED.
What industry is AI FORENSICS LIMITED in?
AI FORENSICS LIMITED's product category is Algorithmic Auditing and Platform Accountability Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAKAL, Audit, Explainability & Accountability Tooling (traceability, reporting), with a secondary code of HDAAAMAE, Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7373.