Kairos founder to lead company’s scientific advisory board
The founder of facial recognition firm Kairos is back with the company after being replaced as its CEO in 2018.
Brian Brackeen, an outspoken critic of bias in the facial recognition software industry, has been named chair of Kairos’ scientific advisory board.
“We are delighted to have Brian back at the company,” E. Jay Saunders, chairman of Kairos, said in a statement. “Now more than ever the world needs to address fairness and inclusiveness in [artificial intelligence] and Kairos continues its mission with Brian on board to deliver bias free face recognition software to the world. We look forward to having his insights and working with Brian to grow the company worldwide.”
In an email, Brackeen said he was asked to return to Kairos by the current board and investors to strengthen its thought leadership.
“Bias represents a huge societal problem, and also a huge opportunity for the firm,” he said. “As far as I am aware, I was the only Black CEO of a major facial recognition company. That experience can’t be learned. I’m happy to return to Chair the Advisory Board to direct the firm to its next milestone.”
Current company head Stephen Moore could not immediately be reached for comment.
Brackeen described Kairos as a company that provides facial recognition technology either directly
on-premise or through a software application. He said his first task as science board chair would be to direct the company to develop anti-bias software that would allow firms to detect
and fix biases in their algorithms. Now largely staffed in Singapore, he said the company hopes to expand and hire in Miami and the U.S. over time.
Brackeen founded the company in 2012. In 2018, he was ousted from the company amid allegations of corporate impropriety; Brackeen vigorously denied the charges. The dispute resulted in a suit and countersuit. The parties agreed last spring to a settlement that was not made public.
After his departure from Kairos, Brackeen focused on Lightship Capital, the venture group he co-founded with his wife, Candice. This past summer, Lightship raised $50 million to invest in founders from underrepresented demographics.
“It’s been the best 2.5 years of my life,” Brackeen tweeted March 20 as news of his return to Kairos broke. “Got married, launched a fund, and became the opposite of the terrible investor I had. @lightshipcap has backed 9 CEO’s so far with many more in the hopper. Life has been, and will continue to be, glorious.”