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Forbes

Clearview AI's Founder Removed From Facial Recognition Company's Board

Hoan Ton-That had previously stepped down as Clearview AI CEO in December. After building one of the world's most controversial facial recognition companies for years, Clearview AI cofounder Hoan Ton-That has been pushed off the company's board, Forbes has learned. The move comes after Ton-That stepped down as CEO and became president in December due to the company's struggles to secure major federal government contracts and raise funding. He then resigned as president last month. Shareholders voted to remove Ton-That from the board on Tuesday, Clearview's co-CEO Hal Lambert told Forbes. 'We are taking the company in a different direction,' he said. Ton-That didn't respond to a request for comment. Ton-That, an Australian software engineer, cofounded Clearview in 2017 and raised funding from investors Peter Thiel and Naval Ravikant, eventually being valued at $130 million. The company soon gained notoriety for building a database of billions of images harvested from the internet without users' consent to power his company's facial recognition technology. After years of lawsuits, Clearview agreed to restrict its technology to government use. The company found success selling its technology to law enforcement clients, and often touted its work identifying child predators, abducted children and drug traffickers. However, it remained unprofitable, Forbes previously reported. In an effort to raise funding for Clearview, Ton-That last year discussed raising debt from Architect Capital, which provides private credit to risky clients. While the funding didn't go ahead, Ton-That announced last month that he had joined Architect as CTO. 'I have unique tech skills and legal background to really make this a reality,' he told the Wall Street Journal. Under Lambert, who now leads Clearview alongside longtime employee and co-CEO Richard Schwartz, the company is aiming to secure contracts that support President Donald Trump's agenda on immigration, defense and border security. Lambert, a major Republican donor, previously told Forbes that he had taken over to help make connections with the Trump administration. 'We're talking to the [Pentagon], we're talking to Homeland Security,' he said. 'There are a number of different agencies we're in active dialogue with.' MORE AT FORBES