Based in China, SenseTime develops facial recognition technology that can be applied to payment and picture analysis. It is used in banks and security systems. Its valuation is impressive, racking several billion dollars in recent years. The company specializes in deep learning, education, and fintech. SenseTime is one of the leading AI software companies in China and has been involved in many industry verticals such as smart business, smart city, smart life, and smart auto. It has also collaborated with various partners such as Qualcomm, Honda, and MIT to advance AI research and innovation. However, it has also faced allegations of human rights violations due to its involvement in the surveillance and internment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang. SenseTime denies these allegations and claims to be committed to ethical and sustainable AI development.
It is a partly state-owned Hong Kong-headquartered artificial intelligence company that develops technologies including facial recognition, image recognition, object detection, optical character recognition, medical image analysis, video analysis, autonomous driving, and remote sensing. It was founded in 2014 by Tang Xiao’ou and Xu Li, among others. It has offices in markets including Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and South Korea. It also has presence in Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
SenseTime proposed an initial public offering in Hong Kong in mid-2021 but postponed the listing later that year after the U.S. government added it to a list of “Chinese military-industrial complex companies”. The company ended up doing its listing at the end of December 2021 at 3.85 Hong Kong dollars ($0.49) per share. It raised a total funding of $2.82 billion over nine rounds from 53 investors and was valued at $12 billion as of November 20214.