Qualcomm Backs Spot AI’s Video AI Agent Technology

Spot AI has announced the launch of its Video AI Agents, marking a significant milestone in bringing agentic AI capabilities from the digital to the physical world. Video AI Agents help organizations instantly surface and resolve incidents across safety, security, and operations, delivering measurable ROI across manufacturing, education, retail, and auto services.

In addition to the launch of its flagship product, Spot AI has secured $31 million in new equity funding, bringing the total raised to $93 million. The latest round saw new investor Qualcomm Ventures participate alongside existing investors Scale Venture Partners, StepStone Group, Redpoint Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners. The round also saw participation from GSBackers, MVP Ventures, and Cheyenne Ventures.

Traditionally, video surveillance systems were limited to passive recording, basic search, and manual collaboration. Now Video AI Agents transform cameras from passive observers into proactive problem solvers that can autonomously identify issues and trigger responses without the need for human intervention. Examples include alerting key stakeholders, delivering analytics, activating lights and sounds, playing voice messages, triggering machine starts and stops if an incident or injury happens, or improving load and unload times in throughput-based businesses.

“Eighty per cent of our understanding of the world happens through eyes. That’s why we’re dedicated to helping our customers turn their video cameras into additional teammates,” said Rish Gupta, CEO of Spot AI, who co-founded the company with Sud Bhatija and Tanuj Thapliyal. “Our AI Agents see your physical space, use advanced AI to reason about what’s happening, and take actions in real-time. This funding allows us to push the boundaries of what’s possible and bring the power of AI from the screen to the physical spaces where we live and work.”

Spot AI today serves 1,000 customers across 17 industries, indexing more than twice the amount of video uploaded daily to YouTube, to make video data as accessible and actionable as any other type of data in industries facing safety risks, operational hurdles and productivity loss due to labour shortages and security breaches.

Cornel Stewart, an engineer at industrial foam manufacturer Elite Comfort Solutions, shared his experience: “Spot AI led us from having a video surveillance system to fully leveraging video AI to drive business results. Not only have we seen a reduction in injuries and incidents, but the system’s ability to identify potential hazards has allowed us to address issues before they escalate. It’s like having an extra set of expert eyes monitoring our facility 24/7.”

Spot AI has processed billions of hours of video data to deliver outcomes as highlighted in the following industries:

  1. Manufacturing: Directors of Safety are reducing injuries by 40 per cent by proactively identifying risks and improving safety procedures.
  2. Auto Services: Owners are quadrupling membership rates and increasing revenue by 10 per cent–leading to an 8X return on investment–by detecting when customer kiosks aren’t staffed and driving real-time accountability.
  3. Education: School principals reduce time spent on resolving incidents like fighting or theft by 80 per cent–getting hours back to focus on student learning.

Highlights of the platform and Video AI Agents:

  1. As major players like Apple, Meta, and OpenAI race to develop solutions in video AI and physical world applications, Spot AI is at the intersection of these frontiers in building agentic workflows.
  2. Powering Video AI agents is a powerful edge processing approach with three times more computing power than traditional AI cameras to deploy the latest video foundational models and AI capabilities.
  3. With the cost of camera sensors decreasing, Spot AI is turning high-quality video into a more accessible and ubiquitous data source.
  4. Spot AI’s open system allows businesses to harness the power of their existing video footage regardless of their vendor, positioning Spot AI as the intelligence layer that turns any camera into a Video AI Agent.
  5. The Video AI platform connects not only with industry-specific technologies but also sensors, hardware, and operating systems, allowing Spot AI to not only see and understand the physical world but also to automatically take action like a person would by communicating seamlessly across systems.

“We’re excited to invest in Spot AI as they execute on their mission to transform video signals into a powerful tool for industries around the globe,” said Tushar Gupta, Senior Director, Qualcomm Ventures at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Spot AI’s solutions help businesses quickly generate insights from their customers’ video feeds, turning them into a valuable resource that improves safety, security, and day-to-day operations. This closely aligns with Qualcomm’s vision of implementing AI on edge to solve real-world challenges.”

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