Truera Inc., a startup that works to give companies a better insight into how their artificial intelligence models make decisions, today mentionned that it closed a $ 12 million funding round led by Wing VC.

The investment comes just a few months after Truera launched from stealth mode. In total, the startup has raised more than $ 17 million to date.

The challenge that Redwood City, Calif., Based Truera has taken on is that it’s technically difficult to explain the decisions made by AI models. Modern neural networks are so complex that even the data scientists who created them can struggle to identify the factors behind a given decision. This is a problem because when AI is applied to sensitive tasks, such as medical research or loan processing, companies need to verify that the results obtained by a model are correct.

Truera has developed a software platform that she says can help. The platform, which builds on six years of research conducted by the startup’s co-founders at Carnegie Mellon University, maps the factors that contribute to a decision made by AI and the extent to which each influences the outcome. . A company with an AI that estimates package delivery times could use the software to check whether the model sufficiently takes traffic conditions into account when calculating arrival times.

The explainability of AI can also be important in other situations. Companies such as banks, for example, can sometimes be required to show regulators how an AI made a certain important decision.

According to Truera, its platform also facilitates other aspects of machine learning projects. Data scientists have access to a feature that allows them to compare multiple AI models with each other to determine which one is best for the task at hand. Then, after selecting and deploying a model, they can use the Truera platform to monitor for drops in neural network accuracy that may appear over time.

The explainability of AI appears to be a growing priority among the world’s largest companies. The startup disclosed during the funding today that it is already working with several Fortune 100 companies to help them build better models. “Truera is coming to market at the right time,” commented Truera CEO Will Uppington. “We are seeing strong demand for our model intelligence solutions, and this funding will help us accelerate recruitment, product development, and sales and marketing efforts. “

Besides Wing VC, the startup’s latest round saw participation from Greylock, who led their previous raise. The two companies were joined by several other institutional funders, including Conversion Capital, Data Community Fund, Ascent Fund of B Capital Group and Harpoon Ventures.

Image: Truera