After a deepfake voice fooled her grandfather, this founder sprang into action

September 28, 2026 Connie Loizos

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After her grandfather was scammed by a deepfake of his brother's voice, Tarini Padmanabhuni founded DetectifAI, a San Francisco startup building AI models small enough to run directly on smartphones and flag fake voices in real time, and it's now one of the companies competing in Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt.

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Source: Inference provider Modal Labs closing in on $750M round at $15.75B valuation

After a deepfake voice fooled her grandfather, this founder sprang into action

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The last day to book your Disrupt 2026 exhibit table is this Friday, October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Secure your exhibit table and get your startup in front of 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech...