Pangram Secures $9 Million, Partners Substack and Launches AI Image Detection

2 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 2

$9 million in fresh funding gives Pangram new backing as the AI-detection startup expands from text into image verification and signs Substack as a customer.
Substack is using Pangram’s technology to show readers which newsletter authors use AI, extending the startup’s push to become a trust layer for online content.
Pangram says demand is rising as AI-generated material spreads beyond social feeds into job applications, product reviews and insurance claims, making simple human-versus-AI labels harder to rely on.
CEO Max Spero argues measuring how much AI shaped a piece of content may matter more than binary labels, while warning false positives—especially on sensitive images—carry high stakes.
The broader bet is that stronger detection tools will become essential if the internet moves closer to a “dead internet” scenario dominated by synthetic content.