Reality Defender Wins US-Japan Challenge to Fight 243% Deepfake Spike

The Reality Defender team is proud to announce our victory alongside PeakMetrics in the 2025 US-Japan Global Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Japan's Ministry of Defense Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA). 

This challenge specifically focuses on advancing AI-driven command and control decision-making to strengthen resilience against information warfare — a crucial capability as AI threats intensify across Japan and globally. With Japan experiencing a staggering 243% year-over-year increase in deepfake incidents (per Sumsub), Reality Defender is stepping up to meet this challenge head-on. 

Leading the Fight Against Japan’s Deepfake Crisis

Selected from a competitive field of participants, Reality Defender’s joint solution with PeakMetrics leverages AI-powered narrative intelligence and deepfake detection to enable agencies to defend against foreign malign influence and deceptive media. This capability is essential for maintaining information integrity in an era when AI-manipulated content can undermine trust and compromise national security. The partnership is particularly timely for Japan, which experienced a shocking 28x increase in deepfake incidents in 2024.

Our combined security solution addresses the urgent need for real-time detection capabilities in military and intelligence contexts where information integrity is mission-critical. PeakMetrics' advanced AI and machine learning capabilities enable continuous monitoring of narratives in the information environment, surfacing critical context around emerging threats and identifying adversarial influence campaigns.

Reality Defender's robust deepfake detection technology bolsters this process by reliably identifying AI-generated or manipulated content across audio, video, and images. This combined approach equips defense agencies with real-time insights to counter false information and safeguard strategic decision-making.

Global Partnerships Against AI Deception

This recognition from DIU and ATLA represents a significant milestone in our fight against AI-enabled deception. The innovation challenge confirms that Japan’s defense agencies are fully prioritizing the deepfake threat as, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, the country combats the second-highest increase in deepfake fraud in the Asia Pacific region.

Our cutting-edge detection capabilities are now positioned to help Japanese defense and intelligence agencies maintain information integrity during this surge. By combining forces with PeakMetrics and gaining this prestigious recognition, Reality Defender is proving that when it comes to defeating sophisticated AI deception, international collaboration isn't just valuable – it's essential to preserving global digital trust as bad actors weaponize AI to attack states, institutions, and individuals. 

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