10 Most Innovative Asian AI Startups — Part 3
By Terry Bu | 07 Oct, 2025

These Asian-founded startups introduce AI use cases that boggle the imagination and stretch the limits of socially acceptable uses.

Here are numbers 7 through 10 of the 10 AI startups founded by Asian leaders putting AI technology to fascinating uses likely to have groundbreaking impact on various industries.  Some also illustrate the societal risks and challenges that AI development is likely to pose in coming years.

Yutori co-founders (left to right) Abhishek Das, Devi Parikh and Dhruv Batra. (Yutori photo)

7. Yutori

Yutori builds AI web monitoring assistants called “Scouts” that can real-time monitor activity across any website  and perform tasks you may want to automate, like alerting you when a tennis court becomes available on a local park court booking website, ordering groceries, or tracking campground reservations.   Scouts can also handle more complex projects like planning and co-ordinating a group trip.  It has recently come out of stealth mode after being co-founded in 2024 in San Francisco by a superstar team: Abhishek Das, Devi Parikh and Dhruv Batra.

Marqvision founder and CEO Mark Lee.  (Marqvision Photo)

8. MarqVision 

MarqVision, founded in 2021, provides an AI-powered platform for detecting and removing pirated content and counterfeit products online, as well as other intellectual property infringements.  Their services help brands with tasks like real-time monitoring, enforcement, IP management, and brand exposure reporting across a global network of marketplaces and websites.  

Korean American founder and CEO Mark Lee attended Harvard Law School but pivoted into tech entrepreneurship after learning that counterfeiting is the world’s top criminal enterprise.  He now leads MarqVision which serves more than 350 clients worldwide across industries ranging from fashion and luxury to gaming, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, automotive, and consumer electronics. 

MarqVision is an LA-based Series B startup backed by notable investors including Y Combinator.

9. Clearview AI 

Clearview AI (https://www.clearview.ai/) is an AI facial-recognition technology provider founded in 2017 by Vietnamese Australian Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz whom Hoan met at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.  Its technology allows users to upload an image of a face and find where matches of that face can be found online.  

Law enforcement use of its facial recognition software has grown rapidly in the United States.  In 2020 US officials found Clearview's facial recognition to be far superior in identifying perpetrators from any angle than those of previous vendors.  Clearview AI has been used to uncover members of an international drug smuggling network and locating a fleeing homicide suspect in crowded environments.  Since then Clearview AI has grown rapidly in countries like Canada, India, Sweden and Ukraine.  

Clearview AI's facial recognition algorithm was independently tested by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and achieved over 99% accuracy across various ethnicities and genders. The AI algorithm essentially matches faces against a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the internet, including social media applications.  

Clearview drew heated controversy on allegations the company violated the privacy rights and infringed photos of users on Twitter, Google, YouTube, Facebook and other social media apps.  Following a 2022 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union, Clearview agreed to stop selling its services to private individuals and businesses within the U.S.  As a result its use is now limited to government and law enforcement agencies.  

Ton-That stepped down as its CEO in late 2024 and remains a board member.  The company’s initial investors included Peter Thiel.

Tolbit co-founder amd COO Olivia Joslin and co-founder and CEO Toshit Panagrahi.  (Tolbit Photo)

10. Tollbit

TollBit exists to address the growing challenge publishers face from AI bots scraping their content.  As AI increasingly uses website content without proper compensation, publishers risk losing revenue, visibility, and audience engagement.  TollBit solves this by enabling publishers to track AI activity and monetize content access effectively.  Currently, TollBit is trusted by over 2,000 leading publisher websites—and this number continues to grow rapidly.

Tolbit's Indian American CEO Toshit Panigrahi co-founded Tolbit in 2023 in New York, NY.