Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, has announced a strategic investment in Resemble AI, a California-based company specializing in AI voice generation and real-time multimodal deepfake detection.
The investment follows Resemble AI’s $13 million strategic funding round completed in December, which attracted backing from major global investors including Google’s AI Future Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Javelin Venture Partners, and Ubiquity Ventures.
Addressing the Rising Threat of AI-Generated Fraud
The move comes at a time when AI-generated fraud and deepfake attacks are rising sharply worldwide. Industry estimates suggest that deepfake-related scams caused more than $25 billion in losses in 2024, with projected damages expected to exceed $40 billion globally by 2027.
In response, Saudi Arabia is strengthening regulatory frameworks around AI governance and cybersecurity, including its Anti-Cybercrime Law, which criminalizes the spread of misinformation or manipulated media that threatens public security or national interests.
Wa’ed Ventures’ investment is expected to support Resemble AI’s expansion into the Middle East, enabling organizations across the region to deploy advanced detection systems designed to identify synthetic media and AI-generated content in real time.
“At Wa’ed Ventures, our role goes beyond funding,” said Anas Algahtani, CEO of Wa’ed Ventures. “We work closely with founders to scale technologies that can compete globally while aligning with Saudi Arabia’s strategic priorities. As the Kingdom strengthens AI governance and digital trust frameworks, solutions like Resemble AI’s deepfake detection technology play a key role in enabling secure and ethical AI adoption.”
Expansion into the Gulf
According to Zohaib Ahmed, Co-Founder and CEO of Resemble AI, the Middle East has seen a dramatic increase in AI-driven fraud cases.
“The region is facing an unprecedented surge in AI-generated fraud — deepfake incidents in Saudi Arabia alone increased 600% last year,” Ahmed said. “Organizations across the Gulf need detection systems they can deploy within their own infrastructure with the speed and accuracy required to stop threats in real time. Wa’ed’s support accelerates our ability to bring that protection to the region.”
Resemble AI’s platform supports both cloud-based and on-premise deployment, allowing governments, defense institutions, and regulated organizations to analyze voice and audio content without transferring sensitive data to external servers — a critical requirement for many public sector and enterprise clients in the region.
Building Secure AI Infrastructure
As governments and enterprises increasingly adopt generative AI technologies, the demand for AI security, verification, and authenticity tools is expected to grow rapidly. By backing companies like Resemble AI, Wa’ed Ventures aims to help position Saudi Arabia as a regional hub for responsible AI innovation and cybersecurity infrastructure.
Founded in California, Resemble AI develops AI voice generation and multimodal verification technologies designed to detect synthetic audio and media manipulation in real time across highly regulated industries.
Source: Zawya
