Pangram’s Max Spero on why AI detection is harder than ‘Real or Fake’

Watch as Pangram co-founder and CEO Max Spero joins the Equity podcast to dig into the promise of AI detection tools and where to draw the line between AI assisted and AI generated.

Written by
Theresa Loconsolo
Published by
TechCrunch
Published
Length
159 words · 1 min
Pangram’s Max Spero on why AI detection is harder than ‘Real or Fake’
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The internet has a trust problem, and it’s not just because social media feeds are filling up with AI slop. AI-generated text and images are now making their way into job applications, product reviews, and even insurance claims, leaving platforms and users alike scrambling to figure out what’s real. 

A handful of startups have cropped up in the past couple of years to become the “trust layer” the internet needs — including Pangram. The startup recently snapped up $9 million for its AI detection system and landed a partnership with Substack, which is now using Pangram’s tech to show readers which of their favorite authors use AI to write their newsletters. Pangram also recently dropped a new AI image detection tool. 

Watch as Pangram co-founder and CEO Max Spero joins TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to dig into the promise of AI detection tools and where to draw the line between AI assisted and AI generated. 

Where this came from

This story was reported by Theresa Loconsolo and first published by TechCrunch on 2 September 2026. HUE Legacy Ventures did not write it.

Carried in full with attribution and a link to the original. Rights remain with the publisher, who may request removal at any time.

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