Milestone Systems acquires Berlin's brighter AI tech firm

Milestone Systems has announced its acquisition of Berlin-based technology company, brighter AI, which specialises in anonymisation solutions for video data.

Brighter AI, established in 2017 by Marian and Patrick Kern, provides anonymisation solutions which utilise deep learning technology to safeguard individuals' identities captured in public video data. This acquisition, effective from 1st April 2025, is expected to address prevalent concerns regarding data privacy and facilitate the development of AI technologies that require compliance with stringent privacy standards.

This acquisition marks a significant expansion of Milestone's portfolio, particularly enhancing its capabilities in offering video management software, video surveillance services, and video analytics. The inclusion of brighter AI's cutting-edge technology is poised to reinforce Milestone's recent initiative, Project Hafnia, which focuses on creating a compliant and effective data library for AI model training.

Thomas Jensen expressed his enthusiasm for the acquisition by stating, "Brighter AI is a perfect match for Milestone. Their proven technology is top-notch and will give us a wider offering to existing and future technology partners and customers. The anonymisation tool for video technology will also enhance our focus on responsible technology. Even more important, our two company cultures are highly compatible. Having known brighter AI for a while, as we have an established collaboration on Project Hafnia, I have complete faith that this will be a great benefit for all. I am indeed very pleased to welcome our new colleagues to Milestone."

The acquisition is positioned as part of a broader goal to boost Europe's competitiveness and leadership in the global AI and technology sectors by merging two prominent European tech companies with a shared commitment to responsible AI innovation.

Brighter AI's groundbreaking anonymisation technology, renowned as the only available solution for Deep Natural Anonymisation, detects personal identifiers in video data and generates synthetic replacements, a feat that garnered them the title "Europe's Hottest AI Startup" by Nvidia. The 24 employees at brighter AI will continue their work as part of Milestone's separate business division.

Marian Gläser, co-founder of brighter AI, commented on the merger, "Brighter AI was founded with the mission to make visual data usable in a privacy-preserving way. Joining Milestone Systems marks an exciting new chapter—together, we can scale that mission to a global level out of Europe. Milestone's leadership in responsible video technology and their vision with Project Hafnia align perfectly with our own values. We're proud that our anonymisation solutions will become a core pillar of a platform that's set to redefine how compliant, high-quality video data is used to train AI. We're ready to shape the future of visual AI—secure, ethical, and transformative."

Milestone Systems continues to play a pivotal role in pushing Europe to the forefront of AI standard-setting and innovation. With the integration of brighter AI's technology, Milestone aims to contribute further to Europe's leadership in responsible technology development.