Savi launches anti-AI-scam app with $7M seed, detects voice cloning cons in real time

AI voice cloning has made scam calls eerily convincing. Last week, a mother received a ransom call from a "kidnapper" using her daughter's voice — it wasn't a real abduction, but an AI-generated fraud. That scenario hit home for Savi Security co-founder Patrick Coughlin, whose own mother was targeted by exactly such a scam two years ago, spurring the creation of the company.

Founded by brothers Patrick Coughlin (former Cisco/Splunk cybersecurity executive) and Ryan Coughlin (former Apple/Spotify product leader), Savi launched its iOS and Android app on Tuesday. The company also announced a $7 million seed round led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Magnify Ventures, TTCER, and Resolute Ventures.

Savi's core offering is real-time scam detection. It screens texts, voicemails, and incoming calls to determine if they are AI-generated scams. Its standout feature is live-call monitoring: during a suspicious phone conversation, a user can invite Savi's AI agent to listen in. The AI analyzes behavioral tells while the call is in progress to identify signs of fraud.

Before launching the paid app, the founders built Scam Wise, a free website where users anonymously upload suspicious texts, photos, or emails for analysis. In four months, Scam Wise received over 50,000 submissions and now grows by roughly 10,000 per week, providing real-world training data for Savi's AI model. The startup primarily uses Google's Gemini but has built its software on an AI gateway that allows it to tap other models as needed.

Savi's pricing is family-oriented: $8/month or $63/year covers an entire household with no cap on the number of users. One account can protect a person's kids, spouse, parents, and extended family, with the primary account holder providing administrative support for all members.

AI-powered fraud is accelerating. FBI data shows people reporting online crimes collectively lost $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, triple the 2020 figure. Malwarebytes' 2025 research found Gen Z was targeted more often with text scams than other generations. Traditional blocking tools struggle against AI-generated deepfake scams, which continuously evolve.

Savi positions itself as a new generation of anti-virus software — using AI the same way the bad guys do. Its live-call monitoring capability is a key differentiator from existing security products. The challenge ahead will be balancing privacy protection with accurate detection at scale.