Read Time: 4 minutes
Tech Topics In This Article: Nashville startups, MediaTech, generative AI
That TikTok you saw while scrolling. An article your friend forwarded. The YouTube link sent in your family’s group chat.
In 2025, how can you know for sure that any of it is real?
The proliferation of generative AI, deepfake technology, and facial-mapping software, the internet is flooded with content that looks convincing but may be completely fake. From AI-generated videos to unauthorized voice cloning, digital deception is becoming harder to detect.
For artists, celebrities, and public figures, the challenge isn’t just separating real from fake. It’s about ensuring their voice, image, and likeness aren’t being misused.
“We now live in a world where your image is not entirely under your control,” said Nashville entrepreneur Sada Garba. “Your face, your voice, and what you say can be produced [on a level] that’s pretty convincing.”
Nashville-based ViNIL — run by Garba, Charles Alexander, and Jeremy Brook — is building a platform to combat that growing problem. The ViNIL tool is used to verify video, audio, and images that include an individual’s Voice, Identity, Name, Image, and Likeness.
How ViNIL Works In Our AI Age
ViNIL members are those whose “likenesses are at risk of being copied and replicated without their approval,” said Brook. That might include actors, athletes, influencers, public officials, CEOs, or celebrities. Members individually register on the ViNIL site and their identity is verified. Their media content is then submitted using ViNIL’s API, as each piece of content is fingerprinted and verified. Unlike a watermark, ViNIL’s Shazam-style platform is designed as an extra protection layer. Verified content, including still images, video, and audio files, can be distributed normally as it would on different online platforms. Whether that piece of verified content ends up on YouTube, Instagram, or an audio streaming service, that content can be cross referenced by ViNIL’s fingerprint to ensure authenticity.
ViNIL is built for B2B clients across the media and entertainment ecosystem, be it record labels, distributors, advertising agencies, and media service providers looking to ensure brand safety and content authenticity.
It is all about bringing trust back to our digital content-driven world.
“Part of the problem is that the laws are not nearly caught up with technology,” Brook, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur, said. “If we learned any lesson from the Napster era, it’s that you cannot sue new technology out of existence.” The ViNIL team views their approach as a proactive solution rather than a game of whack-a-mole to curb the spread of inappropriate content online.
Meet The Music City Innovators
Co-founders Garba, Alexander, and Brook met together for the first time face-to-face at The Basement East, a popular live music venue in Nashville. But the three bring their own unique experiences and pedigree to the founders table, combining technology, legal, and music worlds.
The team sees their story at the intersection of technology and media as a true Nashville story.
“I think we’re a unique combination in terms of the individuals, but also the cross pollination [in] the community that exists here in Nashville’,” Alexander told Hypepotamus.
As ViNIL grows, the team is looking to roll out a Chrome extension where any person can quickly ensure if a piece of content they are watching is actually verified.
While the platform currently focuses on AI content authentication, future applications could include licensing, brand deals, and media rights protection.
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Featured photo provided by ViNIL
