One of the largest antivirus vendors has launched a superb deepfake interceptor to fight cybercriminals and scammers — sadly, you will need an Intel AI PC to get the most out of it

Today’s clever cybercriminals use AI to alter videos’ audio content, creating convincing deepfake scams, a problem that could only grow, especially in an election year.

To try and combat such threats, McAfee has joined forces with Intel to launch an AI-powered Deepfake Detector. Previously known as Project Mockingbird, the tool looks to identify and notify users when a video’s audio is likely AI generated or manipulated.

McAfee’s Deepfake Detector employs state-of-art AI techniques, including transformer-based Deep Neural Network models, so will only run on systems with an Intel Core Ultra processor. McAfee says the NPU in AI PCs improves the app’s performance by up to 300% and allows local deepfake inference, thereby avoiding sending sensitive user data to the cloud.

No plans to bring it to older Intel PCs

“In a world where seeing is no longer believing, where AI-generated deepfakes have made it harder than ever to tell real from fake, consumers need the latest in AI to beat AI,” said Steve Grobman, McAfee’s Chief Technology Officer.

“Leveraging Intel’s Core Ultra processor technology and its NPU, we can provide consumers with the most advanced and powerful generative AI deepfake detection capabilities, without compromising on performance or privacy. No need to send huge files to the cloud for analysis with detection performed locally, providing even greater peace of mind and control over your data.”

Carla Rodriguez, Vice President and General Manager of Ecosystem Partner Enabling at Intel, added, “We’re excited to collaborate with McAfee to help bring to market innovative solutions like McAfee Deepfake Detector which leverages the NPU in Intel Core Ultra processor-based PCs, driving detection of malicious and misleading deepfakes, while delivering optimal performance and privacy.”

McAfee’s Deepfake Detector will soon be available for English video detection. It is expected to be expanded to additional languages in due course.

We asked McAfee if there were any plans to bring the tool to older PCs and were told by a spokesperson, “McAfee Deepfake Detector isn’t being brought to market on older Intel PCs. The capabilities described involve leveraging the NPU in Intel Core Ultra processors. While we are proud to partner with Intel, another innovative, consumer-focused technology leader focused on delivering solutions to address the very real needs of consumers today, this is not an exclusive partnership.” That’s potentially good news for anyone not running an Intel PC.