Building a Secure and Transparent Internet with Filecoin's Clara Tsao

In today's digital landscape, it's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between human-generated and AI-created content. Clara Tsao, a founding officer at the Filecoin Foundation, has dedicated her career to addressing this issue. With a background in countering homegrown extremism and co-founding the Trust & Safety Professional Association, Tsao is now focused on leveraging blockchain technology to ensure digital authenticity and combat misinformation. At the AI Summit at Consensus 2025, Tsao will discuss how Filecoin is working to create a more transparent and trustworthy internet. According to Tsao, 'it's always been about bringing more democracy to the web, because it's an open network that everyone should have the fundamental human right to access.' Tsao acknowledges that AI is making this mission more challenging, but believes that blockchain can help verify the authenticity of digital content. By storing data in a decentralized manner, Filecoin can help prove the source of information and prevent the spread of misinformation. Tsao cites the example of Facebook taking down Russian media channels in 2016, highlighting the importance of being able to prove the source of information. With AI-generated images and news on the rise, Tsao emphasizes the need for decentralized technologies to combat these threats. Filecoin's use of blockchain allows for the creation of a tamper-proof record of data, making it possible to track changes over time. This technology has the potential to be used in a variety of applications, from preserving critical information to verifying the authenticity of photographs. Tsao notes that Filecoin has worked with numerous nonprofits, such as MuckRock, to archive and preserve critical information. The company is also working with journalists to create resilient copies of their work, making it possible to prove the authenticity of photographs and other digital content. In the context of elections, this technology can help combat disinformation and provide a secure record of events. Looking to the future, Tsao sees Filecoin's mission as multifaceted. The company aims to verify the authenticity of digital content, store data at a fraction of the cost, and make data more accurate by providing access to a wider range of training data. Ultimately, Tsao believes that Filecoin can help create a more transparent and trustworthy internet, where individuals have control over their data and are not locked into a single platform.