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Key people at Thorn.
Thorn develops technological solutions designed to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation in digital spaces. The organization creates tools that identify and mitigate online harms, including grooming, sextortion, and the distribution of child sexual abuse materials. Its focus is on applying innovative technology to enhance child safety and address emerging threats across digital platforms.
Co-founded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Thorn was established to address the escalating challenge of online child exploitation. Their foundational insight recognized the potential for technology itself to serve as a powerful defense mechanism against digital abuse, driving the creation of a non-profit dedicated to this mission.
Thorn’s technological interventions are utilized by law enforcement, technology companies, and various child protection organizations. The company envisions fundamentally altering how children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation in the digital era, working towards a future where online environments are significantly safer for youth worldwide.
Thorn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation in the digital age through technology, research, and partnerships.[1][3][6] It builds cutting-edge detection tools and conducts original research to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM), serving tech platforms, law enforcement, policymakers, and the broader child safety ecosystem by addressing online threats like grooming, sextortion, and AI-generated abuse.[1][3] In 2024, Thorn's tools processed over 112 billion files, detected 4.1 million suspected CSAM instances, and supported 60+ companies, demonstrating strong growth momentum via a dual-income model blending philanthropic funding and revenue from tech products.[1]
Thorn's work spans four pillars: research and insights to anticipate threats; technical innovation for detection tech; child victim identification; and platform safety to reduce revictimization on the open web, having helped detect over 6 million CSAM files to date.[1][3]
Thorn was founded in 2012 by actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore as a rebranding of their earlier DNA Foundation, initially focused on combating human trafficking but shifting emphasis to technology's role in child sexual exploitation after their marriage ended that year.[1][4] Kutcher and Moore remain co-founders and board members alongside figures like UN envoy Ray Chambers and tech entrepreneur Jim Pitkow, with current CEO Julie Cordua leading operations.[2][4] The pivot crystallized when they recognized technology's growing centrality in these crimes, leading to collaborations with tech giants like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and others via a Technology Task Force to build barriers against online predators.[4] Early traction came from partnerships with groups like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Polaris Project, evolving over 12 years into a tech-driven nonprofit with global impact.[1][4]
Thorn rides the wave of AI proliferation and digital threats, where abusers exploit new tech like generative AI for CSAM and grooming, making its timing critical amid rising online child exploitation.[1][3] Market forces favoring Thorn include tech companies' regulatory pressures (e.g., for safer platforms) and growing philanthropy for ethical tech, amplified by partnerships with giants like Meta and Google that integrate its tools at scale.[1][4] It influences the ecosystem by standardizing detection tech, sharing research to preempt harms, and pushing platforms toward proactive safety, transforming child protection from reactive law enforcement to integrated digital defenses.[3][4]
Thorn's integrated four-pillar framework positions it to adapt to advancing tech threats, with next steps focusing on scaling detection for AI harms, expanding research, and deepening platform integrations.[1] Trends like AI ethics mandates and global policy shifts will propel growth, potentially evolving Thorn's influence toward leading international standards in child safety tech. As digital childhoods expand, Thorn remains pivotal in ensuring technology protects rather than endangers kids, building on its mission to eliminate exploitation at scale.[3]
Key people at Thorn.
