By PENG Xin

Artificial intelligence startup DeepGlint Technology is trending on Chinese social media after police found a lost child who was abducted 25 years ago with the help of the company’s facial recognition technologies.

Businessman XIE Kefeng’s son XIE Qingshuai disappeared 25 years ago. On December 1, the father and son were reunited in their hometown Xingtai in Hebei Province. Xie had never stopped searching for his boy but it was only recently police used DeepGlint.

Most abducted children are separated from their families at a young age, and as time passes, their appearance undergoes significant changes, posing a great challenge for investigations. However, facial features among relatives exhibit high similarity, and a cross-age facial comparison can assist family searches.

DeepGlint said Xie was the fourth child the company has helped the police find in the past six months. The police used photos of Xie’s parents and the elder son for facial comparison, and the result identified Qingshuai within the top five matches.

DeepGlint said has no paid version of the technology and the company does not authorize the use of the software for profit.