Ex-Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar Joins AI Startup SpringAI as Advisor

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has taken on an advisory role at SpringAI, an Israeli artificial intelligence startup focused on digital intelligence. Bar, who concluded his tenure as head of the General Security Service on June 15, 2025, will reportedly lend his expertise to the Tel Aviv-based company. SpringAI develops tools designed to identify political influence operations online, analyzing how social media algorithms disseminate content. The company's technology aims to detect posts and videos receiving unusually high exposure, particularly patterns that may indicate attempts to manipulate political discourse and public opinion.

SpringAI, founded in 2025, utilizes a model that predicts a video's expected reach under neutral conditions, considering factors like follower count, duration, and hashtags. A complementary model compares these predictions to actual exposure, flagging content that appears to have received artificial boosts. While the company presents this as a tool for identifying coordinated influence campaigns, it acknowledges that high exposure alone does not confirm intentional manipulation. The startup has not yet released comprehensive external validation of its models or a list of its clients.

SpringAI is linked to BNF Group, a technology holding company founded by retired Brigadier General Rami Ben-Ephraim. Ben-Ephraim, a former fighter pilot, previously held senior positions in the Israeli Air Force and later in the private sector, including at Check Point and Rafael. SpringAI is listed as part of BNF Group's portfolio, which invests in cyber, AI, and security ventures. Ben-Ephraim presented SpringAI's technology to a European Parliament committee in July 2025, discussing the threats posed by generative AI to democratic processes.

The company, led by CEO Omer Kafri and CTO Yonatan Dudales, also operates the Dawn app, a research tool for measuring social media usage patterns. This app, which has over a thousand downloads on Google Play, states it collects personal data, location, IP addresses, and device activity for research and development. It remains unclear how this data contributes to SpringAI's core system. SpringAI registered with the EU's transparency register in 2026, indicating its engagement with EU institutions.