Startup to launch new AI underwriting platform as it looks to tackle ‘impossible market’

Startup Testudo is set to launch a new data and technology platform to underwrite artificial intelligence (AI) insurance with Lloyd’s of London.

With an aim to launch at the end of the year, the platform will actively monitor AI risks using litigation data that allows companies to accelerate AI deployments and manage new liability exposures.

The offering also enables companies to identify and quantify AI risks that are “silent”, which means they are not explicitly covered or excluded in traditional insurance policies.

Testudo co-founder and chief executive George Lewin-Smith told Insurance Times: “If companies and brokers don’t even know how to talk about or identify the risk, [then] it’s silent, so we want to bring a light to this silent AI exposure.

“We have this unique litigation data [that] has showed us insurers are in court for not paying out claims specific to AI, which is alarm bells for some enterprises.”

Identifying risk

Testudo’s proprietary database offers real-time insights into global AI-related litigation, regulatory issues and incidents.

Lewin-Smith explained that the new digital platform counters competitors’ “invasive integration approach” when it comes to identifying and quantifying risk, adding that Testudo “don’t need to connect internally to a company to underwrite their risk, which means that [they] can price same day”.

He added: “A lot of the insurance cars and syndicates have said [that] this is an impossible market because there’s no data, [but] we do have the data here and that’s how we’ve been making a lot of progress.

“We want to work with the market for the next 10 years and be the defining generative AI underwriters.”

Lloyd’s

Testudo, which is based in both San Francisco and London, is also working in the Lloyd’s of London’s Innovation Lab as part of Cohort 14 and has plans to launch new enterprise insurance products in Q4 2025.

Dawn Miller, chief commercial officer and chief executive of Lloyd’s Americas, said: “We are proud to support Lloyd’s Lab startup Testudo with bringing new data and a unique underwriting approach to AI liability insurance to the Lloyd’s market by connecting them with opportunities that address rapidly evolving risks, resulting in new premium generation and measurable operational efficiency gains across the market.

“By nurturing innovation from concept to scale, we’re not just developing products – we’re building the future resilience of our industry and cementing Lloyd’s position as the world’s leading insurance marketplace.”