Bleeped: Making Digital Media More Family-Friendly with AI

Logan, Utah – March 26, 2025 Bleeped, a company based at Utah State University, is on a mission to make digital media more accessible to…

Bleeped, a company based at Utah State University, is on a mission to make digital media more accessible to younger audiences. Using a custom AI model, Bleeped can automatically censor specific words or phrases from audio files, allowing users to customize their listening experience through the Bleeped app.

The Utah State University startup won the People’s Choice Online Vote Award (a $1,000 prize) at the 2025 Tim Draper Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.

Founder and CEO Benjamin Barnes developed the idea for Bleeped after returning from an LDS mission. He recalls a pivotal moment that sparked the concept:

“My two sisters were watching a YouTube video, and while the content itself was fine, the people in the video suddenly started swearing a lot. I wondered if there was a tool that could filter this out—but I couldn’t find anything like it.”

With a background in programming from high school and college, Barnes decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Since I had some experience coding, I thought, ‘I can start developing this.’”

Bleeped has already secured funding and recognition through various entrepreneurial competitions.

“Last year, we competed in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge and won the People’s Choice Award, which provided initial funding,” Barnes shared. “We also took first place in the Utah State Shark Tank event, which helped us financially. Beyond that, we’ve received support from myself and a few investors.”

“We’re in talks with different venture capital firms and are preparing to start a fundraising round soon.”

Bleeped leverages its own custom AI model alongside third-party models to ensure high accuracy.

“We’ve developed a proprietary AI system but also use external models to double-check results,” Barnes explained. “The great part is that once we process an audio file, we never have to analyze it again, keeping costs low.”

The platform allows users to personalize their content moderation settings.

“Users can select what they want filtered. If an audio file has already been processed, others can listen to the censored version without additional processing.”

Designed with families in mind, Bleeped offers a fully customizable experience through its mobile app.

“We don’t dictate what users should or shouldn’t listen to—we just provide the tools,” Barnes said. “Parents, for example, can create profiles for their kids with different settings. An eight-year-old might have all swearing removed, while a teenager could have more flexibility.”

Currently, Bleeped supports audiobook filtering through AudiobooksNow, but the company has ambitious plans to expand.