A new AI feature has been added by Truecaller to identify and filter more spam calls.

For its 374 million+ users, the caller ID software Truecaller currently blocks between 38 and 40 billion spam calls annually. It is now adjusting the settings on its filtering technology in an attempt to entice more users to join up for its premium tiers. TechCrunch has learnt that a recent "Max" update for Android premium users employs artificial intelligence (AI) to block all calls that are not from allowed contacts or that the AI suspects may be spam, even if the caller is not previously registered in Truecaller's database. 

Before, a person's proactive screening in addition to the way numbers were listed in that database served as the basis for blocking and other actions.

This is an Android-only update: Apple forbids Truecaller and other caller ID providers from using caller ID to determine a caller's spammer status in order to automatically restrict calls on iOS. As a result, Truecaller offers a more fundamental solution centred around CallKit for iPhone users.

The company's business is going through a pivotal period with these actions. With $41.52 million in revenues, Truecaller experienced a 4% year-over-year decline in revenue in Q4. In the meantime, the Indian telecom regulator has proposed a caller ID service akin to Truecaller, to be extended across all telecom networks in the nation, in an effort to more effectively combat spam. India is the largest market for Truecaller, with 259 million subscribers. 

 The new function demonstrates how Truecaller sees a potential commercial opportunity in capitalising on people who are tired of the deceptive tactics used by spammers, even though a solution would result in missed calls from non-spammers and unknown numbers that some people might find interesting.

Truecaller hopes that any misgivings about AI will be outweighed by curiosity about how well it could perform to accomplish Truecaller's primary function—while also boosting premium sign-ups—by capitalising on the current interest in all things AI. Caller ID and spam protection are Truecaller's two key features.