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Stability AI Gets a Rescue Package That Could Save Stable Diffusion’s Future
Stable Diffusion was once and likely still is the most widely used text-to-image AI foundation model. It rose to prominence in 2022 as an open-source alternative to OpenAI’s DALL-E, Midjourney, and other proprietary offerings. The control and cost benefits of Stable Diffusion’s open-source model made it attractive for many software makers who wanted to add AI-enabled image generation to their products.
New CEO + New Funding
This past week, a white knight arrived with a cash infusion, a new CEO, and a famous Facebook and Napster alumnus. According to The Information:
Prem Akkaraju, former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, will step into the role, according to a person involved in the decision.
The 51-year-old Akkaraju is part of a group of investors including former Facebook President Sean Parker that has stepped in to save Stability with a cash infusion that could result in a lower valuation for the firm, which develops products that use Stable Diffusion, an open-source AI image generator.
Mostaque stepped down from his board seat and CEO position in March. Many viewed this as necessary before new investors would come in to rescue the company. Shan Shan Wong, former Stability AI COO, and Christian Laforte, former CTO, took over as co-CEOs after Mostaque’s departure. Their LinkedIn profiles still list each of them as Interim co-CEO.
The new CEO does not have a notable background in AI, but Weta Digital (aka Weta FX) is a special effects agency that has worked on films ranging from The Hobbit and Avatar to the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. That suggests Akkaraju fits Stability AI’s target customer profile. Stable Diffusion, Stable Video Diffusion, and Stable Audio Diffusion are all tools that visual effects creatives and agencies could employ in their daily work.
Stability AI has many technology assets and many users of the core text-to-image model. It also has a large staff of AI researchers, who may present significant value on their own. Maybe a film industry veteran and Sean Parker can help the one-time unicorn get back to a valuation of $1 billion.
Key Takeaways
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Originally published at synthedia.substack.com. Curated by AI Maestro.
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