In a post on Threads on Friday, Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said that the company is collaborating with Midjourney to license the startup’s AI image and video production technology.Wang notes that in order to incorporate its technology into upcoming AI models and products, Meta’s research teams will work with Midjourney.
“An all-of-the-above approach will be necessary to ensure Meta is able to produce the finest products for people,” Wang stated. “This entails working with the top industry players, having top-notch personnel, and having an ambitious compute roadmap.”
The Midjourney collaboration may aid Meta in creating goods that rival the top AI picture and video models in the market, like Google’s Veo, Black Forest Lab’s Flux, and OpenAI’s Sora.
Imagine, Meta’s AI picture generating engine, was integrated into a number of major products last year, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Additionally, Meta offers Movie Gen, an AI movie generating tool that lets users make videos in response to suggestions.
Meta’s most recent arrangement to advance in the AI race is the licensing agreement with Midjourney. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, went on a hiring binge earlier this year, offering some researchers compensation packages totaling up to $100 million. The social media behemoth also purchased the AI voice startup Play AI and made a $14 billion investment in Scale AI.
Meta has discussed potential acquisitions with a number of other top AI labs, and Zuckerberg even discussed joining Elon Musk’s $97 billion buyout offer of OpenAI. However, Meta ultimately declined the offer, while OpenAI rejected Musk’s offer.
Although the details of Meta’s agreement with Midjourney are still undisclosed, David Holz, the CEO of the startup, stated in an X post that his business is still independent and has no investors; Midjourney is one of the few top AI model developers that has never raised outside capital. According to Upstarts Media, Meta once discussed purchasing the firm with Midjourney.
Since its founding in 2022, Midjourney has led the AI picture generating industry thanks to its distinctive and realistic aesthetic. According to reports, the business was expected to make $200 million by 2023. Subscriptions from the startup start at $10 a month. More AI image production is available in its more expensive tiers, which can cost up to $120 a month. The firm unveiled V1, its first AI video model, in June.
Two months after the business was sued by Disney and Universal for allegedly using copyrighted works to train AI picture models, Meta has partnered with Midjourney. Although copyright holders have made similar accusations against a number of AI model creators, including Meta, recent court cases involving AI training data have sided with tech businesses.
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