Move Seeks to Compete with Industry-Leading AI Models

Meta has announced a significant partnership with Midjourney, a startup known for its cutting-edge AI image and video generation technology. The licensing agreement will allow Meta’s research teams to collaborate with Midjourney and integrate its technology into future AI models and products. According to Meta’s Chief AI Officer, Alexandr Wang, this partnership is part of the company’s “all-of-the-above approach” to delivering the best possible products for its users.

The deal marks Meta’s latest move to stay ahead in the AI race, following its acquisition of AI voice startup Play AI and its investment in Scale AI, a leading AI platform provider. Meta has also held talks with several other leading AI labs about potential acquisitions, including a reported discussion with Elon Musk about joining his $97 billion takeover bid of OpenAI. However, Meta ultimately declined to join the bid.

Midjourney, which was founded in 2022, has quickly become a leader in the AI image generation space with its unique and realistic style. The startup has reportedly generated $200 million in revenue by 2023, primarily through its subscription-based model, which offers AI image generations starting at $10 per month. Midjourney’s pricier tiers, which offer more AI image generations, can cost up to $120 per month.

The partnership comes just two months after Midjourney was sued by Disney and Universal for allegedly training its AI image models on copyrighted works. However, recent court cases have sided with tech companies on the issue of AI training data, which may bode well for Meta’s own AI image generation tool, Imagine, and its AI video generation tool, Movie Gen.

Meta’s efforts to enhance its AI capabilities have been ongoing, with the company rolling out its own AI image generation tool, Imagine, into several of its products, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. The company has also been actively hiring AI talent, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg offering some researchers compensation packages worth upwards of $100 million.

The partnership with Midjourney is seen as a strategic move by Meta to stay ahead in the AI space, where several other companies, including OpenAI and Google, are also developing advanced AI models. The deal may also help Meta to develop products that compete with industry-leading AI image and video models, such as OpenAI’s Sora, Black Forest Lab’s Flux, and Google’s Veo.

The terms of the Midjourney partnership remain unknown, but the deal is expected to have a significant impact on Meta’s AI capabilities and its ability to deliver innovative products to its users.