Stability AI
{{Short description|British artificial intelligence company}}
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Stability AI Ltd
| logo = Stability Ai — wordmark.png
| logo_size = 270px
| logo_caption = Logo
| type = Private
| industry = Artificial intelligence
| founded = {{Start date and age|2019}}
| founders = Emad Mostaque
| location = London, England, UK
| area_served = Worldwide
| website = {{URL|https://stability.ai/}}
}}
Stability AI Ltdhttps://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12295325 is a UK-based artificial intelligence company, best known for its text-to-image model Stable Diffusion.
History and founding
Stability AI was founded in 2019 by Emad Mostaque and by Cyrus Hodes.{{Cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=2022-10-21 |title=A Coming-Out Party for Generative A.I., Silicon Valley's New Craze |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/technology/generative-ai.html |access-date=2024-06-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web |last1=Prescott |first1=Katie |title=Stability AI rejects photo copyright claims in High Court case |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/article/stability-ai-rejects-photo-copyright-claims-in-high-court-case-m63ln9mbl |website=thetimes |language=en |date=29 February 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Cai |first1=Kenrick |title=How Stability AI's Founder Tanked His Billion-Dollar Startup |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2024/03/29/how-stability-ais-founder-tanked-his-billion-dollar-startup/ |website=Forbes |language=en |date=March 29, 2024}}{{cite news |last=Mollman |first=Steve |date=2023-07-21 |title=Stability AI cofounder sold stake now worth over $500 million for $100—after being deceived, says lawsuit |url=https://fortune.com/2023/07/21/stability-ai-cofounder-lawsuit-cyrus-hodes-ceo-emad-mostaque-stable-diffusion-tech-startups/ |website=Fortune |access-date=2024-06-28}}{{cite news |title=Stability AI cofounder Mostaque share sale news |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/stability-ai-cofounder-mostaque-share-sale-news |website=Sifted |access-date=2024-06-28}}{{cite news |title=Stability AI co-founder says he was duped into selling stake in unicorn for $100 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-13/stability-ai-co-founder-says-he-was-duped-into-selling-stake-in-unicorn-for-100?embedded-checkout=true |website=Bloomberg |access-date=2024-06-28}}{{cite web |last1=Cai |first1=Kenrick |title=Stability AI cofounder says Emad Mostaque tricked him into selling stake for $100 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2023/07/13/stability-ai-cofounder-says-emad-mostaque-tricked-him-into-selling-stake-for-100/ |website=Forbes |date=2023-07-13 |access-date=2024-06-28}}{{cite news |title=Stability AI cofounder under scrutiny |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a1e33171-84f6-4f83-bbd7-62de8c2799aa |website=Financial Times |access-date=2024-06-28}}{{cite news |title=Stability AI is sued by co-founder who says he was duped selling stake $100 |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/stability-ai-is-sued-by-co-founder-who-says-he-was-duped-selling-stake-100-2023-07-13/ |website=Reuters |access-date=2024-06-28}}
In August 2022 Stability AI rose to prominence with the release of its source and weights available text-to-image model Stable Diffusion.
On March 23, 2024, Emad Mostaque stepped down from his position as CEO. The board of directors appointed COO, Shan Shan Wong, and CTO, Christian Laforte, as the interim co-CEOs of Stability AI.{{cite web |last1=Warren |first1=Tom |title=Stability AI CEO resigns to "pursue decentralized AI" |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/23/24109511/stability-ai-ceo-emad-mostaque-resignation-decentralized-ai |website=The Verge |language=en |date=23 March 2024}}
On June 25, 2024, Prem Akkaraju, former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, was appointed CEO of the company.{{cite web |last1=Law |first1=Marcus |title=Newly Appointed AI Leaders: June and July 2024 |url=https://aimagazine.com/articles/newly-appointed-ai-leaders-june-and-july-2024 |website=AI Magazine |language=en |date=5 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Stability AI Secures Significant New Investment from World-Class Investor Group and Appoints Prem Akkaraju as CEO |url=https://stability.ai/news/stability-ai-secures-significant-new-investment |website=stability.ai |language=en |date=25 June 2024}}
Funding and investors
A notable milestone in the company's funding history was a $101 million investment round led by Coatue and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC also participating. {{cite web |last1=Wiggers |first1=Kyle |title=Stability AI, the startup behind Stable Diffusion, raises $101M |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/17/stability-ai-the-startup-behind-stable-diffusion-raises-101m/ |website=TechCrunch |date=17 October 2022}}
On June 25, 2024, alongside announcing Prem Akkaraju as the new CEO, Stability AI also announced they had closed an initial round of investment from world-class investor groups such as Greycroft, Coatue Management, Sound Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and O’Shaughnessy Ventures. {{cite web |last1=Deutscher |first1=Maria |title=Stability AI appoints new CEO and closes funding round reportedly worth $80M |url=https://siliconangle.com/2024/06/25/stability-ai-appoints-new-ceo-closes-funding-round-reportedly-worth-80m/ |website=SiliconANGLE |date=25 June 2024}} {{cite web |last1=Wiggers |first1=Kyle |title=Stability AI lands a lifeline from Sean Parker, Greycroft |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/25/stability-ai-lands-a-lifeline-from-sean-parker-greycroft/ |website=TechCrunch |date= 25 June 2024}} Sean Parker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former President of Facebook, joined the Stability AI Board as Executive Chairman.
On September 24, 2024, Stability AI announced that filmmaker, technology innovator, and visual effects pioneer James Cameron had joined its Board of Directors. {{cite web |last1=Giardina |first1=Carolyn |title=James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors |url=https://variety.com/2024/biz/news/james-cameron-stability-ai-board-of-directors-1236154084/ |website=Variety |date=24 Sep 2024}} {{cite web |title=Director James Cameron explains why he is joining Stability AI's board of directors |url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/09/24/director-james-cameron-explains-why-he-is-joining-stability-ais-board-of-directors.html |website=CNBC |date=24 Sep 2024}}
Product and application
Stability AI has made contributions to the field of generative AI, most notably through Stable Diffusion. This AI model allows images to be generated from textual descriptions. Beyond Stable Diffusion, Stability AI also develops Video, Audio, 3D, and text models.{{cite web |last1=Kerner |first1=Sean Michael |title=Stability AI debuts new Stable Audio Open for sound design |url=https://venturebeat.com/ai/stability-ai-debuts-new-stable-audio-open-for-sound-design/ |website=VentureBeat |date=5 June 2024}} Stability AI has partnered with Arm to optimize its text-to-audio model, Stable Audio Open, for mobile devices powered by Arm CPUs.{{Cite web |last=Wiggers |first=Kyle |date=2025-03-03 |title=Stability AI optimized its audio generation model to run on Arm chips |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/03/stability-ai-optimized-its-audio-generation-model-to-run-on-arm-chips/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
Litigation
In July 2023, Stability AI co-founder Cyrus Hodes filed a lawsuit against CEO Emad Mostaque and the company, alleging fraud, misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty. Hodes claimed that Mostaque deceived him into selling his 15% stake in the company for $100 in two transactions in October 2021 and May 2022, based on false representations that Stability AI was essentially worthless. Just three months after the final transaction, Stability AI raised $101 million in funding at a valuation of $1 billion. The lawsuit alleges that at current valuations, Hodes’ stake would be worth over $150 million. Hodes also accused Mostaque of embezzling company funds to pay for personal expenses, including rent for a lavish London apartment, luxury shopping sprees, and a $90,000 diamond ring purchased by Mostaque's wife using company funds.{{Cite web |title=Complaint filed by Cyrus Hodes |url=https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rDlbbQW5zCKk/v0 |access-date=2025-02-05}}{{Cite news |title=How British tech star Stability AI imploded with debt and lawsuits |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/how-british-tech-star-stability-ai-imploded-with-debt-and-lawsuits-v59n5m9sr |access-date=2025-02-05}}{{Cite news |last=Cai |first=Kenrick |date=2023-07-13 |title=Stability AI cofounder says Emad Mostaque tricked him into selling stake for $100 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2023/07/13/stability-ai-cofounder-says-emad-mostaque-tricked-him-into-selling-stake-for-100/ |website=Forbes}}
Separately, Stability AI has faced legal challenges from Getty Images, which accused the company of misusing over 12 million photos from its collection to train its AI image-generation system, Stable Diffusion. This lawsuit, filed in Delaware federal court, is part of broader concerns about the use of copyrighted material in AI training datasets. Getty Images alleges that Stability AI copied these images without proper licensing to enhance Stable Diffusion’s ability to generate accurate depictions from user prompts.{{Cite web |last=Brittain |first=Blake |date=February 7, 2023 |title=Getty Images lawsuit says Stability AI misused photos to train AI |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/getty-images-lawsuit-says-stability-ai-misused-photos-train-ai-2023 |access-date=2024-02-17}}
References
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