Midjourney, the AI image-generation platform known for its impressive revenue growth, is branching out into hardware. In a post on X, the company said that its new hardware team will be based in San Francisco, marking a major increase in its presence.
We're officially getting into hardware. If you're interested in joining the new team in San Francisco please email us at hardware@midjourney.com
— Midjourney (@midjourney) August 28, 2024
The company’s foray into hardware is fortified with strategic hires and significant experience. Ahmad Abbas, a former employee of Neuralink, started working at Midjourney in February. Abbas was instrumental in developing Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset. His experience indicates that Midjourney’s hardware initiatives could include a more advanced kind of mixed reality.
New hardware may complement existing AI projects
Midjourney’s CEO, David Holz, brings considerable hardware experience to the table. Holz is the co-founder of Leap Motion which deals in motion-tracking devices. As a hardware engineer and having worked with Abbas at Leap Motion, it will be expected that Midjourney’s hardware projects will be centered on new and kinesthetic technologies.
The company’s foray into hardware is consistent with its ongoing work on AI models for videos and 3D content creation. When asked if they could share more on the project, Midjourney said that they are not announcing anything specific yet. Although the specific details of the new hardware are not known, it is possible that the new hardware could support or interface with Midjourney’s AI projects.
Midjourney is quietly expanding its service
In a recent announcement, Midjourney has opened its AI image generation platform to the public by lifting up the previous limitations. Now users can create up to 25 images for free instead of using Discord for creating and editing images.
In other news, a judge has allowed a lawsuit filed by several artists against Stability AI, Midjourney, and other AI companies to proceed, but some of the claims have been struck out. The case revolves around claims that these generative AI services infringed on copyright laws using datasets containing the artists’ content without authorization.
The Midjourney allegations include accusations that the company deceived users with a “Midjourney Style List.” This list, which contained 4,700 artists, supposedly enabled users to create images in these artists’ styles. The artists state that the list that was developed without their approval gives the impression of the artists’ endorsement. Judge Orrick deemed these allegations sufficient enough to be addressed in court.
Recently, OpenAI left its old office in San Francisco’s Mission District after its co-founder, Elon Musk, left the company. It is not clear why OpenAI decided to leave the building, but it seems related to the company’s growth.
