In the news now is that Meta is partnering with Midjourney and is going to license its AI image and video generation technology. Meta’s Chief AI Officer, Alexander Wang, reported this in a post on Threads. The post stated that the Meta research team will work together with Midjourney to bring its technology and expertise into AI models and products.
Wang said that, to make a good product, they will work with world-class talent, follow a full-fledged roadmap, and collaborate with the best players across the industry.
This partnership between Midjourney and Meta will position Meta to compete with OpenAI’s Sora, Black Forest Lab’s Flux, and Google’s Veo.
Last year, Meta rolled out its own AI image generation tool, Imagine, into several of its products, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Meta also has an AI movie generation tool called Movie Gen, which allows users to create videos from prompts.
The licensing deal has been completed between both companies. As we know, earlier this year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hired several AI enthusiasts, offering high compensation packages worth over $100 million. Meta also invested $14 billion in Scale AI and acquired the AI voice startup Play AI.
Meta also had discussions with other companies for possible acquisitions, and Mark Zuckerberg reportedly spoke with Elon Musk about collaborating with him in his bid for OpenAI.
While the exact terms and conditions of the deal are not known, Midjourney CEO David Holz stated in a post on X that his company remains independent and has never raised a single dollar from any investors. As we know, Meta had previously considered acquiring the startup.
Midjourney was started in 2022 and quickly gained attention for its unique visual style. By 2023, the startup was already widely recognized for pushing the boundaries of AI-generated art.