Parent company stable diffusion, an artificial intelligence tool for creating digital images, is aiming to raise about $4 billion worth of money, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as it is not public. It is not clear what capital AI stability OOO is looking to raise in a potential round. The sources added that a final decision on continued funding has not yet been made and the estimate is still subject to change.
London-based Stability, backed by Coatue Management and Lightspeed Venture Partners, last raised $101 million at a valuation of around $1 billion, Bloomberg News reported in October.
Representatives of Stability AI did not provide comments.
That it is returning to the market so soon amid a tech downturn at a much higher valuation underscores how artificial intelligence has become the hottest topic in Silicon Valley in recent months, with the potential to turn entertainment, finance and even education upside down.
Microsoft Corporation, Bloomberg News reported in January, will invest $10 billion in Open AIparent ChatGPT, a technology leader, with tools that can generate incredibly detailed images, text, and other multimedia data with a short prompt. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said Friday he is stepping down from OpenAI’s board of directors as his venture capital firm increasingly invests in other AI companies.
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Other tech giants including Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. In addition, Stable Diffusion competes with OpenAI’s Dall-E 2, another digital imaging tool.
Stable Diffusion’s job is for people to type in a description of an image—say, an astronaut on horseback—and the program produces a realistic or surreal image. The company claims to be different from competitors because its open source software is available to the public. Its practical uses include the development of video games for advertising.