Key members of the artificial intelligence research team that developed Stable Diffusion, a text-to-image generation model that helped catalyze the AI boom, have resigned from British AI unicorn Stability AI, as reported by Forbes. The team, including Robin Rombach, Andreas Blattmann, and Dominik Lorenz, were crucial in the development of the Stable Diffusion model, which combined diffusion structures with transformers used in OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Their departures come as Stability AI struggles with a mass exodus of executives and financial difficulties.
Stability AI’s success can be largely attributed to the Stable Diffusion research, which originated as an academic project at German universities before Stability became involved. The AI company’s ability to generate viral AI images using the model helped secure significant investments from tech firms Coatue and Lightspeed. However, the recent resignations of key team members such as Rombach, Blattmann, and Lorenz add to the growing list of high-profile technical departures from the company, which has also seen senior executives leaving.
The departure of top researchers, executives, and board members from Stability AI comes less than 18 months after a successful fundraise that valued the company at $1 billion. Now, the company is facing a cash crunch, with spending outweighing revenue. Investment firm Coatue and Lightspeed Venture Partners have both distanced themselves from Stability AI, with Coatue reportedly calling for CEO Emad Mostaque to resign and advocating for a sale of the company. Despite these challenges, Stability AI managed to raise $50 million from Intel in the form of a convertible note, providing a temporary lifeline.
In the midst of financial difficulties, Stability AI has sold off assets such as Clipdrop to AI startup Jasper and launched a paid tier for commercial users of its tools. The company, once seen as a champion of the open source AI community, is now facing copyright infringement lawsuits brought by Getty Images and artists in the US and UK over allegations of scraping art and stock photos to train its models. Additionally, a rival AI image generation company, Midjourney, recently blamed a 24-hour outage on activities linked to Stability AI employees, leading to a ban on all Stability AI employees and users engaged in aggressive automation. Stability AI has denied intentional involvement in the incident.
Despite the challenges and controversies surrounding Stability AI, CEO Emad Mostaque has continued to defend the company’s actions and leadership. While the company’s future remains uncertain, the resignations of key team members and ongoing legal battles pose significant obstacles to its growth and stability. As the AI industry continues to evolve, the repercussions of these developments on Stability AI and the broader AI community remain to be seen.
