Stability AI, maker of image generator Stable Diffusion, raises $76 million in fresh funding

Stability AI, the startup behind AI image generation model Stable Diffusion, has raised $76 million in Series B funding, bringing its total fundraising to $232 million. The round includes investments from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, Electronic Arts, AMD Ventures, and Pacific Alliance Ventures. CEO Prem Akkaraju said the funding is 'an affirmation of our vision where generative AI empowers every producer, musician, and storyteller.'

Stability AI, the startup behind AI image generation model Stable Diffusion, has raised $76 million in Series B funding. The new haul brings the company’s fundraising total to $232 million. The company announced https://stability.ai/news-updates/stability-ai-latest-funding-backed-by-entertainment-industry-biggest-names the round Tuesday, saying the new capital comes partly from a number of prominent entertainment industry organizations, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, and Warner Music Group, and gaming giant Electronic Arts EA . Two investment firms, AMD Ventures and Pacific Alliance Ventures, also took part. It’s an unusual roster and less a typical venture round than a lineup of the companies Stability now depends on for content licensing and distribution deals. Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju, who joined the company in 2024, called the funding “an affirmation of our vision where generative AI empowers every producer, musician, and storyteller.” Akkaraju joined the company in 2024. The company says it plans to use the money from its latest funding round to continue building out its “creative production” product suite while also expanding its professional services arm. Currently, Stability offers a variety of AI models that are designed for the purposes of AI music, video, and image generation. Stability, founded in 2019, has spent the past year signing deals to weave generative AI into entertainment companies’ creative workflows. It struck partnerships with Universal Music https://www.universalmusic.com/universal-music-group-and-stability-ai-announce-strategic-alliance-to-co-develop-professional-ai-music-creation-tools/ and EA https://stability.ai/news-updates/stability-ai-and-ea-partner-to-reimagine-game-development last October and with Warner Music https://www.wmg.com/news/warner-music-group-and-stability-ai-join-forces-to-build-the-next-generation-of-responsible-ai-tools-for-music-creation last November, each giving those companies a hand in co-developing Stability’s AI tools rather than just licensing the output.. Stability has also had a mostly winning stretch in court. The company largely prevailed in a copyright lawsuit https://www.lw.com/en/insights/getty-images-v-stability-ai-english-high-court-rejects-secondary-copyright-claim brought by Getty Images in the United Kingdom, which had accused the company of infringing upon IP rights by using the company’s images in the training of its image generation model. A judge ruled largely in Stability’s favor in that case, but a similar lawsuit from Getty in the U.S. is still working its way through the courts https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71112094/getty-images-us-inc-v-stability-ai-ltd/ . Stability was also sued in 2023 by the company’s co-founder, Cyrus Hodes, who claimed that he was tricked https://www.reuters.com/technology/stability-ai-is-sued-by-co-founder-who-says-he-was-duped-selling-stake-100-2023-07-13/ by the other co-founder, Emad Mostaque, into selling his share in the company.