{"slug": "stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group", "title": "Stability AI Raises $76 Million in Funding Round Backed by Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music and Electronic Arts (EXCLUSIVE)", "summary": "Stability AI, the AI startup behind Stable Diffusion, has raised $76 million in a Series B funding round backed by Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Electronic Arts, AMD Ventures, and Pacific Alliance Ventures, bringing its total funding to $232 million under CEO Prem Akkaraju. The investment follows licensing deals with UMG, WMG, and Electronic Arts to build AI models using their catalogs, and comes after the May debut of Stable Audio 3.0. \"This unmatched group of investors is an affirmation of our vision where generative AI empowers every producer, musician and storyteller,\" Akkaraju said.", "body_md": "[Stability AI](https://variety.com/t/stability-ai/), the AI startup backed by the likes of James Cameron and Sean Parker, has raised $76 million in a Series B funding round from a roster of investors including some of the entertainment industry’s top record labels and gaming companies.\n\nThe company’s newest investors include the top three record labels, [Universal Music Group](https://variety.com/t/universal-music-group/), [Warner Music Group](https://variety.com/t/warner-music-group/) and [Sony Music](https://variety.com/t/sony-music/) Entertainment; the gaming company [Electronic Arts](https://variety.com/t/electronic-arts/); and the investment firms AMD Ventures and Pacific Alliance Ventures. The investment follows deals Stability AI has struck with [UMG](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/universal-music-settles-udio-lawsuit-partners-with-stability-ai-1236565616/), WMG and [Electronic Arts](https://variety.com/2025/gaming/news/electronic-arts-stability-developer-deal-1236559755/) to build new AI models using the companies’ respective collection of catalogues and intellectual property.\n\nThe latest funding round brings the company’s total funding raised to $232 million under Prem Akkaraju, who joined the company as CEO in 2024. Stability AI broke ground in 2022 with the release of its open-source text-to-image model Stable Diffusion, and the company has made open-source models a priority of its work.\n\n### Popular on Variety\n\nIt follows the company’s May debut of its latest audio model backed by licensed data, Stable Audio 3.0, which comes as the music industry navigates how to engage with AI music generators initially trained on unlicensed tracks.\n\n“This unmatched group of investors is an affirmation of our vision where generative AI empowers every producer, musician and storyteller,” Akkaraju said in a statement. “Stability is unique in the AI field because we are creative people making tools for creatives. Developing industry-defining technology means assembling a team of industry-defining titans and that’s what we have done here.”\n\nIndividual investors in this round include Eric Schmidt and board member Parker, both of whom previously invested in the company. Other returning investors include Greycroft, Kadmos Capital and Coatue, and Coatue co-founder Thomas Laffont will join Stability’s board.\n\n“While others are building generalized AI, Stability AI is building creative tools, and doing it alongside the artists, studios, and rights holders whose work defines the field,” Laffont said in a statement. “I’m glad to be joining Prem and the team.”", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group", "canonical_source": "https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-funding-round-1236842351/", "published_at": "2026-08-25 15:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-25 15:13:09.739606+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["generative-ai", "ai-startups", "ai-products", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Stability AI", "Universal Music Group", "Warner Music Group", "Sony Music Entertainment", "Electronic Arts", "AMD Ventures", "Pacific Alliance Ventures", "Prem Akkaraju"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/stability-ai-raises-76-million-in-funding-round-backed-by-universal-music-group.jsonld"}}