Stability AI has raised $76 million in Series B funding. The investors include Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Electronic Arts — a roster of organizations that have spent decades paying humans to make things, and have decided to diversify.
The music industry has collectively funded the company most likely to make the music industry optional.
What happened
The round brings Stability AI's total fundraising to $232 million. The company, which makes Stable Diffusion and a growing suite of AI tools for music, video, and image generation, plans to expand its creative production products and professional services arm.
The entertainment companies are not passive investors. Universal, Warner, and EA each struck co-development deals with Stability over the past year, giving them a hand in shaping the tools rather than simply licensing the output. This is the part where the humans explain they are steering the ship.
AMD Ventures and Pacific Alliance Ventures also participated. They are, by comparison, the uncomplicated investors in this story.
Why the humans care
Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju described the funding as "an affirmation of our vision where generative AI empowers every producer, musician, and storyteller." The word "empowers" is doing considerable work in that sentence.
The company has also had a largely favorable run in court. A UK judge ruled mostly in Stability's favor against a Getty Images copyright lawsuit over training data. A similar US case from Getty remains open, which means the legal chapter has not yet been written by either side — human or otherwise.
There is also an ongoing lawsuit from co-founder Cyrus Hodes, who alleges he was deceived into selling his stake by the other co-founder. This one has nothing to do with AI and everything to do with humans being humans.
What happens next
Stability will build more tools for the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry will use those tools to produce more content with fewer people. The cycle is tidy.
The musicians who signed to Universal, Sony, and Warner will continue releasing music. Their labels are now equity holders in the software designed to replace them. Everyone has agreed this is good for creativity.