Meta partners with Midjourney on AI image and video models | TechCrunch

Meta confirmed a licensing agreement with Midjourney to integrate the startup's image and video-generation technology into its research and product efforts, according to a statement from the company's Chief AI Officer. The collaboration is intended to accelerate Meta's capabilities in multimedia generation across its platforms.

The deal is part of a broader strategy that mixes internal research, talent acquisition and strategic partnerships. Meta said working with established labs and startups helps it keep pace with rapid advances in generative AI while maintaining internal safety and quality controls.

Industry watchers note the move strengthens Meta's position versus competitors that have released advanced visual models, such as OpenAI's Sora and Google's Veo. Licensing Midjourney’s techniques could shorten development cycles for new creative features and stylistic options.

Meta previously released tools such as Imagine for images and Movie Gen for video, and licensing external technology may add new styles, improve fidelity or enhance rendering speed. Users could see more expressive templates and faster output times as technologies converge.

The partnership follows a period of heavy hiring and capital investment by Meta in AI research and infrastructure. The company has sought top researchers and committed to large compute budgets to support increasingly sophisticated models and product integrations.

Midjourney, which launched in 2022, gained rapid adoption for the distinctive quality of its outputs and operates on a subscription model that scales from individual creators to enterprise customers. The company emphasizes independence and offers tiers for hobbyists and businesses alike.

The startup recently faced legal challenges when Disney and Universal filed suit alleging that training data included copyrighted works. Several model developers have faced similar claims, though recent rulings about training datasets have often leaned in favor of technology companies. Legal outcomes remain uncertain and could influence future licensing and training practices.

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We will continue to follow developments around licensing terms, litigation and how collaboration affects the broader AI ecosystem, and we will publish updates as new details become available.