Stability AI Wants a Spotify-Type Model for Images and AI Training Data
It is embroiled in a lawsuit with Getty Images in which it is accused of stealing millions of photos to build its AI image generator, but Stability AI says that it is working on a platform that would allow copyright holders to license their work to AI model developers.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, CEO Prem Akkaraju says the company is working on a Spotify-type system that would allow artists to voluntarily upload their content and receive payment when it is used for AI training.
“I think that’d be a really great idea. I think that a marketplace for people to opt into and then upload their art, I think that’s going to happen,” Akkaraju says.
“Actually, [it’s] something we’re working on, where artists can actually have a marketplace or a portal where they can say, ‘hey, you could train on this,’ and then that actually gets licensed and used by us and others, and they get compensated for it. I think it’s really smart.”
The initiative is being developed amid a series of copyright lawsuits. Getty Images has sued Stability AI in both the United States and the United Kingdom, accusing the company of using 12 million images without permission. Getty CEO Craig Peters said in May that the company is spending “millions and millions of dollars” on the case.
Additionally, a group of artists, including photographer Jingna Zhang, filed a class-action lawsuit in January 2023, alleging unauthorized use of their work for AI training.
Akkaraju, who took over from former CEO Emad Mostaque in March 2024, says that despite the controversy and litigation, the company hasn’t changed its approach to using data.
“What we’re using is free-to-use data, as well as some bespoke license deals. I think that the way we’re doing it is the right way. And we strive every single day to have a clean and sanitised training dataset,” he tells the Financial Times.
“The AI is essentially inspired by billions of images at one time, and definitely not duplicating or replicating anything. In fact, it has to be novel by definition.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
