What simply occurred? Midjourney is cooking up one thing new, and this time it may not have something to do with merely producing uncannily lifelike photos. The corporate introduced by way of X/Twitter that it is formally dipping its toes into the {hardware} realm.
In a put up on Wednesday, Midjourney revealed it is hiring workers for a brand new {hardware} group that shall be primarily based in San Francisco.
“We’re formally stepping into {hardware}. In case you’re fascinated with becoming a member of the brand new group in San Francisco please e mail us,” the put up said.
We aren’t asserting something particular but, however we have now a number of efforts in flight.
– Midjourney (@midjourney) August 28, 2024
Particulars about what Midjourney is engaged on are scarce, however the firm teased that there are “a number of efforts in flight” when requested for more information beneath the identical put up. The corporate additionally said that there are “positively alternatives for extra type components.” No timeline was offered.
Maybe a greater thought may be derived from Midjourney’s current rent of Ahmad Abbas. Abbas beforehand labored at Neuralink and had a hand in engineering Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional headset. With that type of experience, maybe Midjourney’s first {hardware} rodeo entails leaping on the immersive computing bandwagon.
This concept would not be misplaced for Midjourney’s founder David Holz. Earlier than beginning the wildly fashionable text-to-image generator, Holz co-founded Leap Movement, which constructed motion-tracking peripherals.
Midjourney has additionally stated it is engaged on AI fashions for video and 3D technology. An accompanying {hardware} play may theoretically tie into these initiatives.
One other potential clue might be a put up from Holz on X from months in the past during which he responded “we are going to make the orb” to somebody’s light-hearted suggestion about making a spherical system impressed by fantasy wizard orbs – though this one might be merely a joke.
we are going to make the orb
– David (@DavidSHolz) January 10, 2024
What is evident is that Midjourney is making this foray because it faces intensifying competitors in AI picture technology from the likes of xAI’s Grok 2 and Ideogram 2. A tangible product may assist the corporate stand out from these software-only corporations.
Nonetheless, Midjourney must work up one thing distinctive. To date, startups have been obsessive about the concept of wearable/pocketable generative AI merchandise – and none of them have seen success. In truth, AI tasks have an unusually excessive probability of by no means catching on. Based on a current report, a surprising 80% of all AI tasks find yourself failing regardless of the billions of {dollars} being poured into them.
