Stability AI CEO Bids Farewell To Work On ‘Decentralized AI’
By Mikelle Leow, 25 Mar 2024
Photo 308054459 © Filipbu | Dreamstime.com
Stability AI, the company behind the popular artificial intelligence image generator Stable Diffusion, is encountering some instability. On Friday, March 22, CEO Emad Mostaque stepped down and said he was striking out on his own. This unexpected leadership change comes during a challenging time for the company, marked by recent departures and questions about company culture.
Mostaque, while highlighting Stability AI’s growth and development of leading-edge AI models under his leadership, offered a unique reason for leaving: a passion for “decentralized AI.” He took to social media, arguing that the current model controlled by big players like OpenAI isn’t sustainable. Mostaque believes a more open and distributed approach is key to responsibly advancing AI.
“[We’re] not going to beat centralized AI with more centralized A,” wrote Mostaque on X (formerly Twitter), adding that he was “all in on decentralized AI.”
Elsewhere, he expressed concerns about power concentration in AI, maintaining that it was “bad for us all” and that “the most important thing in AI is not GPUs but coordination and governance.”
Information theory ftw ð
— Emad acc/acc (@EMostaque) March 23, 2024
The most important thing in AI is not GPUs but coordination & governance.
We must decentralize AI before it is too late ð
lfg https://t.co/9g5YhortP5
However, whispers of internal struggles and investor dissatisfaction preceded Mostaque’s exit. Key figures have recently left Stability AI, and reports suggest the company explored a potential sale late last year, with some investors pushing for Mostaque’s removal.
Stability AI remains a leader in generative AI, boasting hundreds of millions of software downloads. However, the recent leadership change and lingering questions about company culture raise concerns about its future stability.
The company has appointed Shan Shan Wong, COO, and Christian Laforte, CTO, as interim co-CEOs while they search for a permanent replacement.
[via Bloomberg, Decrypt, Axios, cover photo 308054459 © Filipbu | Dreamstime.com]