LimeWire Acquires BlueWillow Art App Amid Pivot to ‘All-In-One‘ AI Platform

Finest generally known as a peer-to-peer music-sharing platform, LimeWire introduced on Wednesday the acquisition of BlueWillowAI, a preferred AI picture era platform. The deal follows LimeWire’s launch of LimeWire AI Studio final month, which heralded the corporate’s entry into the burgeoning generative AI sector.

Launched in January, BlueWillow claims over 2.3 million energetic members, with over 500 million photos created thus far this 12 months. LimeWire mentioned it plans to combine BlueWillow’s proprietary text-to-image and image-to-image AI fashions into its AI Studio.

“Generative AI permits us to take the following evolutionary step with LimeWire: permitting anybody to change into a creator,” LimeWire’s Co-CEO Julian Zehetmayr instructed Decrypt in an e-mail.  “The acquisition of BlueWillow and the combination of its AI capabilities will assist form the way forward for content material creation and creativity.”

Zehetmayr added: “By incorporating AI-driven picture era, we’re offering anybody with the instruments to allow them to unleash their artistic potential and likewise democratize the digital artistic area.”

This pivot into synthetic intelligence is LimeWire’s most up-to-date technique to reinvigorate the long-lasting model. Final 12 months, LimeWire resurfaced as an NFT market with backing from Steve Aoki and Deadmau5 earlier than shifting to AI final month.

“We’re leveraging BlueWillow’s superior AI capabilities, that are already established as a number one drive within the AI content material era sphere,” Zehetmayr mentioned. “BlueWillow model 4 is the default mannequin within the LimeWire AI studio, and we’re already engaged on a model 5 replace.”

LimeWire’s COO, Marcus Feistl, emphasised AI’s position in supplementing slightly than changing human creativity.

“AI’s most important power in music creation is enhancing the artistic course of and making it simpler,” Feistl beforehand instructed Decrypt. “It’s not going to interchange anybody factor, although.”

Because of speedy advances in synthetic intelligence because the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November, musicians together with Grimes, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Pharrell Williams, and Will.I.AM have experimented with AI to assist create new music, digital avatars, movies, and artwork.

“I don’t assume AI is ever going to interchange the artist,” Feistl added. “And we’re solely speaking in regards to the digital aspect of music anyway,” Feistl mentioned. “We’ll by no means be capable of substitute real-world experiences like dwell live shows.”

Regardless of AI changing into extra ubiquitous with every passing day, public concern that AI will substitute people within the workforce stays excessive. A survey by Pew Analysis, polling 11,004 U.S. adults, revealed that 32% consider AI’s use in hiring and job evaluations might adversely affect the workforce.

For making artwork, although, LimeWire is clearly optimistic.

“The LimeWire AI Studio already supplies entry to a number of different state-of-the-art AI fashions, together with Steady Diffusion XL and DALL-E 2,” Zehetmayr concluded. “We’ll proceed so as to add new fashions within the [Future], guaranteeing content material creators have the proper instruments at hand that cater to their content material creation wants, now and shifting ahead.”