Meta has held talks with Midjourney about a partnership including a potential acquisition, sources

Meta has held talks with Midjourney about a partnership including a potential acquisition, sources

Meta Platforms (META) has been in discussions with Midjourney, a prominent AI art generator, about a potential partnership and acquisition, according to sources. This development comes amidst Meta's ongoing efforts to bolster its AI capabilities and expand its offerings. The talks, which are still in the early stages, could see Meta acquiring Midjourney to enhance its AI-driven content generation and creative tools.

Meta's AI ambitions have been a key driver of its recent stock performance. Following a down week, Meta stock bounced back on Friday, gaining 2% to close at $754.55, according to [1]. The gains were fueled by reports of a $10 billion cloud computing deal with Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) and optimism surrounding Meta's AI investments. However, the stock remains ahead by about 28.5% year-to-date, trailing only Nvidia (NVDA) and its 29.8% year-to-date gain [1].

Meta's interest in Midjourney aligns with its broader strategy to invest in AI talent and technology. The company has been aggressively hiring top AI researchers, including Shengjia Zhao, a co-creator of ChatGPT, who now leads research efforts at Meta Superintelligence Labs [2]. Meta's investments in AI development also include a $14 billion investment in Scale AI and reported approaches to several other AI labs about potential acquisition deals [2].

The potential acquisition of Midjourney would not be Meta's first foray into AI. In recent months, Meta has been involved in legal battles with OpenAI, with OpenAI seeking a court order to uncover potential collaboration between Meta and Elon Musk in Musk's $97 billion takeover bid for the AI company [3]. The legal battle highlights the intense competition and complex relationships in the AI sector.

As Meta continues to explore partnerships and acquisitions to strengthen its AI capabilities, investors will be watching to see how these efforts impact the company's financial performance and stock price. The outcome of the talks with Midjourney remains uncertain, and it is too early to predict the potential impact on Meta's bottom line. However, the discussions underscore Meta's commitment to investing in AI and its willingness to pursue strategic acquisitions to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

References:
[1] https://www.investors.com/news/technology/meta-stock-ai-google-facebook-fed/
[2] https://theoutpost.ai/news-story/open-ai-probes-meta-s-potential-role-in-elon-musk-s-97-billion-takeover-bid-19415/
[3] https://www.power-eng.com/gas/combined-cycle/entergy-louisiana-gets-approval-to-build-3-new-combined-cycle-plants-to-power-huge-meta-data-center/