AI firm Moonvalley, recognized for applying a model instructed on completed authorized material, has raised a total of $154 million in funds, with the latest funding round generating approximately $84 million from backers such as Comcast Ventures and CAA. General Catalyst managed the most recent session, while CoreWeave, Y Combinator, and Khosla Venture were also in attendance at the round.
Last week Moonvalley debuted its video model named Marey, which is “based on licensed IP” and is a collaboration with secondary company Asteria Film CO. The company states that their goal is “to cement relationships in the entertainment industry, whose creative community has been unsettled by the rise of AI over the past few years.” The last part of the sentence seemingly references the recent lawsuit filed by Disney and NBCUniversal against the AI firm Midjourney for what is cited as “unlawful use of its materials.”
Ed Ulbrich, a visual effects executive best known for his work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Fight Club, recently joined Moonvalley in a senior position and sat down to discuss what convinced him to become a part of the AI firm with Deadline’s Dade Hayes. Ulbrich says that the firm’s “ethical approach” to generating AI was what influenced his decision, explaining that Moonvalley’s “clean model of an ethically sourced, ethically trained, a legit, proper thing, you know, no stolen pixels, no scraping of the internet. It’s done in a great way. ” Naeem Talukdar, co-founder and CEO of Moonvalley, spoke at a press conference on Monday about the new funding addition, saying that it “proves you don’t have to choose between powerful technology and responsible development.”
CAA’s Head of Strategic Development Alexandra Shannon said that Moonvalley’s models are a “top priority” for the agency and added, “We see an opportunity with these emerging tools and technologies, and having a set of partners who are aligned in the ethics behind AI is critical,” Comcast Ventures’ Managing Partner Allison Goldbering said that the AI firm’s “combining of technical excellence with respect for content creators aligns with how we think about innovation in our industry.”
