Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron has joined the Stability AI Board of Directors.
It was only a year ago when AI was thought to be a dirty word during the double strikes that shut down the business, when Cameron cited his 1984 sci-fi classic The Terminator — about artificial intelligence that becomes sentient and wreaks havoc on mankind — and said, “ I warned you guys in 1984, and you didn’t listen.”
Aside from his groundbreaking filmmaker prowess, 3-D and VFX pioneering, Cameron is also a technology innovator, so it is not surprising he would be part of the next wave of AI, and harnessing the technology. The announcement was made by Stability AI CEO, Stability AI CEO, Prem Akkaraju.
Cameron will join the other newly appointed board members, including Dana Settle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Greycroft; Colin Bryant, COO and General Partner of Coatue Management; and Sean Parker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former President of Facebook, who serves as Executive Chairman.
Akkaraju and Parker are back in business together after they developed the set-top box technology for Screening Room, and enlisted elite filmmakers like Steven Spielberg to press studios to make their first run films available for a service for that wealthy demo that is unable to regularly engage in theatergoing as they raise families, but have the cash to pay a premium for first run films. Studios did not embrace the technology, and then they worked together when Akkaraju steered Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh’s Weta Digital and the spinoff Weta Animated, and Parker joined its board.
Prem Akkaraju
Courtesty Cameron Rad
The company said that Cameron’s addition represents a significant step forward in Stability AI’s mission to transform visual media. Both Cameron and Stability AI operate at the intersection of emerging technology and creativity. Cameron’s artist-centric perspective and business and technical acumen will support Stability AI in continuing to unlock new opportunities to empower creators to tell stories in ways once unimaginable. “James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up,” said Akkaraju.
“Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a full stack AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life,” he said. “We have an unmatched advantage to achieve this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company. This is not only a monumental statement for Stability AI, but the AI industry overall. The next frontier in visual media will be forged by a true fusion of artist and technology and Stability AI is leading the charge.”
Stability AI has raised $233 million in five rounds, and its valuation is close to $1 billion, per company disclosures.
