James Cameron Joins Stability AI Board of Directors

Legendary filmmaker James Cameron has joined the board of directors of Stability AI.

In a press release published on Tuesday, Stability AI — the company behind Stable Diffusion — announced that the Titanic director had signed a deal to become the newest member of its executive leadership team.

“James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up,” Prem Akkaraju — who was appointed as Stability AI CEO in June — says in a statement.

“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.

“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.”

Cameron was among the earliest filmmakers to embrace the potential of computer-generated images (CGI) and he has continued to use it in movies such as the special effects-heavy Avatar franchise to move the field of visual effects forward.

According to Stability AI, Cameron’s role in the company will center around how AI technology can be used in special effects and CGI in filmmaking.

“I’ve spent my career seeking out emerging technologies that push the very boundaries of what’s possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories,” Cameron says.

“I was at the forefront of CGI over three decades ago, and I’ve stayed on the cutting edge since.

“Now, the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation is the next wave.”

Hollywood’s Love-Hate Relationship with AI

Cameron’s appointment on the board of directors comes as major Hollywood studios begin embracing AI technology. Earlier this month, Lionsgate announced a partnership with AI video company Runway that will see a custom video model trained on the Hollywood studio’s extensive catalog.

However, AI technology is still considered highly controversial by many filmmakers and movie fans alike.

Runway and Lionsgate’s announcement came in the wake of California Governor Gavin Newsom signing two bills into law that will protect actors and performers from unauthorized AI clones. The laws aim to protect actors from AI replicas of their likeness or voice being used without their consent.

Cameron joins Stability AI following reports of chaos at the company in recent months. In March, Stability AI was rumored to be in trouble after three researchers who developed Stable Diffusion left the company, following a number of executives out the door. A week later, Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque resigned from the company.

Then, in June, Stability AI released Stable Diffusion 3 Medium (SD3M) calling it “our most sophisticated image generation model to date.” However, the text-to-image model was mocked by real-world users.

 
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.