# midjourney: history

> the company, sourced and dated — twelve years of leap motion prehistory, the discord opening, v1 through v8.2, the lawsuits, and the scanner.

## the leap-motion decade (2008–2021)

the prehistory — holz and buckwald spend twelve years building leap motion's hand tracking, rebuff apple twice, and sell to ultrahaptics for ~$30m.

- 2008 — the first hand-tracking prototypes: holz builds his first hand-tracking prototypes while an applied-math phd student at unc — the research that becomes leap motion. (reported; sources: [ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Motion))
- 2010 — ocuspec founded: holz and michael buckwald — friends since middle school in southern florida — arrive in san francisco 'with two 30-pound backpacks,' build a radio-shack-parts prototype, and pitch vcs. the company is founded as ocuspec inc. (confirmed; sources: [founding story](https://www.inc.com/magazine/201306/eric-markowitz/leap-motion-changing-the-way-we-use-computers.html), [ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Motion))
- 2011-06 — the $1.3m seed: ocuspec raises a $1.3m seed from andreessen horowitz, founders fund, sosv, and angels including brian mcclendon and bill warner — warner later resurfaces on midjourney's advisor list. (confirmed; sources: [ocuspec $1](https://techcrunch.com/2011/06/10/ocuspec-raises-1-3m-from-andreessen-and-others-to-build-an-affordable-kinect/))
- 2012-05-09 — renamed leap motion: ocuspec becomes leap motion with a $12.75m series a led by highland capital — 'wants to change the future of human-computer interaction.' (confirmed; sources: [ocuspec→leap motion rename](https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/09/leap-motion-raises-12-75-millon-wants-to-change-the-future-of-humancomputer-interaction/))
- 2013-01 — series b — and the first apple approach: a $30m series b lands at a reported ~$306m peak valuation. around the same time apple makes its first acquisition approach; holz reportedly tells the reps their technology 'sucked.' the quotes are anonymous-sourced — holz never confirmed them. (reported; sources: [ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Motion), [the apple acquisition talks](https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-leap-motion-acquisition-talks-fell-through-2018-10))
- 2013-07 — the controller ships: the ~$80 leap motion controller ships — a small sensor doing precise hand and finger tracking. holz calls it 'inventing a lot of the gestural interface space.' orion vr tracking and the open-source project north star headset follow. (confirmed; sources: [ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Motion), [an engine for the imagination](https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23287173/ai-image-generation-art-midjourney-multiverse-interview-david-holz))
- 2018 — the second apple deal collapses: apple's second acquisition attempt — a reported $30–50m, roughly a tenth of peak valuation — collapses 'just days before' close. business insider's account leans on anonymous employees, including the famous 'they're the devil' quote holz never publicly confirmed. (reported; sources: [the apple acquisition talks](https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-leap-motion-acquisition-talks-fell-through-2018-10), [summary of bi reporting](https://9to5mac.com/2018/10/31/apple-leap-motion-acquisition/))
- 2019-05-30 — sold to ultrahaptics — becomes ultraleap: uk mid-air-haptics firm ultrahaptics acquires leap motion for ~$30m / £23.4m and renames the combined company ultraleap. buckwald departs; holz stays on as cto. 'we've been working with ultrahaptics for nearly six years.' (confirmed; sources: [ultrahaptics+leap motion deal](https://www.ipgroupplc.com/news-and-events/portfolio-news/2019/2019-05-30), [~$30m sale](https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/30/18645604/leap-motion-vr-hand-tracking-ultrahaptics-acquisition-rumor), [price, patents/staff to ultrahaptics](https://gamesbeat.com/ultrahaptics-acquires-ar-vr-pioneer-leap-motion-for-only-30-million/))
- 2021-08 — holz leaves; midjourney founded: holz leaves ultraleap and founds midjourney in san francisco — 'a home for the next 10 years to work on cool projects.' the technical trigger: watching language understanding and image generation converge, especially katherine crowson's clip-guided diffusion. his linkedin says aug 2021; an sf business registry lists a start date of 2020-09-16 — the discrepancy stays open. (reported; sources: [we're already profitable](https://www.theregister.com/software/2022/08/01/holz-founder-of-ai-art-service-midjourney-on-future-images/1198009), [founder & ceo, aug 2021–](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsholtz), [aug 2021 founding](https://research.contrary.com/report/midjourney), [611 gateway ste 120 south sf](https://opengovus.com/san-francisco-business/1326375-02-231))

## the lab opens (2021–2022)

a self-funded lab opens a discord server — v1 in closed beta, the economist cover, open beta, and the state-fair win that starts the argument.

- 2021-09 — first model tests: the first image-model tests and a private demo — 'we started off testing the raw technology in september last year.' (reported; sources: [aug 2021 founding](https://research.contrary.com/report/midjourney), [an engine for the imagination](https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23287173/ai-image-generation-art-midjourney-multiverse-interview-david-holz))
- 2022-02 — v1 in closed discord beta: v1 runs in a closed discord beta — roughly 500 users, each allowed to invite one more. holz asks them to share the outputs on social media; the open-channels design is the distribution strategy from day one. (reported; sources: [v1 500+500 users detail](https://aituts.com/midjourney-versions/))
- 2022-03-14 — the discord server opens: the midjourney discord server opens — the date wikipedia itself flags citation-needed. it will become the largest server the platform has ever hosted. (reported; sources: [version table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney))
- 2022-04-12 — v2 and the paid beta: v2 ships with upscale and variation buttons, and the paid beta begins — subscriptions before the product leaves discord. (reported; sources: [version table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney), [v1 500+500 users detail](https://aituts.com/midjourney-versions/))
- 2022-06-11 — the economist cover: the economist puts a midjourney-generated collage on its cover for a foundation-models special report — nearly 250 prompts, ~1,000 images. the legitimizing moment, weeks before the open beta. (the cosmopolitan ai cover the same month was dall·e 2 — the two are routinely conflated.) (confirmed; sources: [how a computer designed this week's cover](https://www.economist.com/news/2022/06/11/how-a-computer-designed-this-weeks-cover), [midjourney illustrations for ai briefing](https://www.economist.com/interactive/briefing/2022/06/11/huge-foundation-models-are-turbo-charging-ai-progress), [cosmopolitan cover = dall·e 2 (misattribution flag)](https://www.adweek.com/media/cosmo-let-ai-design-its-latest-magazine-cover/))
- 2022-07-12 — open beta: open beta — anyone can join the discord and generate. 'we don't know if our servers are ready, but we're ready to find out.' (confirmed; sources: [version table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney), [open-beta mechanics, discord-native distribution, profitable claim](https://itdoeswhatnow.com/m/2022-07-12-midjourney-opens-its-beta-on-discord/), [open to everyone beta, discord-only catch](https://www.pcworld.com/article/820518/midjourneys-ai-art-goes-live-for-everyone.html), [beta-opening quotes, discord stress test](https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxn5wn/inside-midjourney-the-generative-art-ai-that-rivals-dall-e))
- 2022-07-25 — v3 — and the biggest server on discord: v3 ships with --stylize and --quality; the discord passes ~1m members — reportedly overtaking the fortnite and minecraft servers. (reported; sources: [version table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney), [v1 500+500 users detail](https://aituts.com/midjourney-versions/))
- 2022-08 — the interview blitz: the interview blitz — verge, register, forbes — coincides with opening the bot to any discord server ('the midjourney multiverse'). holz tells the register the ~10-person company is 'already profitable, and we're fine.' (confirmed; sources: [an engine for the imagination](https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23287173/ai-image-generation-art-midjourney-multiverse-interview-david-holz), [we're already profitable](https://www.theregister.com/software/2022/08/01/holz-founder-of-ai-art-service-midjourney-on-future-images/1198009), [the consent answer](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/09/16/midjourney-founder-david-holz-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-art-imagination-and-the-creative-economy/))
- 2022-08-26 — the state-fair win: jason allen's 'théâtre d'opéra spatial' — made with midjourney, submitted under 'jason m. allen via midjourney' — wins the colorado state fair's digital-art category and a $300 ribbon. vice amplifies it days later; allen's sharper line lands via kevin roose: 'ai won. humans lost.' (confirmed; sources: [he used ai to win a fine-arts competition](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/02/midjourney-artificial-intelligence-state-fair-colorado/), [timeline: win aug 26, vice picked up aug 31](https://www.westword.com/arts-culture/artificial-intelligence-art-colorado-state-fair-controversy-14963306/), [win dated aug 29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_D%27op%C3%A9ra_Spatial), [allens ai won](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-roose_an-ai-generated-picture-won-an-art-prize-activity-6972969109017804801-ym5g))
- 2022-09-16 — the consent answer: asked by forbes whether he sought living artists' consent, holz answers 'no. there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from.' the candor recirculates in december and ends up quoted in the plaintiffs' filings. (confirmed; sources: [the consent answer](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/09/16/midjourney-founder-david-holz-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-art-imagination-and-the-creative-economy/), [viral resurfacing of forbes quotes](https://petapixel.com/2022/12/21/midjourny-founder-admits-to-using-a-hundred-million-images-without-consent/), [holz quotes reused in complaint](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-universal-midjourney-1236262563/))
- 2022-11-05 — v4 — and niji・journey: v4 alpha ships on a new codebase — models trained on google tpus from here on. the same month, niji・journey enters closed beta with spellbrush, the sf/tokyo studio behind waifu labs. (confirmed; sources: [version table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney), [niji journey closed beta](https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20221115-niji-journey/), [yc w18](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush))
- 2022-12-14 — the artstation revolt: 'no to ai generated images' — alexander nanitchkov's protest image, amplified by nicholas kole, floods artstation's front page with 2,000+ posts. artstation makes its noai tag opt-in rather than default, which keeps the story alive. (confirmed; sources: [protest origin, nanitchkov image, counts](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/12/artstation-artists-stage-mass-protest-against-ai-generated-artwork/), [takedowns](https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23523864/artstation-removing-anti-ai-protest-artwork-censorship), [kole/chayes origin](https://www.vice.com/en/article/artists-are-revolt-against-ai-art-on-artstation/))

## photorealism and the backlash (2023)

v5 photorealism, the pope and the trump-arrest fakes, the andersen class action, the copyright office — and the $200m no-vc profile.

- 2023-01-13 — the class action: andersen v. stability ai filed in n.d. cal. — sarah andersen, kelly mckernan, and karla ortiz name stability, midjourney, and deviantart over laion-5b scraping. 'no consent, no credit, and no compensation.' (confirmed; sources: [class action filed](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/lawsuits-accuse-ai-content-creators-misusing-copyrighted-work-2023-01-17/), [original complaint text](https://ipwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Andersen%5Fet%5Fal%5Fv.%5FStability%5FAI.pdf), [original plaintiffs/counsel](https://www.cartoonbrew.com/tech/stability-ai-deviantart-midjourney-stable-diffusion-lawsuit-224988.html))
- 2023-02-21 — zarya of the dawn: the copyright office moves to cancel the zarya of the dawn registration: kashtanova's text and arrangement stay protected, but the midjourney-generated images 'are not the product of human authorship.' the first big doctrinal line. (confirmed; sources: [images not the product of human authorship](https://www.copyright.gov/docs/zarya-of-the-dawn.pdf), [coverage of zarya decision](https://www.reuters.com/legal/ai-created-images-lose-us-copyrights-test-new-technology-2023-02-22/), [limited-registration framing](https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-generated-comic-book-zarya-of-the-dawn-keeps-copyright-but-key-images-excluded-c8094509))
- 2023-03-15 — v5 — and a print magazine: v5 alpha ships — 2× resolution, a wider stylistic range, and five-fingered hands 'most of the time.' the same day, midjourney announces a $4/mo print magazine of top community images. 'we thought it would be fun, and the community agreed, so we did it.' (confirmed; sources: [v5 alpha](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/ai-imager-midjourney-v5-stuns-with-photorealistic-images-and-5-fingered-hands/), [official feature list verbatim](https://www.techspot.com/news/97983-midjourney-version-5-improves-almost-every-aspect-ai.html), [magazine $4/mo](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/03/15/ai-image-tool-midjourney-launches-magazine/), [holz fun quote](https://gizmodo.com/ai-midjourney-free-ai-art-launches-magazine-1850229973))
- 2023-03 — the pope and the perp walk: the trump-arrest and balenciaga-pope fakes go viral on v5. eliot higgins posts ~50 synthetic perp-walk images and reports himself banned; 'arrested' and trump-family names get blocked. nbc calls the pope 'one of the first instances of wide-scale misinformation' from ai. (confirmed; sources: [the trump-arrest images](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisstokelwalker/midjourney-ai-donald-trump-arrest-images-ban), [the balenciaga pope](https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/27/23657927/ai-pope-image-fake-midjourney-computer-generated-aesthetic), [wide-scale misinformation framing](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/pope-francis-ai-generated-images-fool-internet-rcna76838), [arrest word ban](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/ai-platform-allegedly-bans-journalist-over-fake-trump-arrest-images/))
- 2023-03-30 — free trials suspended: free trials suspended — holz's discord post cites 'extraordinary demand and trial abuse'; he later blames 'massive amounts of people making throwaway accounts' traced to a viral how-to video in china plus a gpu shortage, calling the deepfake link 'a misunderstanding.' trials stay off for over a year. (confirmed; sources: [midjourney stops free trials](https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/30/23662940/deepfake-viral-ai-misinformation-midjourney-stops-free-trials), [xi jinping ban/minimize drama context](https://www.engadget.com/midjourney-ends-free-trials-of-its-ai-image-generator-due-to-extraordinary-abuse-153853905.html), [holz email on wapo misunderstandings](https://gizmodo.com/midjourney-deep-fake-ai-trump-arrested-pope-1850283812), [safeguards-insufficient quote](https://www.pcmag.com/news/ai-image-generator-midjourney-pauses-free-trials-amid-huge-demand-abuse))
- 2023-04-04 — /describe: /describe ships — image-to-text, the reverse direction. niji 5 lands the same month. (confirmed; sources: [/describe april 4 2023](https://petapixel.com/2023/04/05/midjourney-flips-the-formula-with-new-image-to-text-generator/), [v1 500+500 users detail](https://aituts.com/midjourney-versions/))
- 2023-05-15 — the china episode: the 'midjourney china' episode: a wechat post from a nanjing joint venture announces a qq-based beta, then deletes it — while april office-hours notes had mentioned qq expansion and channel admins reportedly confirmed a closed beta. the status stays murky in all reporting. (reported; sources: [midjourney china qq episode](https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/midjourney-comes-to-china/), [office-hours notes on qq](https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3220909/midjourneys-fate-china-air-after-wechat-post-announcing-beta-test-local-services-vanishes))
- 2023-06-22 — v5.2, --weird, and pan: v5.2 — zoom-out outpainting, /shorten, high-variation mode, reworked aesthetics. '--weird 0–3000' and pan expansion follow within weeks. (confirmed; sources: [midjourney v5.2](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/stunning-midjourney-update-wows-ai-artists-with-camera-like-feature/), [--weird 0–3000](https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-generates-weird-images-now-and-can-run-a-lot-faster/), [weird + pan](https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2023/07/04/midjourneys-ai-images-get-weirder-and-wider/))
- 2023-07-07 — the name, explained: holz tells shanghai's world ai conference the name comes from a favorite translation of zhuangzi — 中道, 'mid-journey': 'we come from this rich and beautiful past, and ahead of us is this wild and unimaginable… future.' (confirmed; sources: [waic remarks](https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20230707A06ZVT00), [english recap of name origin](https://officechai.com/ai/midjourney-name-origin/))
- 2023-09-05 — the $200m profile: the information's profile reports midjourney on pace to surpass $200m revenue in 2023, profitable 'since early on,' ~40 employees, no vc — holz compares the model to craigslist. every figure is reported or self-reported; nothing is audited. (reported; sources: [he doesn't need vc in his life](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/he-doesnt-need-vc-in-his-life-how-midjourneys-founder-built-an-ai-winner-while-rejecting-venture-capital), [quoted passages from the profile](https://michaelparekh.substack.com/p/ai-doing-more-with-less), [$200m recap](https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-generates-200-million-in-revenue-and-adds-web-support-with-v6/), [$200m/40-person framing](https://www.bigtechwire.com/2023/09/09/midjourney-delivers-on-ai-promise-by-hitting-200-million-revenue-run-rate-without-vc-funding/))
- 2023-10-30 — dismissed, with leave to amend: judge orrick largely dismisses the first andersen complaint with leave to amend — the same day holz gives the uist '23 keynote in san francisco. (confirmed; sources: [case no](https://www.crowell.com/en/insights/client-alerts/california-federal-court-trims-lawsuit-against-stability-ai-midjourney-and-deviantart-in-generative-ai-artwork-case), [uist 23 keynote](https://programs.sigchi.org/uist/2023/program/session/127850))
- 2023-11-29 — the amended complaint: the amended complaint adds seven artists — including rutkowski, brom, and zhang — plus defendant runway, and a lanham act false-endorsement claim aimed specifically at midjourney's artist-name prompting. (confirmed; sources: [fac: lanham act vs midjourney](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.129.0.pdf), [+runway, +7 artists](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/artists-take-new-shot-stability-midjourney-updated-copyright-lawsuit-2023-11-30/))

## off discord island (2023–2024)

the style-list leak, the stability ban, rooms and personalization, the alpha site opening to everyone — the escape from discord island.

- 2023-12-12 — the alpha site: the alpha website opens to users with 10,000+ generations — the first real step off discord after nearly two years. (confirmed; sources: [alpha web, 10k+ users](https://petapixel.com/2023/12/14/midjourney-set-to-move-from-discord-to-standalone-website/), [midjourney alpha](https://tech.co/news/what-is-midjourney-alpha))
- 2023-12-21 — v6 alpha: v6 alpha — the third model 'trained from scratch on our ai superclusters,' nine months of training, with 'minor text drawing ability' and overhauled prompting. the discord is at 17m+ members. (confirmed; sources: [midjourney v6 is here](https://venturebeat.com/ai/midjourney-v6-is-here-with-in-image-text-and-completely-overhauled-prompting/), [crazy update wieland quote](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/01/a-crazy-update-midjourney-v6-upgrade-heaps-on-ai-generated-detail/), [minor text drawing ability verbatim](https://decrypt.co/210637/midjourney-v6-base-model-upgrade-text-), [v6 prompting/text behavior analysis](https://midlibrary.io/midguide/midjourney-v6-in-depth-review-part-1-overview))
- 2023-12 — the hardware hire: ahmad abbas joins as head of hardware — revealed in february: ex-apple vision pro engineering manager, ex-neuralink, ex-leap motion. the early focus is 3d data capture; 'orb' is the reported project nickname. (reported; sources: [ahmad abbas hire](https://the-decoder.com/apple-vision-pro-engineer-to-build-the-mid-journey-orb/), [corroboration](https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/midjourney-gains-top-talent-from-apple-to-drive-ai-image-generator-hardware-innovationsarticleid/article67828252.ece), [head of consumer hardware](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-abbas-28460662))
- 2024-01-02 — the style list leaks: the 'midjourney style list' goes viral — a ~16,000-name sheet of artists midjourney can mimic, allegedly shared by holz in the public discord in 2022, lands next to a 4,700-name court exhibit filed as exhibit j. kahlo, kusama, warhol, rockwell, wes anderson, disney. (confirmed; sources: [the 16,000-name style list](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/midjourney-ai-artists-database-1234691955/), [leak mechanics](https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/04/leaked-names-of-16000-artists-used-to-train-midjourney-ai), [4,700-name exhibit vs 16k sheet](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/famous-artists-trained-ai-generator-viral-list-rcna131995), [midjourney name list, 25pp](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.238.10.pdf))
- 2024-01-29 — niji 6 and --sref: niji 6 alpha ships; style reference --sref follows days later — the anime line becomes where new reference features surface first. (reported; sources: [niji 6 alpha jan 29 2024](https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/midjourney-niji-v6-0-vs-v5-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-15-iconic-anime-characters-73c57c1bcee9))
- 2024-03-06 — the stability ban: a ~24-hour outage is blamed on 'botnet-like activity' from paid accounts linked to a stability ai data-team member 'trying to grab all the prompt and image pairs in the middle of a night on saturday.' at that week's office hours midjourney bans all stability employees indefinitely; mostaque denies intentional scraping. nick st. pierre's relay is how the news surfaces. (confirmed; sources: [stability ban](https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/11/24097495/midjourney-bans-stability-ai-employees-data-theft-outage), [botnet-like activity](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/in-ironic-twist-midjourney-bans-rival-ai-firm-employees-for-scraping-its-image-data/), [nick st](https://petapixel.com/2024/03/08/midjourney-blocks-all-stability-ai-employees-after-alleged-data-theft-attempt/))
- 2024-03-12 — --cref: character reference --cref ships — persistent characters across generations, the feature comic and storyboard artists had been asking for. (confirmed; sources: [--cref launch](https://updates.midjourney.com/character-refs/), [corroboration](https://petapixel.com/2024/03/12/you-can-now-recreate-the-same-character-across-different-ai-images-on-midjourney/))
- 2024-03-20 — the world-simulation roadmap: office hours: 'we're really trying to get to the world simulation. we're building 3d midjourney, video mj, & real-time mj where things move really really fast' — build each independently, then merge into 'the open world sandbox.' the roadmap said out loud; no official transcript exists. (reported; sources: [world simulation office-hours quotes](https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-announces-plans-to-create-an-ai-world-simulation-tool-in-full-3d))
- 2024-05-24 — rooms: rooms — private collaborative web spaces for users past 100 images, mirrored to discord channels. the community moves to midjourney's own property. (confirmed; sources: [rooms for ≥100-image members](https://updates.midjourney.com/create-with-friends-in-private-rooms/))
- 2024-06-12 — personalization: model personalization --p ships — every user can tune the model by pair-ranking images. taste becomes a stored per-user artifact. (confirmed; sources: [--p details (unofficial mirror)](https://www.midjourney-v6.com/midjourney-personalization-feature/), [personalization test](https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-can-now-generate-images-based-on-your-own-personal-tastes-heres-how))
- 2024-07-31 — v6.1: v6.1 — coherence, skin, small faces, ~25% faster, new upscalers; made default the same day. (confirmed; sources: [version 6.1 release notes](https://updates.midjourney.com/version-6-1/), [skin/text improvements](https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-drops-surprise-v61-update-now-humans-look-more-real-than-ever))
- 2024-08-12 — discovery opens: orrick lets the copyright and lanham act claims against midjourney proceed to discovery — including the ~4,700-name 'midjourney style list' as evidence — while dmca claims die with prejudice. orrick: plausible the tools were 'created to facilitate that infringement by design.' (confirmed; sources: [core claims proceed](https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/ai-companies-lose-bid-dismiss-parts-visual-artists-copyright-case-2024-08-13/), [infringement by design](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/artists-claim-big-win-in-copyright-suit-fighting-ai-image-generators/), [midjourney style list 4,700 artists detail](https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/13/24219520/stability-midjourney-artist-lawsuit-copyright-trademark-claims-approved), [laion-400m vs midjourney allegation detail](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.223.0_3.pdf))
- 2024-08-21 — the web opens to all: the web opens to everyone — a real site with google/discord sign-in and a restored ~25-image free trial. 'escape from discord island.' (confirmed; sources: [web open to all](https://updates.midjourney.com/the-web-is-open-to-all/), [escape from discord island quote](https://petapixel.com/2024/08/23/midjourney-launches-website-interface-for-its-ai-image-generator/), [trial return](https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-launches-web-interface-and-restores-free-trial-images/))
- 2024-08-28 — officially into hardware: 'we're officially getting into hardware. if you're interested in joining the new team in san francisco please email us.' — the x post that makes the abbas hire legible in public. (confirmed; sources: [officially getting into hardware aug 28](https://petapixel.com/2024/08/29/midjourney-teases-hardware-product-hires-apple-vision-pro-headset-engineer/))
- 2024-10-23 — the editor — and holodeck talk: the external image editor ships — edit any uploaded image, retexture, plus next-gen ai moderation — with holz saying they'll 'restrict the deployment.' office-hours reporting the same season describes a 'holodeck' 3d project and a second hardware effort. (confirmed; sources: [editor + retexturing + moderation](https://updates.midjourney.com/external-image-editor/), [holz restrict the deployment](https://petapixel.com/2024/10/23/midjourneys-powerful-ai-image-editor-lets-you-alter-any-image/), [office-hours 3d/enterable images](https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-is-building-the-holodeck-new-ai-model-lets-you-enter-3d-images))
- 2024-12-11 — patchwork: patchwork ships as a research preview — a multiplayer infinite canvas for worldbuilding, mixing llms and image models, led by max kreminski's storytelling lab. the first public artifact of the world-model agenda. (confirmed; sources: [patchwork launch](https://updates.midjourney.com/patchwork-research-preview/), [max kreminski, storytelling lab](https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-patchwork-is-a-new-ai-image-world-builder-and-i-dont-get-it))

## video, lawsuits, and the scanner (2025–)

v7 and v8, the video model, disney/universal and warner bros. in court — then the 'secret hardware project' turns out to be a medical scanner and a union square spa.

- 2025-04-04 — v7 alpha: v7 alpha — the first new architecture in nearly a year: personalization on by default (rate ~200 image pairs to unlock), 10× draft mode at half cost, turbo and relax tiers. it lands a week after openai's ghibli moment floods every feed. (confirmed; sources: [turbo/relax, draft mode, roadmap](https://updates.midjourney.com/v7-alpha/), [v7 alpha](https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/03/midjourney-releases-its-first-new-ai-image-model-in-nearly-a-year/), [200-image profiling requirement](https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/midjourney-introduces-first-new-image-generation-model-in-over-a-year/), [onboarding mechanics](https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-launches-v7-image-model-with-draft-mode-for-faster-iteration/))
- 2025-05 — omni-reference: omni-reference --oref replaces --cref for v7 — characters, objects, and scenes with an --ow weight from 1–1000. (confirmed; sources: [omni-reference launch mechanics](https://updates.midjourney.com/omni-reference-oref/), [--ow range, v7-only](https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/36285124473997-Omni-Reference))
- 2025-06-11 — disney and universal sue: disney and universal sue in c.d. cal. — the first major-studio ai suit. the 110-page complaint calls midjourney 'a bottomless pit of plagiarism,' alleges $300m 2024 revenue and ~21m users, quotes holz's own scraping candor, and asks for an injunction including against the imminent video service. holz that week: 'i think midjourney is going to be around for a very long time.' (confirmed; sources: [disney and universal sue](https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/disney-universal-sue-image-creator-midjourney-copyright-infringement-2025-06-11/), [disney & universal v. midjourney — complaint](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.973999/gov.uscourts.cacd.973999.1.0_6.pdf), [first-of-its-kind](https://www.npr.org/2025/06/12/nx-s1-5431684/ai-disney-universal-midjourney-copyright-infringement-lawsuit), [$300m 2024 claim](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5vjqdm1ypo), [holz office-hours response verbatim](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/disney-and-universal-sue-ai-firm-midjourney-for-copyright-infringement/))
- 2025-06-17 — v7 goes default: v7 becomes the default model — six days after the studios' filing. (confirmed; sources: [v7 default](https://updates.midjourney.com/v7-is-now-the-default-model/), [v7 default date 2025-06-17](https://www.toolworthy.ai/tool/midjourney-v7))
- 2025-06-18 — v1 video: the v1 video model ships — image-to-video, four 5-second clips per job, extendable to ~21s, priced at roughly one image per second of video and 'over 25 times cheaper than what the market has shipped.' holz frames it as 'a stepping stone' toward 'real-time open-world simulations.' (confirmed; sources: [image-to-video](https://updates.midjourney.com/introducing-our-v1-video-model/), [pricing tiers](https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/18/midjourney-launches-its-first-ai-video-generation-model-v1/), [holz stepping stone/real-time open-world simulations verbatim](https://www.theverge.com/news/690055/midjourney-ai-video-generator-launch))
- 2025-07-30 — midjourney tv: midjourney tv launches — a 24/7 stream of top community videos at midjourney.tv plus personalized feeds. hd video (native 720p, pro/mega) follows in august. (confirmed; sources: [midjourney tv + personalized feeds](https://updates.midjourney.com/personalized-feeds-and-midjourney-tv/), [720p](https://updates.midjourney.com/hd-mode-for-video/))
- 2025-08-06 — the fair-use answer: midjourney answers the disney suit: training is fair use — 'to understand concepts by extracting statistical information,' the way a person learns by looking. the filing notes 'many dozens' of subscribers on the plaintiffs' own corporate email domains and quotes bob iger praising ai as 'an invaluable tool for artists.' (confirmed; sources: [midjourney's answer](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Disney-v-Midjourney-Answer-to-Complaint-8-6-25.pdf), [transformative-fair-use analysis](https://www.law.com/therecorder/2025/08/08/in-copyright-case-ai-startup-argues-use-of-disney-universal-characters-to-train-ai-models-is-transformative-fair-use-/), [43-page response](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/midjourney-fires-back-disney-and-universal-copyright-suit-2675798))
- 2025-09-04 — warner bros. discovery sues: warner bros. discovery becomes the third studio — superman, batman, bugs bunny, rick and morty — and adds a sharper allegation: that midjourney removed prior copyright protections after the disney filing. up to $150k statutory damages per work. (confirmed; sources: [third studio](https://apnews.com/article/warner-bros-midjourney-ai-copyright-lawsuit-dc-studios-b87d80d7b4a4dfdcf0ee149d30830551), [warner bros. sues](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/warner-bros-sues-midjourney-to-stop-ai-knockoffs-of-batman-scooby-doo/), [exhibit examples (superman texting](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-04/warner-bros-sues-ai-startup-claiming-it-stole-superman-s-image), [entities suing](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2025-09-04/batman-superman-studio-warner-bros-sues-ai-company-midjourney))
- 2025 — time100 and isef: holz makes the time100 ai list (portrait credited to sxsw) and appears at regeneron isef as a society for science trustee — midjourney sponsors the fair's 'technology enhances the arts' award. he is a 2006 isef alum; his high-school project lost 'to somebody who cured a disease.' (reported; sources: [time100 ai: david holz](https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305883/david-holz/), [isef alum interview](https://www.societyforscience.org/blog/from-isef-to-midjourney-founder-david-holz/), [holz at isef 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsCxyMNP5Rk))
- 2026-01-09 — niji v7: niji v7 — the spellbrush line keeps pace with the main model. (confirmed; sources: [niji v7](https://updates.midjourney.com/niji-v7/))
- 2026-03-17 — v8 alpha — the pytorch rewrite: v8 alpha — the codebase rewritten from the google-tpu stack to gpu-native pytorch: native 2k --hd, --q 4 coherence, ~5x faster than v7, and personalization, moodboards, and srefs carried over. a big training run ('possibly called v8.1') is teased days later. (confirmed; sources: [v8 alpha](https://updates.midjourney.com/v8-alpha/), [tpu→gpu pytorch rewrite](https://itdoeswhatnow.com/m/2026-03-17-midjourney-releases-v8-alpha/), [relax mode](https://updates.midjourney.com/relax-mode-for-v8-alpha/))
- 2026-03-29 — the 2026 check-in: holz tells the information revenue 'significantly surpassed' $200m and has grown despite declining web traffic — and that the hardware ambitions might force the company's first vc raise. reported; paywalled, relayed via winbuzzer. (reported; sources: [holz interview](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/midjourney-profitable-chasing-hardware-dreams-can-survive-google), [recap of information interview](https://winbuzzer.com/2026/03/31/midjourney-revenue-above-200-million-hardware-push-xcxwbn/), [holz: significantly surpassed $200m, gone up despite traffic decline](https://texxr.com/1166141/midjourney-reports-revenue-surpasses-200m))
- 2026-04-14 — v8.1 and v8.2: v8.1 alpha (default june 10–11: 4s sd / 12s hd renders, hd ~3× cheaper); v8.2 lands july 24 as the current default and ships the new edit model — replacing omni reference, character reference, and retexture in one. (confirmed; sources: [speed/cost cuts](https://updates.midjourney.com/v8-1-alpha/), [4s sd/12s hd](https://updates.midjourney.com/v8-1-is-now-the-default-model/), [version 8.2 release notes](https://updates.midjourney.com/version-8-2/), [version history: v8](https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32199405667853-Version))
- 2026-06-17 — midjourney medical — the scanner and the spa: the 'secret hardware project' is revealed in a livestream (~30k x viewers): midjourney medical, a new division, and the midjourney scanner — a water-immersion full-body ultrasound-ct built on 40 butterfly network modules (358,000 elements, ~½mm detail, a one-minute scan goal). plus a 24/7 spa at 300 grant ave, union square — 23,000 sq ft on a 10-year lease, targeting end-2027. the ambitions — 50,000+ scanners by ~2031, 'a billion scans a month' — are company goals, not results. (confirmed; sources: [midjourney medical announcement](https://www.midjourney.com/medical/blogpost), [first secret hardware project 6/17 livestream](https://updates.midjourney.com/hardware-announcement-livestream/), [scanner details](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/952011/midjourney-medical-ai-ultrasound-scan), [23k sqft, 4 floors, 10-yr lease, jll](https://therealdeal.com/san-francisco/2026/06/22/midjourney-health-scanning-startup-leases-at-union-square/), [butterfly network partner](https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/18/midjourney-pivots-from-ai-image-generation-to-body-scanning-medical-spa-where-patients-bathe-in-golden-light/5258429), [300 grant](https://sfstandard.com/2026/06/19/midjourney-spa-union-square-body-scanner/))
- 2026-08-12 — the chief design officer surfaces: office hours hosted while holz is away: duncan wilson (web team lead) and banu güler — the co-star co-founder, now midjourney's chief design officer. (reported; sources: [banu güler cdo](https://medium.com/enthusiastically-midjourney/midjourney-info-27-week-of-august-10th-2026-9e774efea55c))

AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

Canonical page: https://hraness.com/midjourney/history


Published by @ben in profile revision 1.
Original document: https://hraness.com/midjourney/history
Original credited author: Hraness
AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

## Structured source and record data

````json
{"anchors":[{"id":"leap","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","title":"the leap motion decade"},{"id":"founding","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","title":"the founding"},{"id":"viral","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","title":"the viral year"},{"id":"platform","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","title":"the platform move"},{"id":"worlds","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","title":"the world-model era"}],"provenance":{"draftingDisclosure":"AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.","originalAuthor":"Hraness","originalRevision":"572b1aa15ffa37573d8e11388cba49a50638822004aaccf0f582721fa9e6f728","originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","source":"hraness"},"records":[{"date":{"precision":"approximate","text":"2008–2021"},"id":"record-f2dcfbe72efe4139d53e","kind":"midjourney-eras","label":"the leap-motion decade","original":{"id":"leap","range":"2008–2021","summary":"the prehistory — holz and buckwald spend twelve years building leap motion's hand tracking, rebuff apple twice, and sell to ultrahaptics for ~$30m.","title":"the leap-motion decade"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","sourceIds":[]},{"date":{"precision":"approximate","text":"2021–2022"},"id":"record-8bd6edfb63441a627407","kind":"midjourney-eras","label":"the lab opens","original":{"id":"founding","range":"2021–2022","summary":"a self-funded lab opens a discord server — v1 in closed beta, the economist cover, open beta, and the state-fair win that starts the argument.","title":"the lab opens"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","sourceIds":[]},{"date":{"precision":"year","text":"2023"},"id":"record-8c4e2db0b7e96cf74741","kind":"midjourney-eras","label":"photorealism and the backlash","original":{"id":"viral","range":"2023","summary":"v5 photorealism, the pope and the trump-arrest fakes, the andersen class action, the copyright office — and the $200m no-vc profile.","title":"photorealism and the backlash"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","sourceIds":[]},{"date":{"precision":"approximate","text":"2023–2024"},"id":"record-2e3e3bc4357d0e5b0b85","kind":"midjourney-eras","label":"off discord island","original":{"id":"platform","range":"2023–2024","summary":"the style-list leak, the stability ban, rooms and personalization, the alpha site opening to everyone — the escape from discord island.","title":"off discord island"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","sourceIds":[]},{"date":{"precision":"approximate","text":"2025–"},"id":"record-2427ee85c525a4d27dbe","kind":"midjourney-eras","label":"video, lawsuits, and the scanner","original":{"id":"worlds","range":"2025–","summary":"v7 and v8, the video model, disney/universal and warner bros. in court — then the 'secret hardware project' turns out to be a medical scanner and a union square spa.","title":"video, lawsuits, and the scanner"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history","sourceIds":[]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"year","text":"2008"},"id":"record-c48c11c669a68805d84c","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the first hand-tracking prototypes","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2008","detail":"holz builds his first hand-tracking prototypes while an applied-math phd student at unc — the research that becomes leap motion.","era":"leap","id":"evt-leap-prototypes","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion"],"title":"the first hand-tracking prototypes"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-e4050b86d8a757c231a3"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"year","text":"2010"},"id":"record-49b368ba06c38719d7bf","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"ocuspec founded","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2010","detail":"holz and michael buckwald — friends since middle school in southern florida — arrive in san francisco 'with two 30-pound backpacks,' build a radio-shack-parts prototype, and pitch vcs. the company is founded as ocuspec inc.","era":"leap","id":"evt-ocuspec","sourceIds":["src-hp-inc-leap-2013","src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion"],"title":"ocuspec founded"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-80720a58242ca127c81d","source-e4050b86d8a757c231a3"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2011-06"},"id":"record-77dcae899f90d167f058","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the $1.3m seed","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2011-06","detail":"ocuspec raises a $1.3m seed from andreessen horowitz, founders fund, sosv, and angels including brian mcclendon and bill warner — warner later resurfaces on midjourney's advisor list.","era":"leap","id":"evt-ocuspec-seed","sourceIds":["src-hp-techcrunch-ocuspec-2011"],"title":"the $1.3m seed"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-13813951da7313df41ff"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2012-05-09"},"id":"record-dc27a4b29ca90b2ac216","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"renamed leap motion","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2012-05-09","detail":"ocuspec becomes leap motion with a $12.75m series a led by highland capital — 'wants to change the future of human-computer interaction.'","era":"leap","id":"evt-leap-rename","sourceIds":["src-hp-techcrunch-leapmotion-2012"],"title":"renamed leap motion"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-a9a7358042c1140428df"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2013-01"},"id":"record-8f15c3b952c36eca54a0","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"series b — and the first apple approach","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2013-01","detail":"a $30m series b lands at a reported ~$306m peak valuation. around the same time apple makes its first acquisition approach; holz reportedly tells the reps their technology 'sucked.' the quotes are anonymous-sourced — holz never confirmed them.","era":"leap","id":"evt-leap-seriesb","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion","src-hp-bi-apple-leap-2018"],"title":"series b — and the first apple approach"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-e4050b86d8a757c231a3","source-53a2e17115391368b1d8"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2013-07"},"id":"record-820a9380a66f52d74746","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the controller ships","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2013-07","detail":"the ~$80 leap motion controller ships — a small sensor doing precise hand and finger tracking. holz calls it 'inventing a lot of the gestural interface space.' orion vr tracking and the open-source project north star headset follow.","era":"leap","id":"evt-leap-controller","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion","src-hp-verge-holz-2022"],"title":"the controller ships"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-e4050b86d8a757c231a3","source-a634fe2c1b2d48685578"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"year","text":"2018"},"id":"record-b0962f509219cb4358ef","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the second apple deal collapses","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2018","detail":"apple's second acquisition attempt — a reported $30–50m, roughly a tenth of peak valuation — collapses 'just days before' close. business insider's account leans on anonymous employees, including the famous 'they're the devil' quote holz never publicly confirmed.","era":"leap","id":"evt-apple-2018","sourceIds":["src-hp-bi-apple-leap-2018","src-hp-9to5mac-apple-2018"],"title":"the second apple deal collapses"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-53a2e17115391368b1d8","source-2ecbc58eaf389e95697a"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2019-05-30"},"id":"record-c3296581a6daf863b156","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"sold to ultrahaptics — becomes ultraleap","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2019-05-30","detail":"uk mid-air-haptics firm ultrahaptics acquires leap motion for ~$30m / £23.4m and renames the combined company ultraleap. buckwald departs; holz stays on as cto. 'we've been working with ultrahaptics for nearly six years.'","era":"leap","id":"evt-ultraleap","sourceIds":["src-hp-ipgroup-ultraleap-2019","src-hp-verge-ultraleap-2019","src-hp-gamesbeat-ultraleap-2019"],"title":"sold to ultrahaptics — becomes ultraleap"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-328bf940c604d4176e70","source-5ea0171f8508fd50d17e","source-ff72f2ca789e31d9cb90"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2021-08"},"id":"record-a9cdcef9872ad2fb7c6d","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"holz leaves; midjourney founded","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2021-08","detail":"holz leaves ultraleap and founds midjourney in san francisco — 'a home for the next 10 years to work on cool projects.' the technical trigger: watching language understanding and image generation converge, especially katherine crowson's clip-guided diffusion. his linkedin says aug 2021; an sf business registry lists a start date of 2020-09-16 — the discrepancy stays open.","era":"leap","id":"evt-holz-departs","sourceIds":["src-hp-register-holz-2022","src-hp-linkedin-holz","src-hp-contrary-midjourney","src-hp-opengovus-midjourney"],"title":"holz leaves; midjourney founded"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#leap","sourceIds":["source-832918471f767301c8e6","source-1cce95099040f925fe01","source-cea4aab0136f236e662d","source-24b40f2c74fa84a5fa48"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2021-09"},"id":"record-07a20c56b85b669105fd","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"first model tests","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2021-09","detail":"the first image-model tests and a private demo — 'we started off testing the raw technology in september last year.'","era":"founding","id":"evt-first-tests","sourceIds":["src-hp-contrary-midjourney","src-hp-verge-holz-2022"],"title":"first model tests"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-cea4aab0136f236e662d","source-a634fe2c1b2d48685578"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-02"},"id":"record-ae2b440cc8e7798b7f7b","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v1 in closed discord beta","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2022-02","detail":"v1 runs in a closed discord beta — roughly 500 users, each allowed to invite one more. holz asks them to share the outputs on social media; the open-channels design is the distribution strategy from day one.","era":"founding","id":"evt-v1-beta","sourceIds":["src-hp-aituts-versions"],"title":"v1 in closed discord beta"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-ceb246d7b8874833b5a3"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-03-14"},"id":"record-e1a7facc02e98810d027","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the discord server opens","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2022-03-14","detail":"the midjourney discord server opens — the date wikipedia itself flags citation-needed. it will become the largest server the platform has ever hosted.","era":"founding","id":"evt-discord-opens","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney"],"title":"the discord server opens"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-e855092ad5bf334f7232"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-04-12"},"id":"record-df6a99761faf55952a88","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v2 and the paid beta","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2022-04-12","detail":"v2 ships with upscale and variation buttons, and the paid beta begins — subscriptions before the product leaves discord.","era":"founding","id":"evt-v2-paid","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney","src-hp-aituts-versions"],"title":"v2 and the paid beta"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-e855092ad5bf334f7232","source-ceb246d7b8874833b5a3"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-06-11"},"id":"record-542f550c37427698ee12","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the economist cover","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-06-11","detail":"the economist puts a midjourney-generated collage on its cover for a foundation-models special report — nearly 250 prompts, ~1,000 images. the legitimizing moment, weeks before the open beta. (the cosmopolitan ai cover the same month was dall·e 2 — the two are routinely conflated.)","era":"founding","id":"evt-economist-cover","sourceIds":["src-ci-economist-cover","src-ci-economist-foundation-models","src-ci-adweek-cosmo"],"title":"the economist cover"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-45818602e25a1f874a6e","source-7a3adf51f6fd6e726929","source-a17ee733bdc3723eca5c"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-07-12"},"id":"record-2f1a5b0407b09a20ecd6","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"open beta","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-07-12","detail":"open beta — anyone can join the discord and generate. 'we don't know if our servers are ready, but we're ready to find out.'","era":"founding","id":"evt-open-beta","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney","src-ci-itdoeswhatnow-beta","src-ci-pcworld-open-beta","src-ci-vice-midjourney-inside"],"title":"open beta"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-e855092ad5bf334f7232","source-532c721cbde5708e656c","source-e329f894bb116ebeb9c4","source-2e5255219109b3d97d63"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-07-25"},"id":"record-b1b0863497d4babfc890","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v3 — and the biggest server on discord","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2022-07-25","detail":"v3 ships with --stylize and --quality; the discord passes ~1m members — reportedly overtaking the fortnite and minecraft servers.","era":"founding","id":"evt-v3","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney","src-hp-aituts-versions"],"title":"v3 — and the biggest server on discord"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-e855092ad5bf334f7232","source-ceb246d7b8874833b5a3"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-08"},"id":"record-a46e6fcec64208bf6099","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the interview blitz","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-08","detail":"the interview blitz — verge, register, forbes — coincides with opening the bot to any discord server ('the midjourney multiverse'). holz tells the register the ~10-person company is 'already profitable, and we're fine.'","era":"founding","id":"evt-interview-blitz","sourceIds":["src-hp-verge-holz-2022","src-hp-register-holz-2022","src-ci-forbes-holz"],"title":"the interview blitz"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-a634fe2c1b2d48685578","source-832918471f767301c8e6","source-93f087bc7bde18d2a753"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-08-26"},"id":"record-e60d2fb668ccd49d2569","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the state-fair win","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-08-26","detail":"jason allen's 'théâtre d'opéra spatial' — made with midjourney, submitted under 'jason m. allen via midjourney' — wins the colorado state fair's digital-art category and a $300 ribbon. vice amplifies it days later; allen's sharper line lands via kevin roose: 'ai won. humans lost.'","era":"founding","id":"evt-state-fair","sourceIds":["src-ci-wapo-state-fair","src-ci-westword-state-fair","src-ci-wikipedia-theatre","src-ci-linkedin-roose"],"title":"the state-fair win"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-6cc68edf3ea939558e09","source-e657d36270894d2c016f","source-72259db6a64592035934","source-7cb598b007aadba7b34f"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-09-16"},"id":"record-9aa8525739b4ff9e9964","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the consent answer","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-09-16","detail":"asked by forbes whether he sought living artists' consent, holz answers 'no. there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from.' the candor recirculates in december and ends up quoted in the plaintiffs' filings.","era":"founding","id":"evt-forbes-consent","sourceIds":["src-ci-forbes-holz","src-ci-petapixel-consent","src-hp-hollywoodreporter-disney-2025"],"title":"the consent answer"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-93f087bc7bde18d2a753","source-388ccb0493a5b391b6f9","source-8dc3aa0d961ef9c36bf6"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-11-05"},"id":"record-5116a9175a74485cb58b","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v4 — and niji・journey","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-11-05","detail":"v4 alpha ships on a new codebase — models trained on google tpus from here on. the same month, niji・journey enters closed beta with spellbrush, the sf/tokyo studio behind waifu labs.","era":"founding","id":"evt-v4-niji","sourceIds":["src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney","src-hp-gigazine-niji-2022","src-hp-yc-spellbrush"],"title":"v4 — and niji・journey"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-e855092ad5bf334f7232","source-47f2623e2943baa89243","source-720fd296727d90b59893"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-12-14"},"id":"record-b81da5e935f0e4c59445","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the artstation revolt","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2022-12-14","detail":"'no to ai generated images' — alexander nanitchkov's protest image, amplified by nicholas kole, floods artstation's front page with 2,000+ posts. artstation makes its noai tag opt-in rather than default, which keeps the story alive.","era":"founding","id":"evt-artstation","sourceIds":["src-ci-ars-artstation","src-ci-verge-artstation","src-ci-vice-artstation"],"title":"the artstation revolt"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#founding","sourceIds":["source-a48340df7c4e59e76a8d","source-23708b3a809e5bc7bcdb","source-edcdac21053b2f0d95b8"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-01-13"},"id":"record-2741d1952aa60a196426","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the class action","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-01-13","detail":"andersen v. stability ai filed in n.d. cal. — sarah andersen, kelly mckernan, and karla ortiz name stability, midjourney, and deviantart over laion-5b scraping. 'no consent, no credit, and no compensation.'","era":"viral","id":"evt-andersen-filed","sourceIds":["src-ci-reuters-andersen-filed","src-ci-andersen-complaint","src-hp-cartoonbrew-andersen-2023"],"title":"the class action"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-0a1a3b8876f82e1da7a1","source-694a949034d91457af05","source-a340437a70e8644a38b7"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-02-21"},"id":"record-bfa09e9a2f332a103235","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"zarya of the dawn","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-02-21","detail":"the copyright office moves to cancel the zarya of the dawn registration: kashtanova's text and arrangement stay protected, but the midjourney-generated images 'are not the product of human authorship.' the first big doctrinal line.","era":"viral","id":"evt-zarya","sourceIds":["src-ci-usco-zarya-letter","src-ci-reuters-zarya","src-ci-wsj-zarya"],"title":"zarya of the dawn"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-155c612440698c8762a8","source-f841044d4c3034cea1a3","source-9ca48f738810aa00a55f"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-15"},"id":"record-6e1d2b511866191fa884","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v5 — and a print magazine","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-03-15","detail":"v5 alpha ships — 2× resolution, a wider stylistic range, and five-fingered hands 'most of the time.' the same day, midjourney announces a $4/mo print magazine of top community images. 'we thought it would be fun, and the community agreed, so we did it.'","era":"viral","id":"evt-v5-magazine","sourceIds":["src-ci-ars-v5","src-ci-techspot-v5","src-hp-forbes-magazine-2023","src-hp-gizmodo-magazine-2023"],"title":"v5 — and a print magazine"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-c30e006a472003df4404","source-ada28d75650ee20e8ee1","source-c80cd1565e27a45ef0ea","source-853a607b3dee8369e802"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-03"},"id":"record-567977709d4a446b36e8","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the pope and the perp walk","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-03","detail":"the trump-arrest and balenciaga-pope fakes go viral on v5. eliot higgins posts ~50 synthetic perp-walk images and reports himself banned; 'arrested' and trump-family names get blocked. nbc calls the pope 'one of the first instances of wide-scale misinformation' from ai.","era":"viral","id":"evt-pope-trump","sourceIds":["src-ci-buzzfeed-trump-ban","src-ci-verge-pope","src-ci-nbc-pope","src-ci-ars-trump-ban"],"title":"the pope and the perp walk"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-d430eb0c7f2b16a21667","source-aa644fd9f1eeea3c683d","source-7c534720c69b5cebbb39","source-ba6a32d5621e9deb2ff5"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-30"},"id":"record-7e76f2916961484fe935","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"free trials suspended","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-03-30","detail":"free trials suspended — holz's discord post cites 'extraordinary demand and trial abuse'; he later blames 'massive amounts of people making throwaway accounts' traced to a viral how-to video in china plus a gpu shortage, calling the deepfake link 'a misunderstanding.' trials stay off for over a year.","era":"viral","id":"evt-trials-halted","sourceIds":["src-ci-verge-free-trial","src-ci-engadget-free-trial","src-ci-gizmodo-free-trial","src-ci-pcmag-free-trial"],"title":"free trials suspended"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-5eb413eb61fd09f5463f","source-f0c989785e87fd4e0ce6","source-3e01ff96d92dede1875d","source-d657c479de85d3685c12"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-04-04"},"id":"record-efdf88c2a957e814d2e9","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"/describe","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-04-04","detail":"/describe ships — image-to-text, the reverse direction. niji 5 lands the same month.","era":"viral","id":"evt-describe","sourceIds":["src-hp-petapixel-describe-2023","src-hp-aituts-versions"],"title":"/describe"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-be0549d6f0dc56f35ba6","source-ceb246d7b8874833b5a3"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-05-15"},"id":"record-de53ac44b2756f7c612d","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the china episode","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2023-05-15","detail":"the 'midjourney china' episode: a wechat post from a nanjing joint venture announces a qq-based beta, then deletes it — while april office-hours notes had mentioned qq expansion and channel admins reportedly confirmed a closed beta. the status stays murky in all reporting.","era":"viral","id":"evt-china-qq","sourceIds":["src-hp-techcrunch-mjchina-2023","src-hp-scmp-mjchina-2023"],"title":"the china episode"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-0ec3514a4f2dc60f6245","source-431e4400bacb226db026"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-06-22"},"id":"record-141ea388368e11c58bfc","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v5.2, --weird, and pan","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-06-22","detail":"v5.2 — zoom-out outpainting, /shorten, high-variation mode, reworked aesthetics. '--weird 0–3000' and pan expansion follow within weeks.","era":"viral","id":"evt-v52","sourceIds":["src-hp-arstechnica-v52-2023","src-hp-decoder-weird-2023","src-hp-forbes-weird-pan-2023"],"title":"v5.2, --weird, and pan"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-f18f4941b0a432f241c8","source-3a1e0e39aeb3608bc397","source-c7af324f5c6656638a0a"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-07-07"},"id":"record-4ef38015413bd38137db","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the name, explained","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-07-07","detail":"holz tells shanghai's world ai conference the name comes from a favorite translation of zhuangzi — 中道, 'mid-journey': 'we come from this rich and beautiful past, and ahead of us is this wild and unimaginable… future.'","era":"viral","id":"evt-waic-name","sourceIds":["src-ci-qq-waic","src-hp-officechai-name"],"title":"the name, explained"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-b7226d6bd8c7d3fbeffa","source-8ca99368295febc6d243"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-09-05"},"id":"record-1ff94798b78c3d70bb8b","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the $200m profile","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2023-09-05","detail":"the information's profile reports midjourney on pace to surpass $200m revenue in 2023, profitable 'since early on,' ~40 employees, no vc — holz compares the model to craigslist. every figure is reported or self-reported; nothing is audited.","era":"viral","id":"evt-information-200m","sourceIds":["src-ci-the-information-vc","src-hp-parekh-2023","src-hp-decoder-200m-2023","src-ci-bigtechwire-200m"],"title":"the $200m profile"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-75f877932666d3cb4ac2","source-e35c54fee9742a9c7445","source-900babadbce23b809d30","source-b15e010fcedec97dc217"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-10-30"},"id":"record-d36ca6d374e1fa99ad48","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"dismissed, with leave to amend","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-10-30","detail":"judge orrick largely dismisses the first andersen complaint with leave to amend — the same day holz gives the uist '23 keynote in san francisco.","era":"viral","id":"evt-orrick-dismiss","sourceIds":["src-hp-crowell-andersen-2023","src-hp-uist-holz-2023"],"title":"dismissed, with leave to amend"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-011c4b809cfaba680f1d","source-0a0f7116ff29eb48bb54"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-11-29"},"id":"record-d77443b37f078e83ff44","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the amended complaint","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-11-29","detail":"the amended complaint adds seven artists — including rutkowski, brom, and zhang — plus defendant runway, and a lanham act false-endorsement claim aimed specifically at midjourney's artist-name prompting.","era":"viral","id":"evt-andersen-amended","sourceIds":["src-ci-fac-complaint","src-hp-reuters-andersen-2023"],"title":"the amended complaint"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#viral","sourceIds":["source-a3b16e84290146f22c0b","source-9982f38201765e90bdf1"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-12-12"},"id":"record-1fc8471765384cfb506e","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the alpha site","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-12-12","detail":"the alpha website opens to users with 10,000+ generations — the first real step off discord after nearly two years.","era":"platform","id":"evt-alpha-site","sourceIds":["src-hp-petapixel-alpha-2023","src-hp-techco-alpha-2023"],"title":"the alpha site"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-2b2ca92bc4c72113e74e","source-c653556486eb145476e1"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-12-21"},"id":"record-8f44c648ebd633996da4","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v6 alpha","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2023-12-21","detail":"v6 alpha — the third model 'trained from scratch on our ai superclusters,' nine months of training, with 'minor text drawing ability' and overhauled prompting. the discord is at 17m+ members.","era":"platform","id":"evt-v6","sourceIds":["src-ci-venturebeat-v6","src-ci-ars-v6","src-ci-decrypt-v6","src-ci-midlibrary-v6"],"title":"v6 alpha"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-af4e2f996537f0823200","source-c848fbc51d7e72922458","source-8796048221a88e3f69e2","source-1945c9ce7963040eca25"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-12"},"id":"record-75791277d08ff4aa1842","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the hardware hire","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2023-12","detail":"ahmad abbas joins as head of hardware — revealed in february: ex-apple vision pro engineering manager, ex-neuralink, ex-leap motion. the early focus is 3d data capture; 'orb' is the reported project nickname.","era":"platform","id":"evt-abbas","sourceIds":["src-ci-decoder-orb-hire","src-hp-hindu-abbas-2024","src-hp-linkedin-abbas"],"title":"the hardware hire"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-98214b3df031aeb391f6","source-535935ca19f91bcd66bc","source-baacbd0dcdb327ea3204"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-01-02"},"id":"record-3e363ff11e7db7a287cb","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the style list leaks","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-01-02","detail":"the 'midjourney style list' goes viral — a ~16,000-name sheet of artists midjourney can mimic, allegedly shared by holz in the public discord in 2022, lands next to a 4,700-name court exhibit filed as exhibit j. kahlo, kusama, warhol, rockwell, wes anderson, disney.","era":"platform","id":"evt-style-list","sourceIds":["src-ci-artnews-list","src-ci-artnewspaper-list","src-ci-nbc-list","src-ci-exhibit-j"],"title":"the style list leaks"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-6c952b26911bd281e2a0","source-be6fb6890ed9d7edee88","source-fb79c9e7090deafa41ba","source-54e413ec579db8df12f8"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-01-29"},"id":"record-88f954280405dee933f9","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"niji 6 and --sref","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2024-01-29","detail":"niji 6 alpha ships; style reference --sref follows days later — the anime line becomes where new reference features surface first.","era":"platform","id":"evt-niji6-sref","sourceIds":["src-hp-medium-niji6-2024"],"title":"niji 6 and --sref"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-1045b0fb13a41a870c0a"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-06"},"id":"record-933187ab2942c80332ed","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the stability ban","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-03-06","detail":"a ~24-hour outage is blamed on 'botnet-like activity' from paid accounts linked to a stability ai data-team member 'trying to grab all the prompt and image pairs in the middle of a night on saturday.' at that week's office hours midjourney bans all stability employees indefinitely; mostaque denies intentional scraping. nick st. pierre's relay is how the news surfaces.","era":"platform","id":"evt-stability-ban","sourceIds":["src-hp-verge-stability-2024","src-hp-ars-stability-2024","src-hp-petapixel-stability-2024"],"title":"the stability ban"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-639429e3c999c3f5056c","source-c54ff79e4c9146042bb5","source-675181fd7e77a5f36246"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-12"},"id":"record-8c62c0a55c418927847f","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"--cref","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-03-12","detail":"character reference --cref ships — persistent characters across generations, the feature comic and storyboard artists had been asking for.","era":"platform","id":"evt-cref","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-cref-2024","src-hp-petapixel-cref-2024"],"title":"--cref"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-975234de4ab569da4f53","source-023d38f89acda2aa8d62"]},{"confidence":"reported","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-20"},"id":"record-15f0c97267528b535e21","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the world-simulation roadmap","original":{"confidence":"reported","date":"2024-03-20","detail":"office hours: 'we're really trying to get to the world simulation. we're building 3d midjourney, video mj, & real-time mj where things move really really fast' — build each independently, then merge into 'the open world sandbox.' the roadmap said out loud; no official transcript exists.","era":"platform","id":"evt-worldsim","sourceIds":["src-hp-tomsguide-worldsim-2024"],"title":"the world-simulation roadmap"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-bddec68941101f2ca7ce"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-05-24"},"id":"record-4c20688fdd0ba5c1b3a5","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"rooms","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-05-24","detail":"rooms — private collaborative web spaces for users past 100 images, mirrored to discord channels. the community moves to midjourney's own property.","era":"platform","id":"evt-rooms","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-rooms-2024"],"title":"rooms"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-e712ed25b12841456fb5"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-06-12"},"id":"record-623603eb4cdcab0854d7","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"personalization","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-06-12","detail":"model personalization --p ships — every user can tune the model by pair-ranking images. taste becomes a stored per-user artifact.","era":"platform","id":"evt-personalization","sourceIds":["src-hp-midjourney-v6-personalization","src-hp-tomsguide-personalize-2024"],"title":"personalization"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-3191b4661d4ee21e19da","source-7c163525304b3bd93737"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-07-31"},"id":"record-ac1617b22b65f594038c","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v6.1","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-07-31","detail":"v6.1 — coherence, skin, small faces, ~25% faster, new upscalers; made default the same day.","era":"platform","id":"evt-v61","sourceIds":["src-ci-mj-v61","src-ci-tomsguide-v61"],"title":"v6.1"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-eaaec66f662bfa7eee3d","source-52bc000c6068356d7c84"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-12"},"id":"record-aad9559a4ad4896abae0","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"discovery opens","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-08-12","detail":"orrick lets the copyright and lanham act claims against midjourney proceed to discovery — including the ~4,700-name 'midjourney style list' as evidence — while dmca claims die with prejudice. orrick: plausible the tools were 'created to facilitate that infringement by design.'","era":"platform","id":"evt-orrick-discovery","sourceIds":["src-ci-reuters-orrick","src-ci-ars-orrick","src-hp-verge-andersen-2024","src-ci-orrick-order"],"title":"discovery opens"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-0a7c6665bf1f7fa53bf8","source-892b823887953e9490ee","source-aeae79ed04815df68bc9","source-c453f48f8db69a8d465c"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-21"},"id":"record-47b7b08997ffd6abbdab","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the web opens to all","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-08-21","detail":"the web opens to everyone — a real site with google/discord sign-in and a restored ~25-image free trial. 'escape from discord island.'","era":"platform","id":"evt-web-open","sourceIds":["src-ci-mj-web-open","src-ci-petapixel-web","src-ci-decoder-web"],"title":"the web opens to all"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-629aeb723ed0b7eae206","source-64cc77e06b50bd065aaa","source-e78748410502d6eb31ab"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-28"},"id":"record-8123e1367d665dd87769","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"officially into hardware","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-08-28","detail":"'we're officially getting into hardware. if you're interested in joining the new team in san francisco please email us.' — the x post that makes the abbas hire legible in public.","era":"platform","id":"evt-hardware-post","sourceIds":["src-hp-petapixel-hardware-2024"],"title":"officially into hardware"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-be77e321c4f1cff33816"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-10-23"},"id":"record-6900f40fb2b6ad423189","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"the editor — and holodeck talk","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-10-23","detail":"the external image editor ships — edit any uploaded image, retexture, plus next-gen ai moderation — with holz saying they'll 'restrict the deployment.' office-hours reporting the same season describes a 'holodeck' 3d project and a second hardware effort.","era":"platform","id":"evt-editor","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-editor-2024","src-hp-petapixel-editor-2024","src-ci-tomsguide-holodeck"],"title":"the editor — and holodeck talk"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-899bbb109a14b4a646c0","source-fb4bfe83961810865f51","source-36f96687a99ca9d36441"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-12-11"},"id":"record-47f5d4963918a7af6731","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"patchwork","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2024-12-11","detail":"patchwork ships as a research preview — a multiplayer infinite canvas for worldbuilding, mixing llms and image models, led by max kreminski's storytelling lab. the first public artifact of the world-model agenda.","era":"platform","id":"evt-patchwork","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-patchwork-2024","src-hp-tomsguide-patchwork-2024"],"title":"patchwork"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#platform","sourceIds":["source-8f48eedb889d6e62eedf","source-7d1c092ff63762fb5f3e"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-04-04"},"id":"record-a4ce1a0af568ff7aa4b8","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v7 alpha","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-04-04","detail":"v7 alpha — the first new architecture in nearly a year: personalization on by default (rate ~200 image pairs to unlock), 10× draft mode at half cost, turbo and relax tiers. it lands a week after openai's ghibli moment floods every feed.","era":"worlds","id":"evt-v7","sourceIds":["src-ci-mj-v7-alpha","src-ci-techcrunch-v7","src-ci-ars-v7","src-ci-decoder-v7"],"title":"v7 alpha"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-ae16bee601125064a77e","source-57cb995304ebbfb3123e","source-2ddf0b8ca8ea79a81eda","source-6f0066db4f54ccbbf64d"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"month","text":"2025-05"},"id":"record-283a6543bbf64173c8a3","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"omni-reference","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-05","detail":"omni-reference --oref replaces --cref for v7 — characters, objects, and scenes with an --ow weight from 1–1000.","era":"worlds","id":"evt-oref","sourceIds":["src-ci-mj-omni","src-ci-mj-docs-omni"],"title":"omni-reference"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-80c834b311dd0acec738","source-6c4ef7ed05f8d649387d"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-11"},"id":"record-406ffd688326dfb2942b","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"disney and universal sue","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-06-11","detail":"disney and universal sue in c.d. cal. — the first major-studio ai suit. the 110-page complaint calls midjourney 'a bottomless pit of plagiarism,' alleges $300m 2024 revenue and ~21m users, quotes holz's own scraping candor, and asks for an injunction including against the imminent video service. holz that week: 'i think midjourney is going to be around for a very long time.'","era":"worlds","id":"evt-disney-suit","sourceIds":["src-ci-reuters-disney","src-hp-courtlistener-disney-complaint","src-ci-npr-disney","src-ci-bbc-disney","src-hp-ap-holz-response-2025"],"title":"disney and universal sue"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-f0071a362a94f766a32f","source-1b1c2383358ab7beaa97","source-210025c5e159b80790f3","source-9a48be7bf7049c928b72","source-29156e9e0ca2e9a77033"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-17"},"id":"record-c9e440284476463f9da0","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v7 goes default","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-06-17","detail":"v7 becomes the default model — six days after the studios' filing.","era":"worlds","id":"evt-v7-default","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-v7default-2025","src-ci-toolworthy-v7"],"title":"v7 goes default"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-7e4aca5604e4e8caeaab","source-6f37964e91bde21b87f3"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-18"},"id":"record-36ce47c3359b3bff4336","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"v1 video","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-06-18","detail":"the v1 video model ships — image-to-video, four 5-second clips per job, extendable to ~21s, priced at roughly one image per second of video and 'over 25 times cheaper than what the market has shipped.' holz frames it as 'a stepping stone' toward 'real-time open-world simulations.'","era":"worlds","id":"evt-video-v1","sourceIds":["src-ci-mj-video-v1","src-ci-techcrunch-v1-video","src-ci-verge-v1-video"],"title":"v1 video"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-c79790b8a42ed5240965","source-764a38b703b4fc920e66","source-673ec03bb41457966e9d"]},{"confidence":"confirmed","date":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-07-30"},"id":"record-9087cd660c7de309b283","kind":"midjourney-timeline","label":"midjourney tv","original":{"confidence":"confirmed","date":"2025-07-30","detail":"midjourney tv launches — a 24/7 stream of top community videos at midjourney.tv plus personalized feeds. hd video (native 720p, pro/mega) follows in august.","era":"worlds","id":"evt-mjtv","sourceIds":["src-hp-mjupdates-mjtv-2025","src-ci-mj-hd-video"],"title":"midjourney tv"},"originalUrl":"https://hraness.com/midjourney/history#worlds","sourceIds":["source-e1131ef602407d8330bd","source-adb91f960c03600d2520"]}],"sources":[{"author":null,"id":"source-a17ee733bdc3723eca5c","note":"cosmopolitan cover = dall·e 2 (misattribution flag)","originalId":"src-ci-adweek-cosmo","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-06"},"publisher":"adweek","title":"cosmopolitan cover = dall·e 2 (misattribution flag)","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.adweek.com/media/cosmo-let-ai-design-its-latest-magazine-cover/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-694a949034d91457af05","note":"original complaint text; \"21st-century collage tools\"","originalId":"src-ci-andersen-complaint","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-01-13"},"publisher":"ipwatchdog.com","title":"original complaint text","type":"primary","url":"https://ipwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Andersen%5Fet%5Fal%5Fv.%5FStability%5FAI.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-a48340df7c4e59e76a8d","note":"protest origin, nanitchkov image, counts","originalId":"src-ci-ars-artstation","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-12-14"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"protest origin, nanitchkov image, counts","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/12/artstation-artists-stage-mass-protest-against-ai-generated-artwork/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-892b823887953e9490ee","note":"\"infringement by design\"; lanham survives","originalId":"src-ci-ars-orrick","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2024-08"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"infringement by design","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/artists-claim-big-win-in-copyright-suit-fighting-ai-image-generators/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-ba6a32d5621e9deb2ff5","note":"\"arrest\" word ban; trump-name blocking; content-policy error text","originalId":"src-ci-ars-trump-ban","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-03"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"arrest word ban","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/ai-platform-allegedly-bans-journalist-over-fake-trump-arrest-images/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c30e006a472003df4404","note":"v5 alpha; hands; version chronology (v3 aug 2022, v4 nov 2022)","originalId":"src-ci-ars-v5","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-16"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"v5 alpha","type":"reference","url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/ai-imager-midjourney-v5-stuns-with-photorealistic-images-and-5-fingered-hands/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c848fbc51d7e72922458","note":"\"crazy update\" wieland quote; detail question","originalId":"src-ci-ars-v6","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2024-01"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"crazy update wieland quote","type":"reference","url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/01/a-crazy-update-midjourney-v6-upgrade-heaps-on-ai-generated-detail/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-2ddf0b8ca8ea79a81eda","note":"200-image profiling requirement","originalId":"src-ci-ars-v7","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2025-04"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"200-image profiling requirement","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/04/midjourney-introduces-first-new-image-generation-model-in-over-a-year/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-6c952b26911bd281e2a0","note":"16k-name sheet; 6-yr-old hyan tran; jon lam screenshots","originalId":"src-ci-artnews-list","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-01-02"},"publisher":"artnews.com","title":"the 16,000-name style list","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/midjourney-ai-artists-database-1234691955/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-be6fb6890ed9d7edee88","note":"leak mechanics; holz discord sharing; style-mimicry purpose","originalId":"src-ci-artnewspaper-list","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-01-04"},"publisher":"theartnewspaper.com","title":"leak mechanics","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/04/leaked-names-of-16000-artists-used-to-train-midjourney-ai"},{"author":null,"id":"source-9a48be7bf7049c928b72","note":"$300m 2024 claim; character list; lawyer skepticism","originalId":"src-ci-bbc-disney","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-12"},"publisher":"bbc.com","title":"$300m 2024 claim","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5vjqdm1ypo"},{"author":null,"id":"source-b15e010fcedec97dc217","note":"$200m/40-person framing; openai contrast","originalId":"src-ci-bigtechwire-200m","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-09-09"},"publisher":"bigtechwire.com","title":"$200m/40-person framing","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.bigtechwire.com/2023/09/09/midjourney-delivers-on-ai-promise-by-hitting-200-million-revenue-run-rate-without-vc-funding/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-d430eb0c7f2b16a21667","note":"higgins ~50 images; reported ban; \"took on a life of its own\"","originalId":"src-ci-buzzfeed-trump-ban","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-22"},"publisher":"buzzfeednews.com","title":"the trump-arrest images","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisstokelwalker/midjourney-ai-donald-trump-arrest-images-ban"},{"author":null,"id":"source-98214b3df031aeb391f6","note":"ahmad abbas hire; 3d-data-capture focus; jan 2024 discord mentions; \"will make the orb\"","originalId":"src-ci-decoder-orb-hire","published":{"precision":"year","text":"2024"},"publisher":"the-decoder.com","title":"ahmad abbas hire","type":"reporting","url":"https://the-decoder.com/apple-vision-pro-engineer-to-build-the-mid-journey-orb/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-6f0066db4f54ccbbf64d","note":"onboarding mechanics","originalId":"src-ci-decoder-v7","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-04-04"},"publisher":"the-decoder.com","title":"onboarding mechanics","type":"reporting","url":"https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-launches-v7-image-model-with-draft-mode-for-faster-iteration/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e78748410502d6eb31ab","note":"trial return; ideogram-2.0 timing","originalId":"src-ci-decoder-web","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-21"},"publisher":"the-decoder.com","title":"trial return","type":"reporting","url":"https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-launches-web-interface-and-restores-free-trial-images/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-8796048221a88e3f69e2","note":"\"minor text drawing ability\" verbatim; dall·e 3 comparison","originalId":"src-ci-decrypt-v6","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-12"},"publisher":"decrypt.co","title":"minor text drawing ability verbatim","type":"reporting","url":"https://decrypt.co/210637/midjourney-v6-base-model-upgrade-text-"},{"author":null,"id":"source-45818602e25a1f874a6e","note":"midjourney cover; ~250 prompts/~1000 images (archive.today mirror 0vrtz)","originalId":"src-ci-economist-cover","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-06-11"},"publisher":"economist.com","title":"how a computer designed this week's cover","type":"reference","url":"https://www.economist.com/news/2022/06/11/how-a-computer-designed-this-weeks-cover"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7a3adf51f6fd6e726929","note":"midjourney illustrations for ai briefing; style-name behavior noted","originalId":"src-ci-economist-foundation-models","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-06-11"},"publisher":"economist.com","title":"midjourney illustrations for ai briefing","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.economist.com/interactive/briefing/2022/06/11/huge-foundation-models-are-turbo-charging-ai-progress"},{"author":null,"id":"source-f0c989785e87fd4e0ce6","note":"xi jinping ban/\"minimize drama\" context","originalId":"src-ci-engadget-free-trial","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-30"},"publisher":"engadget","title":"xi jinping ban/minimize drama context","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.engadget.com/midjourney-ends-free-trials-of-its-ai-image-generator-due-to-extraordinary-abuse-153853905.html"},{"author":null,"id":"source-54e413ec579db8df12f8","note":"midjourney name list, 25pp","originalId":"src-ci-exhibit-j","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-10-31"},"publisher":"storage.courtlistener.com","title":"midjourney name list, 25pp","type":"primary","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.238.10.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-a3b16e84290146f22c0b","note":"fac: lanham act vs midjourney; laion-5b allegations; midjourney \"trained multiple models\"","originalId":"src-ci-fac-complaint","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-11-29"},"publisher":"storage.courtlistener.com","title":"fac: lanham act vs midjourney","type":"primary","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.129.0.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-93f087bc7bde18d2a753","note":"consent \"no\"; \"hundred million images\"; \"big scrape\"; no opt-out","originalId":"src-ci-forbes-holz","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-09-16"},"publisher":"forbes","title":"the consent answer","type":"interview","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/09/16/midjourney-founder-david-holz-on-the-impact-of-ai-on-art-imagination-and-the-creative-economy/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-3e01ff96d92dede1875d","note":"holz email on wapo \"misunderstandings\"","originalId":"src-ci-gizmodo-free-trial","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-30"},"publisher":"gizmodo.com","title":"holz email on wapo misunderstandings","type":"reporting","url":"https://gizmodo.com/midjourney-deep-fake-ai-trump-arrested-pope-1850283812"},{"author":null,"id":"source-532c721cbde5708e656c","note":"open-beta mechanics, discord-native distribution, profitable claim","originalId":"src-ci-itdoeswhatnow-beta","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-07-12"},"publisher":"itdoeswhatnow.com","title":"open-beta mechanics, discord-native distribution, profitable claim","type":"reference","url":"https://itdoeswhatnow.com/m/2022-07-12-midjourney-opens-its-beta-on-discord/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7cb598b007aadba7b34f","note":"allen's \"ai won. humans lost.\" verbatim","originalId":"src-ci-linkedin-roose","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-09-06"},"publisher":"linkedin","title":"allens ai won","type":"primary","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-roose_an-ai-generated-picture-won-an-art-prize-activity-6972969109017804801-ym5g"},{"author":null,"id":"source-1945c9ce7963040eca25","note":"v6 prompting/text behavior analysis","originalId":"src-ci-midlibrary-v6","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-12"},"publisher":"midlibrary.io","title":"v6 prompting/text behavior analysis","type":"reporting","url":"https://midlibrary.io/midguide/midjourney-v6-in-depth-review-part-1-overview"},{"author":null,"id":"source-6c4ef7ed05f8d649387d","note":"--ow range, v7-only","originalId":"src-ci-mj-docs-omni","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"docs.midjourney.com","title":"--ow range, v7-only","type":"primary","url":"https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/36285124473997-Omni-Reference"},{"author":null,"id":"source-adb91f960c03600d2520","note":"720p; 3.2× cost; pro/mega","originalId":"src-ci-mj-hd-video","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-08-07"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"720p","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/hd-mode-for-video/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-80c834b311dd0acec738","note":"omni-reference launch mechanics","originalId":"src-ci-mj-omni","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2025-05"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"omni-reference launch mechanics","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/omni-reference-oref/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-eaaec66f662bfa7eee3d","note":"v6.1 release notes; default","originalId":"src-ci-mj-v61","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-07-30"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"version 6.1 release notes","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/version-6-1/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-ae16bee601125064a77e","note":"turbo/relax, draft mode, roadmap","originalId":"src-ci-mj-v7-alpha","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-04-04"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"turbo/relax, draft mode, roadmap","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/v7-alpha/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c79790b8a42ed5240965","note":"image-to-video; 8× cost; \"25 times cheaper\"; extend to ~21s","originalId":"src-ci-mj-video-v1","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-18"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"image-to-video","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/introducing-our-v1-video-model/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-629aeb723ed0b7eae206","note":"web open to all; discord/google account merge","originalId":"src-ci-mj-web-open","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-23"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"web open to all","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/the-web-is-open-to-all/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-fb79c9e7090deafa41ba","note":"4,700-name exhibit vs 16k sheet; wes anderson/groening","originalId":"src-ci-nbc-list","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2024-01"},"publisher":"nbcnews.com","title":"4,700-name exhibit vs 16k sheet","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/famous-artists-trained-ai-generator-viral-list-rcna131995"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7c534720c69b5cebbb39","note":"\"wide-scale misinformation\" framing; buzzfeed motive quote","originalId":"src-ci-nbc-pope","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-27"},"publisher":"nbcnews.com","title":"wide-scale misinformation framing","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/pope-francis-ai-generated-images-fool-internet-rcna76838"},{"author":null,"id":"source-210025c5e159b80790f3","note":"\"first-of-its-kind\"; 110pp; \"virtual vending machine\"; ~20m users","originalId":"src-ci-npr-disney","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-12"},"publisher":"npr.org","title":"first-of-its-kind","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.npr.org/2025/06/12/nx-s1-5431684/ai-disney-universal-midjourney-copyright-infringement-lawsuit"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c453f48f8db69a8d465c","note":"laion-400m vs midjourney allegation detail","originalId":"src-ci-orrick-order","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-12"},"publisher":"storage.courtlistener.com","title":"laion-400m vs midjourney allegation detail","type":"primary","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.407208/gov.uscourts.cand.407208.223.0_3.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-d657c479de85d3685c12","note":"safeguards-insufficient quote","originalId":"src-ci-pcmag-free-trial","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-30"},"publisher":"pcmag.com","title":"safeguards-insufficient quote","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.pcmag.com/news/ai-image-generator-midjourney-pauses-free-trials-amid-huge-demand-abuse"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e329f894bb116ebeb9c4","note":"\"open to everyone\" beta, discord-only catch","originalId":"src-ci-pcworld-open-beta","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-07-26"},"publisher":"pcworld.com","title":"open to everyone beta, discord-only catch","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.pcworld.com/article/820518/midjourneys-ai-art-goes-live-for-everyone.html"},{"author":null,"id":"source-388ccb0493a5b391b6f9","note":"viral resurfacing of forbes quotes; metadata rebuttals","originalId":"src-ci-petapixel-consent","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-12-21"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"viral resurfacing of forbes quotes","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2022/12/21/midjourny-founder-admits-to-using-a-hundred-million-images-without-consent/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-64cc77e06b50bd065aaa","note":"\"escape from discord island\" quote; 25-image trial; 10k-image alpha history","originalId":"src-ci-petapixel-web","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-23"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"escape from discord island quote","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2024/08/23/midjourney-launches-website-interface-for-its-ai-image-generator/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-b7226d6bd8c7d3fbeffa","note":"waic remarks; name from 庄周/zhuang zhou; \"extension of ourselves\"","originalId":"src-ci-qq-waic","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-07-07"},"publisher":"news.qq.com","title":"waic remarks","type":"reporting","url":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20230707A06ZVT00"},{"author":null,"id":"source-0a1a3b8876f82e1da7a1","note":"class action filed; laion-5b; saveri/butterick","originalId":"src-ci-reuters-andersen-filed","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-01-17"},"publisher":"reuters","title":"class action filed","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/lawsuits-accuse-ai-content-creators-misusing-copyrighted-work-2023-01-17/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-f0071a362a94f766a32f","note":"filing; \"bottomless pit of plagiarism\"","originalId":"src-ci-reuters-disney","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-11"},"publisher":"reuters","title":"disney and universal sue","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/disney-universal-sue-image-creator-midjourney-copyright-infringement-2025-06-11/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-0a7c6665bf1f7fa53bf8","note":"core claims proceed; discovery","originalId":"src-ci-reuters-orrick","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-13"},"publisher":"reuters","title":"core claims proceed","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/ai-companies-lose-bid-dismiss-parts-visual-artists-copyright-case-2024-08-13/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-f841044d4c3034cea1a3","note":"coverage of zarya decision","originalId":"src-ci-reuters-zarya","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-02-22"},"publisher":"reuters","title":"coverage of zarya decision","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.reuters.com/legal/ai-created-images-lose-us-copyrights-test-new-technology-2023-02-22/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-764a38b703b4fc920e66","note":"pricing tiers; relax unlimited for pro/mega","originalId":"src-ci-techcrunch-v1-video","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-18"},"publisher":"techcrunch","title":"pricing tiers","type":"reporting","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/18/midjourney-launches-its-first-ai-video-generation-model-v1/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-57cb995304ebbfb3123e","note":"v7 alpha; personalization default; post-ghibli timing","originalId":"src-ci-techcrunch-v7","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-04-03"},"publisher":"techcrunch","title":"v7 alpha","type":"reporting","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/03/midjourney-releases-its-first-new-ai-image-model-in-nearly-a-year/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-ada28d75650ee20e8ee1","note":"official feature list verbatim","originalId":"src-ci-techspot-v5","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-17"},"publisher":"techspot.com","title":"official feature list verbatim","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.techspot.com/news/97983-midjourney-version-5-improves-almost-every-aspect-ai.html"},{"author":null,"id":"source-75f877932666d3cb4ac2","note":"$200m pace; ~40 staff; profitable early; craigslist ambition; advisors (paywalled; quotes via secondary excerpts)","originalId":"src-ci-the-information-vc","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-09-05"},"publisher":"the information","title":"he doesn't need vc in his life","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theinformation.com/articles/he-doesnt-need-vc-in-his-life-how-midjourneys-founder-built-an-ai-winner-while-rejecting-venture-capital"},{"author":null,"id":"source-36f96687a99ca9d36441","note":"office-hours 3d/enterable images; v7/video timelines","originalId":"src-ci-tomsguide-holodeck","published":{"precision":"year","text":"2024"},"publisher":"tomsguide.com","title":"office-hours 3d/enterable images","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-is-building-the-holodeck-new-ai-model-lets-you-enter-3d-images"},{"author":null,"id":"source-52bc000c6068356d7c84","note":"skin/text improvements","originalId":"src-ci-tomsguide-v61","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-07-31"},"publisher":"tomsguide.com","title":"skin/text improvements","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-drops-surprise-v61-update-now-humans-look-more-real-than-ever"},{"author":null,"id":"source-6f37964e91bde21b87f3","note":"v7 default date 2025-06-17; speed stats","originalId":"src-ci-toolworthy-v7","published":{"precision":"year","text":"2025"},"publisher":"toolworthy.ai","title":"v7 default date 2025-06-17","type":"reference","url":"https://www.toolworthy.ai/tool/midjourney-v7"},{"author":null,"id":"source-155c612440698c8762a8","note":"images \"not the product of human authorship\"; arrangement protected","originalId":"src-ci-usco-zarya-letter","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-02-21"},"publisher":"copyright.gov","title":"images not the product of human authorship","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.copyright.gov/docs/zarya-of-the-dawn.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-af4e2f996537f0823200","note":"v6 features; \"third model trained from scratch on our ai superclusters\"; 17m discord","originalId":"src-ci-venturebeat-v6","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-12-21"},"publisher":"venturebeat","title":"midjourney v6 is here","type":"reporting","url":"https://venturebeat.com/ai/midjourney-v6-is-here-with-in-image-text-and-completely-overhauled-prompting/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-23708b3a809e5bc7bcdb","note":"takedowns; opt-in noai tag","originalId":"src-ci-verge-artstation","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-12-23"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"takedowns","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23523864/artstation-removing-anti-ai-protest-artwork-censorship"},{"author":null,"id":"source-5eb413eb61fd09f5463f","note":"\"extraordinary demand and trial abuse\"; throwaway accounts; china how-to video; v5 not in trial","originalId":"src-ci-verge-free-trial","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-30"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"midjourney stops free trials","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/30/23662940/deepfake-viral-ai-misinformation-midjourney-stops-free-trials"},{"author":null,"id":"source-aa644fd9f1eeea3c683d","note":"anatomy of the fake; teigen tweet; telltale artifacts","originalId":"src-ci-verge-pope","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-27"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"the balenciaga pope","type":"reference","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/27/23657927/ai-pope-image-fake-midjourney-computer-generated-aesthetic"},{"author":null,"id":"source-673ec03bb41457966e9d","note":"holz \"stepping stone\"/\"real-time open-world simulations\" verbatim","originalId":"src-ci-verge-v1-video","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-19"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"holz stepping stone/real-time open-world simulations verbatim","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/news/690055/midjourney-ai-video-generator-launch"},{"author":null,"id":"source-edcdac21053b2f0d95b8","note":"kole/chayes origin; artstation faq","originalId":"src-ci-vice-artstation","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-12"},"publisher":"vice.com","title":"kole/chayes origin","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/artists-are-revolt-against-ai-art-on-artstation/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-2e5255219109b3d97d63","note":"beta-opening quotes, discord stress test","originalId":"src-ci-vice-midjourney-inside","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-08"},"publisher":"vice.com","title":"beta-opening quotes, discord stress test","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxn5wn/inside-midjourney-the-generative-art-ai-that-rivals-dall-e"},{"author":null,"id":"source-6cc68edf3ea939558e09","note":"fair win; lamborghini-marathon analogy; judge quotes","originalId":"src-ci-wapo-state-fair","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-09-02"},"publisher":"washingtonpost.com","title":"he used ai to win a fine-arts competition","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/02/midjourney-artificial-intelligence-state-fair-colorado/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e657d36270894d2c016f","note":"timeline: win aug 26, vice picked up aug 31","originalId":"src-ci-westword-state-fair","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2022-09"},"publisher":"westword.com","title":"timeline: win aug 26, vice picked up aug 31","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.westword.com/arts-culture/artificial-intelligence-art-colorado-state-fair-controversy-14963306/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-72259db6a64592035934","note":"win dated aug 29; category details; judges would award anyway; $300","originalId":"src-ci-wikipedia-theatre","published":{"precision":"year","text":"2026"},"publisher":"wikipedia","title":"win dated aug 29","type":"reference","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_D%27op%C3%A9ra_Spatial"},{"author":null,"id":"source-9ca48f738810aa00a55f","note":"limited-registration framing","originalId":"src-ci-wsj-zarya","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-02-24"},"publisher":"the wall street journal","title":"limited-registration framing","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-generated-comic-book-zarya-of-the-dawn-keeps-copyright-but-key-images-excluded-c8094509"},{"author":null,"id":"source-2ecbc58eaf389e95697a","note":"summary of bi reporting","originalId":"src-hp-9to5mac-apple-2018","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2018-10-31"},"publisher":"9to5mac.com","title":"summary of bi reporting","type":"reporting","url":"https://9to5mac.com/2018/10/31/apple-leap-motion-acquisition/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-ceb246d7b8874833b5a3","note":"v1 500+500 users detail","originalId":"src-hp-aituts-versions","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"aituts.com","title":"v1 500+500 users detail","type":"reference","url":"https://aituts.com/midjourney-versions/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-29156e9e0ca2e9a77033","note":"holz office-hours response verbatim","originalId":"src-hp-ap-holz-response-2025","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2025-06"},"publisher":"seattletimes.com","title":"holz office-hours response verbatim","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.seattletimes.com/business/disney-and-universal-sue-ai-firm-midjourney-for-copyright-infringement/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c54ff79e4c9146042bb5","note":"\"botnet-like activity\"; mostaque denial","originalId":"src-hp-ars-stability-2024","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2024-03"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"botnet-like activity","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/in-ironic-twist-midjourney-bans-rival-ai-firm-employees-for-scraping-its-image-data/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-f18f4941b0a432f241c8","note":"v5.2 zoom out","originalId":"src-hp-arstechnica-v52-2023","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-06"},"publisher":"arstechnica.com","title":"midjourney v5.2","type":"reporting","url":"https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/stunning-midjourney-update-wows-ai-artists-with-camera-like-feature/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-53a2e17115391368b1d8","note":"apple talks 2013 + spring 2018; $30–50m; \"the devil\"","originalId":"src-hp-bi-apple-leap-2018","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2018-10-31"},"publisher":"business insider","title":"the apple acquisition talks","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-leap-motion-acquisition-talks-fell-through-2018-10"},{"author":null,"id":"source-a340437a70e8644a38b7","note":"original plaintiffs/counsel","originalId":"src-hp-cartoonbrew-andersen-2023","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2023-01"},"publisher":"cartoonbrew.com","title":"original plaintiffs/counsel","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.cartoonbrew.com/tech/stability-ai-deviantart-midjourney-stable-diffusion-lawsuit-224988.html"},{"author":null,"id":"source-cea4aab0136f236e662d","note":"aug 2021 founding; sept 2021 demo; craigslist; stripe stat","originalId":"src-hp-contrary-midjourney","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"research.contrary.com","title":"aug 2021 founding","type":"reference","url":"https://research.contrary.com/report/midjourney"},{"author":null,"id":"source-1b1c2383358ab7beaa97","note":"c.d. cal. no. 25-5275; delaware corp; hq sf","originalId":"src-hp-courtlistener-disney-complaint","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-11"},"publisher":"storage.courtlistener.com","title":"disney & universal v. midjourney — complaint","type":"primary","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.973999/gov.uscourts.cacd.973999.1.0_6.pdf"},{"author":null,"id":"source-011c4b809cfaba680f1d","note":"case no.; jan 13 2023 filing; oct 2023 ruling","originalId":"src-hp-crowell-andersen-2023","published":{"precision":"year","text":"2023"},"publisher":"crowell.com","title":"case no","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.crowell.com/en/insights/client-alerts/california-federal-court-trims-lawsuit-against-stability-ai-midjourney-and-deviantart-in-generative-ai-artwork-case"},{"author":null,"id":"source-900babadbce23b809d30","note":"$200m recap","originalId":"src-hp-decoder-200m-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-09-06"},"publisher":"the-decoder.com","title":"$200m recap","type":"reporting","url":"https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-generates-200-million-in-revenue-and-adds-web-support-with-v6/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-3a1e0e39aeb3608bc397","note":"--weird 0–3000","originalId":"src-hp-decoder-weird-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-07-01"},"publisher":"the-decoder.com","title":"--weird 0–3000","type":"reporting","url":"https://the-decoder.com/midjourney-generates-weird-images-now-and-can-run-a-lot-faster/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c80cd1565e27a45ef0ea","note":"magazine $4/mo","originalId":"src-hp-forbes-magazine-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-15"},"publisher":"forbes","title":"magazine $4/mo","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/03/15/ai-image-tool-midjourney-launches-magazine/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c7af324f5c6656638a0a","note":"weird + pan","originalId":"src-hp-forbes-weird-pan-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-07-04"},"publisher":"forbes","title":"weird + pan","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2023/07/04/midjourneys-ai-images-get-weirder-and-wider/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-ff72f2ca789e31d9cb90","note":"price, patents/staff to ultrahaptics","originalId":"src-hp-gamesbeat-ultraleap-2019","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2019-05-30"},"publisher":"gamesbeat.com","title":"price, patents/staff to ultrahaptics","type":"reporting","url":"https://gamesbeat.com/ultrahaptics-acquires-ar-vr-pioneer-leap-motion-for-only-30-million/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-47f2623e2943baa89243","note":"niji journey closed beta; spellbrush","originalId":"src-hp-gigazine-niji-2022","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-11-15"},"publisher":"gigazine.net","title":"niji journey closed beta","type":"reporting","url":"https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20221115-niji-journey/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-853a607b3dee8369e802","note":"holz \"fun\" quote","originalId":"src-hp-gizmodo-magazine-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-03-15"},"publisher":"gizmodo.com","title":"holz fun quote","type":"reporting","url":"https://gizmodo.com/ai-midjourney-free-ai-art-launches-magazine-1850229973"},{"author":null,"id":"source-535935ca19f91bcd66bc","note":"corroboration","originalId":"src-hp-hindu-abbas-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-02-09"},"publisher":"thehindu.com","title":"corroboration","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/midjourney-gains-top-talent-from-apple-to-drive-ai-image-generator-hardware-innovationsarticleid/article67828252.ece"},{"author":null,"id":"source-8dc3aa0d961ef9c36bf6","note":"holz quotes reused in complaint","originalId":"src-hp-hollywoodreporter-disney-2025","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-11"},"publisher":"hollywoodreporter.com","title":"holz quotes reused in complaint","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-universal-midjourney-1236262563/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-80720a58242ca127c81d","note":"founding story; $45m raised; middle-school friends","originalId":"src-hp-inc-leap-2013","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2013-06"},"publisher":"inc.","title":"founding story","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.inc.com/magazine/201306/eric-markowitz/leap-motion-changing-the-way-we-use-computers.html"},{"author":null,"id":"source-328bf940c604d4176e70","note":"ultrahaptics+leap motion deal; holz quote","originalId":"src-hp-ipgroup-ultraleap-2019","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2019-05-30"},"publisher":"ipgroupplc.com","title":"ultrahaptics+leap motion deal","type":"primary","url":"https://www.ipgroupplc.com/news-and-events/portfolio-news/2019/2019-05-30"},{"author":null,"id":"source-baacbd0dcdb327ea3204","note":"head of consumer hardware","originalId":"src-hp-linkedin-abbas","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"linkedin","title":"head of consumer hardware","type":"primary","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-abbas-28460662"},{"author":null,"id":"source-1cce95099040f925fe01","note":"founder & ceo, aug 2021–","originalId":"src-hp-linkedin-holz","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"linkedin","title":"founder & ceo, aug 2021–","type":"primary","url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsholtz"},{"author":null,"id":"source-1045b0fb13a41a870c0a","note":"niji 6 alpha jan 29 2024","originalId":"src-hp-medium-niji6-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-02-02"},"publisher":"medium","title":"niji 6 alpha jan 29 2024","type":"reference","url":"https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/midjourney-niji-v6-0-vs-v5-a-side-by-side-comparison-of-15-iconic-anime-characters-73c57c1bcee9"},{"author":null,"id":"source-3191b4661d4ee21e19da","note":"--p details (unofficial mirror)","originalId":"src-hp-midjourney-v6-personalization","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-06-12"},"publisher":"midjourney-v6.com","title":"--p details (unofficial mirror)","type":"primary","url":"https://www.midjourney-v6.com/midjourney-personalization-feature/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-975234de4ab569da4f53","note":"--cref launch","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-cref-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-12"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"--cref launch","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/character-refs/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-899bbb109a14b4a646c0","note":"editor + retexturing + moderation","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-editor-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-10-23"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"editor + retexturing + moderation","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/external-image-editor/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e1131ef602407d8330bd","note":"midjourney tv + personalized feeds","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-mjtv-2025","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-07-30"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"midjourney tv + personalized feeds","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/personalized-feeds-and-midjourney-tv/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-8f48eedb889d6e62eedf","note":"patchwork launch","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-patchwork-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-12-11"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"patchwork launch","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/patchwork-research-preview/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e712ed25b12841456fb5","note":"rooms for ≥100-image members","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-rooms-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-05-24"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"rooms for ≥100-image members","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/create-with-friends-in-private-rooms/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7e4aca5604e4e8caeaab","note":"v7 default","originalId":"src-hp-mjupdates-v7default-2025","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2025-06-17"},"publisher":"updates.midjourney.com","title":"v7 default","type":"primary","url":"https://updates.midjourney.com/v7-is-now-the-default-model/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-8ca99368295febc6d243","note":"english recap of name origin","originalId":"src-hp-officechai-name","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"officechai","title":"english recap of name origin","type":"reference","url":"https://officechai.com/ai/midjourney-name-origin/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-24b40f2c74fa84a5fa48","note":"611 gateway ste 120 south sf; start 2020-09-16","originalId":"src-hp-opengovus-midjourney","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"opengovus.com","title":"611 gateway ste 120 south sf","type":"reference","url":"https://opengovus.com/san-francisco-business/1326375-02-231"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e35c54fee9742a9c7445","note":"quoted passages from the profile","originalId":"src-hp-parekh-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-09-06"},"publisher":"michaelparekh.substack.com","title":"quoted passages from the profile","type":"reporting","url":"https://michaelparekh.substack.com/p/ai-doing-more-with-less"},{"author":null,"id":"source-2b2ca92bc4c72113e74e","note":"alpha web, 10k+ users","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-alpha-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-12-14"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"alpha web, 10k+ users","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2023/12/14/midjourney-set-to-move-from-discord-to-standalone-website/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-023d38f89acda2aa8d62","note":"corroboration","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-cref-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-12"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"corroboration","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2024/03/12/you-can-now-recreate-the-same-character-across-different-ai-images-on-midjourney/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-be0549d6f0dc56f35ba6","note":"/describe april 4 2023","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-describe-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-04-05"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"/describe april 4 2023","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2023/04/05/midjourney-flips-the-formula-with-new-image-to-text-generator/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-fb4bfe83961810865f51","note":"holz \"restrict the deployment\"","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-editor-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-10-23"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"holz restrict the deployment","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2024/10/23/midjourneys-powerful-ai-image-editor-lets-you-alter-any-image/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-be77e321c4f1cff33816","note":"\"officially getting into hardware\" aug 28; >$200m rev; <100 people","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-hardware-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-29"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"officially getting into hardware aug 28","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2024/08/29/midjourney-teases-hardware-product-hires-apple-vision-pro-headset-engineer/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-675181fd7e77a5f36246","note":"nick st. pierre relay","originalId":"src-hp-petapixel-stability-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-08"},"publisher":"petapixel.com","title":"nick st","type":"reporting","url":"https://petapixel.com/2024/03/08/midjourney-blocks-all-stability-ai-employees-after-alleged-data-theft-attempt/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-832918471f767301c8e6","note":"\"already profitable\"; clip-guided diffusion; crowson","originalId":"src-hp-register-holz-2022","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-08-01"},"publisher":"theregister.com","title":"we're already profitable","type":"interview","url":"https://www.theregister.com/software/2022/08/01/holz-founder-of-ai-art-service-midjourney-on-future-images/1198009"},{"author":null,"id":"source-9982f38201765e90bdf1","note":"+runway, +7 artists","originalId":"src-hp-reuters-andersen-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-11-30"},"publisher":"reuters","title":"+runway, +7 artists","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/artists-take-new-shot-stability-midjourney-updated-copyright-lawsuit-2023-11-30/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-431e4400bacb226db026","note":"office-hours notes on qq; pengyuhui jv","originalId":"src-hp-scmp-mjchina-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-05-18"},"publisher":"scmp.com","title":"office-hours notes on qq","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3220909/midjourneys-fate-china-air-after-wechat-post-announcing-beta-test-local-services-vanishes"},{"author":null,"id":"source-c653556486eb145476e1","note":"17.5m discord members","originalId":"src-hp-techco-alpha-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-12-14"},"publisher":"tech.co","title":"midjourney alpha","type":"reporting","url":"https://tech.co/news/what-is-midjourney-alpha"},{"author":null,"id":"source-a9a7358042c1140428df","note":"ocuspec→leap motion rename; $12.75m series a","originalId":"src-hp-techcrunch-leapmotion-2012","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2012-05-09"},"publisher":"techcrunch","title":"ocuspec→leap motion rename","type":"reporting","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/09/leap-motion-raises-12-75-millon-wants-to-change-the-future-of-humancomputer-interaction/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-0ec3514a4f2dc60f6245","note":"\"midjourney china\" qq episode","originalId":"src-hp-techcrunch-mjchina-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-05-16"},"publisher":"techcrunch","title":"midjourney china qq episode","type":"reporting","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/16/midjourney-comes-to-china/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-13813951da7313df41ff","note":"ocuspec $1.3m seed; bill warner angel","originalId":"src-hp-techcrunch-ocuspec-2011","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2011-06-10"},"publisher":"techcrunch","title":"ocuspec $1","type":"reporting","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2011/06/10/ocuspec-raises-1-3m-from-andreessen-and-others-to-build-an-affordable-kinect/"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7d1c092ff63762fb5f3e","note":"max kreminski, storytelling lab","originalId":"src-hp-tomsguide-patchwork-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-12-12"},"publisher":"tomsguide.com","title":"max kreminski, storytelling lab","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-patchwork-is-a-new-ai-image-world-builder-and-i-dont-get-it"},{"author":null,"id":"source-7c163525304b3bd93737","note":"personalization test","originalId":"src-hp-tomsguide-personalize-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-06-13"},"publisher":"tomsguide.com","title":"personalization test","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-can-now-generate-images-based-on-your-own-personal-tastes-heres-how"},{"author":null,"id":"source-bddec68941101f2ca7ce","note":"\"world simulation\" office-hours quotes","originalId":"src-hp-tomsguide-worldsim-2024","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2024-03"},"publisher":"tomsguide.com","title":"world simulation office-hours quotes","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/ai-image-video/midjourney-announces-plans-to-create-an-ai-world-simulation-tool-in-full-3d"},{"author":null,"id":"source-0a0f7116ff29eb48bb54","note":"uist '23 keynote","originalId":"src-hp-uist-holz-2023","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2023-10-30"},"publisher":"programs.sigchi.org","title":"uist 23 keynote","type":"reporting","url":"https://programs.sigchi.org/uist/2023/program/session/127850"},{"author":null,"id":"source-aeae79ed04815df68bc9","note":"\"midjourney style list\" 4,700 artists detail","originalId":"src-hp-verge-andersen-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-08-13"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"midjourney style list 4,700 artists detail","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/13/24219520/stability-midjourney-artist-lawsuit-copyright-trademark-claims-approved"},{"author":null,"id":"source-a634fe2c1b2d48685578","note":"canonical holz interview; all verbatim quotes","originalId":"src-hp-verge-holz-2022","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2022-08-02"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"an engine for the imagination","type":"interview","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23287173/ai-image-generation-art-midjourney-multiverse-interview-david-holz"},{"author":null,"id":"source-639429e3c999c3f5056c","note":"stability ban","originalId":"src-hp-verge-stability-2024","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2024-03-11"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"stability ban","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/11/24097495/midjourney-bans-stability-ai-employees-data-theft-outage"},{"author":null,"id":"source-5ea0171f8508fd50d17e","note":"~$30m sale; $306m peak; buckwald exits","originalId":"src-hp-verge-ultraleap-2019","published":{"precision":"day","text":"2019-05-30"},"publisher":"the verge","title":"~$30m sale","type":"reporting","url":"https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/30/18645604/leap-motion-vr-hand-tracking-ultrahaptics-acquisition-rumor"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e4050b86d8a757c231a3","note":"ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition","originalId":"src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2026-09"},"publisher":"wikipedia","title":"ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition","type":"reference","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_Motion"},{"author":null,"id":"source-e855092ad5bf334f7232","note":"version table; beta july 12 2022; tpu note","originalId":"src-hp-wikipedia-midjourney","published":{"precision":"month","text":"2026-09"},"publisher":"wikipedia","title":"version table","type":"reference","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney"},{"author":null,"id":"source-720fd296727d90b59893","note":"yc w18; sf/tokyo; founders","originalId":"src-hp-yc-spellbrush","published":{"precision":"unknown","text":"undated"},"publisher":"ycombinator.com","title":"yc w18","type":"primary","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush"}]}
````