Stability AI CEO, After Ruffling Feathers of Researchers, Discussed $1 Billion in New Financing

Emad Mostaque, the former hedge fund manager who made his startup, Stability AI, one of the most visible standard-bearers of software that creates original images from simple text descriptions, could soon test the limits of hype around the new technology.

After raising $100 million of venture capital in three successive equity funding deals in the last two months, most recently at up to a $1 billion valuation, Mostaque recently told investors he wanted to raise an additional $1 billion of capital at a multibillion-dollar valuation, according to two people with knowledge of the founder’s comments.

While Mostaque told The Information in an email on Tuesday that he’s “not raising” more money, he didn’t respond to questions about the comments he made to some investors. His ambition to raise more funding is particularly notable because the British entrepreneur has been making claims about Stability’s momentum compared to an older rival, San Francisco–based OpenAI. And Mostaque recently kicked up a dust storm among other artificial intelligence startups over his description of the company’s role in developing a prominent machine-learning model for AI-created imagery.