Company:Civitai
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| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Artificial intelligence |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Founders | Justin Maier |
| Headquarters | Boise, Idaho |
| Website | civitai |
Civitai is an online platform and marketplace for generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) content, primarily focused on AI-generated images and models, and AI-generated videos.
History
Civitai was founded in 2022 by Justin Maier.[1][2] By January 2023, the site reached 100,000 registered users and 3 million by November.[2] In November 2023, Civitai secured funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[2] By April 2024, Civitai had 23.2 million monthly accesses.[3]
The company is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.[4]
Platform
Civitai allows users to share and download AI models, particularly those used for image generation.[2] The platform supports various AI models, including Stable Diffusion and Flux, and provides a space for users to showcase and monetize their AI-generated content.[2][5] Users have profile pages and can comment on other users' models and images.[6]
The website also features a virtual currency called Buzz that can be used to generate images on Civitai's servers.[7] Buzz can be bought or earned by engaging with the site.[7]
The platform is open source.[8][9]
Controversies
In 2023, 404 Media reported that Civitai began a "Bounties" marketplace where users could commission deepfakes, of real or fake people.[10][7] Users are rewarded with Buzz for completing Bounties.[7]
In December 2023, AI provider OctoML announced it had ended its business relationship with Civitai after concerns were raised users were generating images that “could be categorized as child pornography.”[11]
References
- ↑ Gorwa, Robert; Veale, Michael (2 July 2024). "Moderating model marketplaces: platform governance puzzles for AI intermediaries". Law, Innovation and Technology 16 (2): 341–391. doi:10.1080/17579961.2024.2388914. ISSN 1757-9961. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17579961.2024.2388914.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Perez, Sarah (14 November 2023). "Andreessen Horowitz backs Civitai, a generative AI content marketplace with millions of users". https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/14/andreessen-horowitz-backs-civitai-a-generative-ai-content-marketplace-with-millions-of-users/.
- ↑ Yamamoto, Hirofumi; Iwasawa, Akinobu; Yamada, Toru; Sakai, Sotaro; Senzaki, Ryohei; Nakagawa, Marina; Miyashita, Hiroyuki; Kida, Kazuhiro et al. (Jun 6, 2024). "AI anime flood - An infringement investigation of 90,000 images" (in en). https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/ai-anime/.
- ↑ Goldman, Sharon (6 December 2023). "Civitai founder champions open source, downplays AI deepfake porn". https://venturebeat.com/ai/civitai-founder-champions-open-source-downplays-ai-deepfake-porn/.
- ↑ Zeman, Benjamin (4 December 2024). "How to build basic workflows in ComfyUI" (in en). https://www.xda-developers.com/comfyui-how-to-workflows/.
- ↑ Wei, Yiluo; Zhu, Yiming; Hui, Pan; Tyson, Gareth (28 October 2024). "Exploring the Use of Abusive Generative AI Models on Civitai". Proceedings of the 32nd ACM International Conference on Multimedia. pp. 6949–6958. doi:10.1145/3664647.3681052. ISBN 979-8-4007-0686-8. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3664647.3681052.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Maiberg, Emanuel (13 November 2023). "Giant AI Platform Introduces 'Bounties' for Deepfakes of Real People" (in en). https://www.404media.co/giant-ai-platform-introduces-bounties-for-nonconsensual-images-of-real-people/.
- ↑ De Rosa Palmini, Maria-Teresa; Wagner, Laura Juliane (31 October 2024). "Surface Aesthetics: The Secret Formula of Prompting". Rrrreflect. Journal of Integrated Design Research (1). doi:10.57684/COS-1268. https://cos.bibl.th-koeln.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/1268.
- ↑ "civitai". 9 December 2024. https://github.com/civitai/civitai.
- ↑ Tenbarge, Kat (24 April 2024). "Top AI companies commit to child safety principles as industry grapples with deepfake scandals" (in en). https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/top-ai-companies-commit-child-safety-principles-thorn-rcna148988.
- ↑ Macdonald, Cheyenne (9 December 2023). "Controversial AI image platform Civitai dropped by its cloud computing provider after reports of possible CSAM". https://www.engadget.com/controversial-ai-image-platform-civitai-has-been-dropped-by-its-cloud-computing-provider-195530538.html.
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