Midjourney is known for being one of the best AI imaging companies, but now the company wants to get into the hardware world as well. The company announced the change of strategy at X (formerly Twitter) by asking people to apply to join the new team.
There aren't many details about what kind of hardware Midjourney is looking to make. In later posts, Midjourney said it won't be a pendant and that they're considering “different form factors.” The company hinted at creating something more immersive, though that may have been a joke when one post described the hardware as something to “stick inside.”
While Midjourney is currently recruiting for its hardware team, there is at least one big name on board. Midjourney hired former hardware engineering manager for the Apple Vision Pro headset Ahmad Abbas as head of its hardware division last year. Abbas has a history with Midjourney CEO David Holz dating back to their time working together at Leap Motion and has the VR and hardware credentials to back up some ambitious ideas at Midjourney.
We're officially entering the world of hardware. If you're interested in joining the new team in San Francisco, please email us at [email protected]August 28, 2024
Midway races
Midjourney’s foray into hardware comes at a time when the company is facing stiff competition from other AI image makers, including Flux, which is integrated into X via the AI chatbot Grok, as well as the recently updated Ideogram. Branching out into hardware makes sense on the surface, but AI devices have had a rocky road. That might be why Midjourney explicitly rejected the idea of a pendant, which is what the Humane AI Pin and Plaud.ai’s new NotePin look like — and not too dissimilar to the Rabbit R1 device, either.
Midjourney fan enthusiasm aside, the company will have to do something to stand out as an innovator if it wants its hardware to be interesting, useful, and well-received. Not even tech giants like Meta or Snapchat can hit their sales targets for AI-powered devices like its smart glasses. Still, it’s fun to imagine what Midjourney’s hardware could look like. Maybe it would involve more direct interaction with the AI-generated images it produces or even cross over into the much-vaunted and now quietly ignored realm of the metaverse.
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