Meta taps Midjourney to power AI visuals across its apps

Meta is partnering with Midjourney to license its “aesthetic technology” and work together on AI imagery for Meta’s models and products, according to Meta’s new chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang. He described the deal as a technical collaboration between the two research teams rather than simply adopting Midjourney’s existing tools.  Financial and licensing terms were not disclosed; a Meta spokesperson referred to Wang’s posts, and Midjourney did not comment. The tie-up supports Meta’s push to build AI “superintelligence” and speed progress against rivals.  Mark Zuckerberg has been recruiting AI talent aggressively, and Wang joined Meta after it acquired 49 percent of Scale AI, the company he co-founded, for $14.3 billion. The partnership aligns with features already rolling out across Meta’s platforms. The Meta AI app centers on a social feed of AI-made images and videos, Facebook now offers an option to create AI images when composing posts, and WhatsApp and Instagram include tools to generate images in chats.  Midjourney, known for producing high-quality AI images and videos, could help Meta make those experiences look better and easier to use. Wang praised Midjourney’s “technical and aesthetic excellence” and said more details will follow. Despite the collaboration, Midjourney remains an independent, community-backed research lab with no investors, CEO David Holz said.  The companies framed the arrangement as a way to improve creative tools across Meta’s services while keeping development inside secure research workflows, with product updates to be shared soon.