British imaging, language, code, and audio generative AI company, Stability AI, has appointed Hanno Basse as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Basse has 30 years of experience working as a CTO, working with companies such as Digital Domain, a global visual effects and digital production company to integrate and implement new technologies.
At Digital Domain, he is said to have guided their technical infrastructure and pipelines, oversaw their research and development, machine-learning projects, and the application of generative AI in visual effects production tools and workflows.
Speaking about his appointment, Basse said he was “thrilled” to join the firm and described it as having a” track record is nothing short of amazing” and a “culture of rapid innovation”.
This appointment comes months after Emad Mostaque, the company’s founding CEO, resigned in March to pursue “decentralised” AI.
Mostaque’s exit followed a series of departures from Stability AI, including Ed Newton-Rex, who led the audio generation team. Newton-Rex quit the firm last November, citing ethical concerns with its policy of training models using copyrighted data.
Stability, known for its image generation platform Stable Diffusion, also laid off 10% of staff in a bid to reduce costs back in May.
Prem Akkaraju replaced Mostaque as CEO, and during this time, the startup raised “about $80,” Reuters reported, providing a much-needed capital injection into the company.
Akkaraju, who has been in his role since June, said Basse brings “incredible experience implementing groundbreaking technologies in the entertainment industry and will now help us lead the way in revolutionising the generative AI industry.”