At the heart of many copyright lawsuits against AI companies, AI-powered image generators are frequently trained on huge amounts of data from public websites. Most of these companies argue that fair use doctrines protect data scraping and training practices. However, many copyright holders disagree.
That's why some startups and companies developing image generators are trying out different tacks. I train the generator using only licensed content. Founded in 2023 by entrepreneurs Yair Adato and Assa Eldar, Bria is one of these.
Bria pays images from around 20 partners, including Getty Images, and uses these to train image generation models on the content guardrail. Bria CEO Adato said the platform will compensate image owners in accordance with “the overall impact” “programmatically.”
“The Bria Foundation model has 1 billion visuals and millions of videos,” Adato told TechCruch. “Bria has eased the bias that can sometimes appear in visual content generated in AI-generated from time to time by training the model on a globally representative dataset. The company's models consistently generate visuals that reflect diversity, making them suitable for a wide range of creative applications.”
Bria offers plugins for image editing and design apps such as Photoshop and Figma, as well as fine-tuning APIs that allow customers to customize the company's model for specific applications. Users can run Bria models on their company platform or external computing environments, like public clouds. In either case, the customer owns the data and output, Adato said.
“Enterprise customers can pay for access to the source code; [models]Adato said. “We offer over 30 specialized APIs to create and modify visuals, which can be accessed via subscription and usage-based pricing. Companies can pay to fine-tune the generated AI model with brand assets to create custom engines that maintain their visual identity.”
Bria's AI models trained with licensed data can generate and edit images. Image credit: Bria
Bria's plans are ambitious. Adato tells TechCrunch that 40 companies are trying to cultivate an “IP ecosystem.” In this case, companies say they can access licensed images from media conglomerates for use in commercial works with “embedded compliance.”
Bria will also expand its platform and model to support additional media types such as music, video, and text, as well as device applications.
“Despite the challenges of the broader high-tech industry, Bria continues to thrive,” Adato said. “The sector faces headwinds from market maturation for central technology companies, macroeconomic pressures that create budget constraints, and oversaturation of basic AI wrapper applications, which strengthen the BRIA's position.”
While they are trying to build their business around licensed media generators such as Adobe, Spawning AI, and ShutterStock, Bria has managed to gain foothold in the early markets. On Thursday, the company announced it had raised $40 million in the Series B funding round led by Red Dot Capital, with participation from MAOR Investment, Antée Capital, GFT Ventures, Intel Capital and In-Venture.
With Bria's total increased to around $65 million, much of the new cash will be directed towards product development, Adato said.
“We are growing rapidly with 40 customers, showing a significant annual recurring revenue growth rate of over 400% last year,” Adato said. “We are also expanding our team with additional expertise in several key areas: generative AI researchers and music and video engineers, global sales and marketing leaders, IP and copyright experts, and generator AI consultants. We hope to double the size of our team by the end of the year.”