Black Forest Labs, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup that develops the image generation component of xAI's Grok assistant, has launched a beta version of its API and released a new model.
The new API provides Flux, Black Forest Labs' family of image generation models, in a managed package. It allows developers to choose which Flux models to include in their app or service. The add-on includes a content moderation layer and image resolution limits.
Black Forest Labs also today announced its latest image generation model, Flux1.1 Pro. It claims to deliver 6x faster generation than the previous generation Flux.1 Pro. This model can scale up to 2k (2048 × 1080) images. This functionality will be added to the API soon. “At the same time, it also improves image quality, immediate compliance, and diversity,” Black Forest Labs said in a blog post.
In addition to Black Forest Labs' own platform, Flux1.1 Pro is available from startup partners such as Together AI, Replicate, Fal.AI, and Freepik.
Pricing starts at 2.5 credits per image. 100 credits costs $1. Flux1.1 Pro costs 4 credits per image.
A sample of Black Forest Labs' latest image generation model Flux1.1 Pro. Image credit: Black Forest Labs
Germany-based Black Forest Labs, which recently came out of stealth with $31 million in funding, is leading a stable AI team that includes Andreas Bratmann, Patrick Esser, Dominik Lorenz, and CEO Robin Rombach. Co-founded by the engineers who built the technology behind it.
The startup sparked controversy after signing a deal with xAI to integrate Flux into Grok without a safety fence, resulting in a flood of outrageous and gory images. Black Forest Labs hasn't disclosed what data it used to train Flux, but the xAI images suggest that copyrighted works were mixed into the training set, prompting the rights holder to file a lawsuit. If you decide to take action, you may be liable for compensation.
Black Forest Labs, whose backers include Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, is developing a video generation model and has raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation. It is said that This is a significant increase from its previous valuation of $150 million.
APIs are definitely a key part of this. Training and running models is expensive, and investors typically want to see returns, or at least a roadmap to returns.
API or not, for Black Forest Labs, gaining an edge in the media generation space will certainly be an uphill climb if that's the goal, given the formidable and ever-growing competition. There is no doubt about it. Ideogram, Pika, Luma, Runway, Stability, and Midjourney are just some of the players in this space, not to mention incumbents like OpenAI and Google.