AI + a16z The Researcher to Founder Journey, and the Power of Open Models
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Aug 16, 2024 
In this engaging discussion, Black Forest Labs founders Robin Rombach, Andreas Blattmann, and Patrick Esser share their fascinating journeys from PhD researchers to AI entrepreneurs. They emphasize the value of open models, arguing that transparency can accelerate innovation and enhance security. The trio delves into the rise of diffusion models, overcoming initial skepticism, and the impressive impact of stable diffusion technologies on the AI community. Their insights on balancing research and practical applications offer a compelling perspective on the future of generative AI.
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Founders' Research Origin Story
- The Black Forest Labs founders met during their PhDs at the University of Heidelberg where they began impactful generative modeling work.
- Their research evolved from normalizing flows to autoregressive models and diffusion models, pioneering latent diffusion for text-to-image generation.
Open Models Spark Innovation
- The launch of Stable Diffusion enabled massive exploration by external users and revealed novel prompting techniques like negative prompting.
- Open availability empowered rapid community innovation that the founders never anticipated.
Balance Openness With Sustainability
- Releasing open AI models enables community collaboration and innovation, which benefits model improvement.
- Sustain your open research efforts by balancing openness with business viability to continue development.