Stability AI said Tuesday (June 25) that it secured “significant” new funding from an investment group and appointed a new CEO and a new executive chairman.
The new capital and leadership will accelerate the company’s growth and ability to deliver generative artificial intelligence (AI) products, Stability AI said in a Tuesday press release.
The firm’s new CEO is Prem Akkaraju, the former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, according to the release.
Akkaraju will assume the role immediately and will “focus on driving Stability AI’s go-forward strategy,” the release said.
“Stability AI is the backbone of the visual AI ecosystem,” Akkaraju said in the release. “The company’s world-class team, breakthrough models and unique developer network attracted me to take on the CEO role.”
The company will continue to release open models for the community, will meet the demand for AI solutions from large-scale corporations, and will “spearhead the real convergence of generative AI and studio content,” Akkaraju added.
Interim co-CEOs Shan Shan Wong and Christian Laforte, who held those positions since March, will remain with the company as chief operating officer and chief technology officer, respectively, per the release.
Stability AI also announced Tuesday that former Facebook president and current entrepreneur Sean Parker has joined the Stability AI board as executive chairman.
“I’m committed to the open-source principles that Stability AI was built upon,” Parker said in the release. “These principles have made Stability AI’s open models the most widely used foundational AI image models globally. Our investment in Stability AI enables the continued development of open-source, open access and open-weight models for the benefit of the entire community.”
Parker added that the market opportunity in generative media, including images, video, 3D, voice and music, “is just getting started.”
It was reported in April that Stability AI was laying off an unspecified number of employees and restructuring weeks after the company’s founder, Emad Mostaque, resigned as CEO and a member of the board.
Mostaque stepped down from those positions in March, saying that he aimed to pursue decentralized AI.
When Stability AI announced his resignation, it said in a blog post that it was searching for a permanent CEO and preparing for its next phase of growth.
For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily AI Newsletter.
We get a lot of press releases here at PYMNTS. We consider all of them, and some are more newsworthy than others. But this one really got our attention. This past week, Diebold Nixdorf made headlines with its announcement of successfully installing two new automated teller machines (ATMs) at the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This achievement marks a significant milestone in banking accessibility, to be sure. We would like to meet the crew that installed them. We’d also like to know why they needed two. Was there a line at the first one? More to come on that.
According to Diebold, McMurdo Station is Antarctica’s largest research and logistics hub, supporting a fluctuating population that ranges from fewer than 200 residents during the winter months to up to 1,100 individuals during the summer (October through February). The presence of these ATMs is crucial, it says, as the next closest banking facilities are thousands of miles away, making them the only ATMs on the entire continent. How’s that for a value proposition?
The DN Series ATMs are designed for always-on availability. And why do they need two? One ATM is actively in use, while the second serves as a backup for spare parts, ensuring uninterrupted service in this isolated area. These machines are connected to the DN AllConnect Data Engine, which leverages Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor their performance. A dedicated team continuously aggregates and analyzes technical data to identify potential issues, enabling remote diagnostics and repairs. The ATM can be maintained by trained staff at NSF McMurdo Station, or the Diebold Nixdorf service team can remotely guide them through the repair process.
Anyway, it got us thinking. Are there other surprising ATMs in extreme locations? Well, of course, there are. Here’s a sampling of what we found.
At an altitude of about 5,364 meters (17,600 feet), the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal is another unexpected place to find an ATM. Although it’s not a permanent fixture and is often set up seasonally, it caters to climbers and trekkers who need cash for local transactions. This temporary ATM service underscores the adaptability of banking services in extreme environments.
In some parts of the Amazon rainforest, particularly in Brazil and Peru, ATMs can be found in small villages and towns. These machines are vital for local communities, providing access to cash in areas where digital payment options might be limited. The presence of ATMs here demonstrates how banking services can reach even the most remote communities.
Located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Nagqu is home to one of the highest ATMs in the world. This region is very remote, with limited infrastructure, making the presence of an ATM a notable example of banking accessibility in extreme environments.
In the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) off the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia, there’s a floating ATM. This unique ATM serves the local community and tourists on the islands, demonstrating how banking services can adapt to isolated marine environments.
Longyearbyen, the administrative center of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, boasts the most northerly ATM. This location is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, with limited access to mainland Norway, making the ATM a vital service for residents and visitors.
On a more serious note, the installation of ATMs in places like Antarctica and other remote locations highlights the evolving nature of banking technology. With advancements in IoT, AI and remote diagnostics, it’s becoming increasingly feasible to provide banking services in areas previously considered inaccessible. As we look to the future, it will be interesting to see where else ATMs might appear. Whether it’s on a remote island, at the top of a mountain or even in space, the ability to access cash is becoming more universal than ever. And who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll see an ATM on Mars, serving the first interplanetary travelers.
For now, the presence of ATMs in unexpected places reminds us that banking is not just about transactions; it’s about connecting people and communities across the globe, no matter how remote they might be.
