Leonardo.Ai is rolling out Australia's first major foundation model
The startup has until now been using a modified version of Stable Diffusion, an open-source AI model.
Australia finally has a home-grown generative AI foundation model. Leonardo.Ai, the Sydney startup behind the image generation platform of the same name, is rolling out an AI model of its own, called Phoenix. Until now Leonardo.Ai has been using a modified version of Stable Diffusion, an open-source AI model developed by the UK’s Stability AI.
Phoenix is being beta tested now ahead of a proper launch next month. If successful, Phoenix would prove a powerful selling point for Leonardo.Ai — to users and investors alike.
“It puts us in a bit of a different category than we might have traditionally been seen in,” said cofounder and CEO JJ Fiasson when asked how the model could impact a future capital raise. “Having built our own foundational model, from our perspective at least, gives us that confidence to bolster our case.”
Leonardo.Ai raised $47 million in December in a Blackbird-led round that also included Side Stage Ventures and Samsung Next. The startup’s user base has more than doubled since then to over 15 million. It has about 120 staff, mostly in Australia.
