Some AI companies have been busy releasing their own products and services while others are putting out fires within the business. Stability AI, on the other hand, was busy developing a set of tiers for customers, and they have finally announced what the subscription plans offer.
Stability AI's Membership Tiers
Like most AI tools like ChatGPT, the company's AI models also have a version that people can use for free. Users can access its full suite of core models, public communities, and even early access to new models. However, it cannot be used commercially.
As for the Professional subscription tier, it comes with everything that a user can get from the free version, although there are additional benefits such as inclusion in the Discord community for professionals, and of course, commercial usage. This is the cheapest paid tier at $20.
The cheapest paid membership caters to creators, developers, and startups that have an annual revenue of less than $1 million, which also applies to institutional funding and monthly active users. All three must apply to qualify for the $20 per month tier.
With Enterprise, Stability AI aims to create a membership option for bigger companies. In addition to all the free features, it also comes with custom billing, Enterprise features, and everything listed under Professional, as the company's blog post.
The company claims that the membership provides users with the right to commercially use the Stability AI Core Models, which can be essential to businesses. It was also said that Stability AI will continue to expand and enhance the Core Model as it develops new models.
Some users are still unclear on what "commercial usage" means, especially since the announcement was not exactly clear on that part. Suggestions are that commercial usage could either apply to a user creating generative AI services or simply making content.
The Company Still Faces Copyright Issues
Even with the perks of commercial use the company provides, it still hasn't gotten through the class action suit that was filed against Stability AI, claiming that its AI tool, Stable Diffusion, was using copyrighted artwork to generate images.
For now, the copyright lawsuit hit a snag due to false claims from two of the plaintiffs. US District Judge William H. Orrick found that artists Kelly McKernan and Karla Ortiz never actually registered their world with the Copyright office.
Both have already been removed from the list of plaintiffs, leaving just one, illustrator Sarah Andersen. Ars Technica reports that the plaintiff will have to amend the lawsuit for it to resume the process, which means that Stability AI still has something to worry about down the road.
The judge said that Andersen would have to "clarify their theory with respect to compressed copies of Training Images and to state facts in support of how Stable Diffusion... operates with respect to the Training Images.
Despite the setback, the Judge believes that the remaining plaintiff has a strong claim, especially since the AI product could create something using her art style when she is mentioned by name.
