Scoop: Meta Held Talks With Midjourney As Part Of Video AI Talent Search

Meta has talked deals with Midjourney and other video AI startups including Runway, Pika, Higgsfield, HeyGen and Krea as part of its talent hunt, sources tell Upstarts.

David Holz, seen here in 2013 talking about Leap Motion at SXSW, has shunned venture capital — and cameras — since. Credit: Bobby Longoria/Getty Images

Meta’s AI hiring spree might be nearing the finish line, but there’s still one area where the company could make a big splash: video. And Meta has recently engaged in talks with one surprise potential partner that would represent a shocking, major coup: Midjourney.

Midjourney, the AI research lab creator that provides image and video generation tools, has held exploratory talks with Meta about a partnership in recent weeks, multiple sources tell Upstarts Media. Those talks included discussion of a potential acquisition of some kind, two of the sources add.

The current status of those talks, and what price Midjourney might be able to fetch in a potential full or partial deal, were not immediately known.

Meta declined to comment. Midjourney and CEO David Holz did not respond to multiple comment requests.

Update: After publication on August 22, Meta executive Alexandr Wang and Holz posted about a new partnership with Midjourney on X. On August 25, Holz responded to an Upstarts social media post to assert that acquisitions were not part of the partnership talks.

The talks fit a wider pattern of exploratory conversations between Meta and AI video startups, some previously known and others unreported until now, including some of the buzziest names in the field.