A former executive at Microsoft has been appointed CTO at London-founded Stability AI.
The company, which produces generative AI for imaging, language, code and audio, said entertainment industry veteran Hanno Basse would join its new-look executive team.
Basse most recently served as CTO at Digital Domain, a global visual effects and digital production company. He has also served as CTO of Microsoft Azure Media and Entertainment, where he oversaw the implementation of Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology, as well as edge and AI technologies, and previously as CTO at 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
Basse is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He has been awarded 30 separate patents.
Stability AI recently raised fresh funding and appointed a new-look executive team of industry heavyweights in what could be a lifeline for the business.
The investment came from Greycroft, Coatue Management, Sound Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and O’Shaughnessy Ventures, alongside tech executives including Napster founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Robert Nelsen and Prem Akkaraju.
Akkaraju, former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital, was appointed CEO, while billionaire Parker is now executive chairman.
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of such a seasoned CTO to the Stability AI team,” said Akkaraju.
“Hanno has incredible experience implementing groundbreaking technologies in the entertainment industry and will now help us lead the way in revolutionising the generative AI industry.”
The appointments come months after the exit of founder and CEO Emad Mostaque as Stability AI struggled to generate anywhere near enough revenues to cover its cloud computing and other costs.
Reports suggested the investor group reached a deal with cloud providers and other suppliers to drop $100m it owed and a potential $300m in future obligations.
Shan Shan Wong and Christian Laforte, who served as interim co-CEOs earlier this year and fought to save the company, were returned to their COO and CTO roles respectively. Following Basse’s arrival, Laforte is still listed as CTO on his LinkedIn profile.
Basse said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Stability AI, one of the pioneering companies of generative AI. Stability AI’s track record is nothing short of amazing, with its culture of rapid innovation, scientific creativity and ability to build an enthusiastic user community in a short period of time.
“GenAI will permeate many aspects of our professional and personal lives and I’m looking forward to working with Prem and the entire leadership team at Stability to make profound and meaningful contributions to this technology.”
Stability AI raised $101m in a seed round led by Coatue Management and Lightspeed Venture Partners at a $1 billion dollar valuation in 2022, but has struggled to raise further funds and it generated just $11m in sales in 2023.