Remember LimeWire? New Acquisition Sees Platform Pivoting to Generative AI
LimeWire has acquired the AI image generation platform BlueWillow.
- Last year, LimeWire relaunched as a Web3 content subscription platform for creators.
- Now, the company has bought the AI image generation software BlueWillow, which it has integrated into LimeWire.
- In an interview with CCN, co-CEO Julian Zehetmayr discussed the journey from file-sharing to content creation and the artistic potential of generative AI.
Most people remember LimeWire as the peer-to-peer file-sharing software that emerged as a prominent tool for downloading pirated music in the noughties.
However, in 2022, the limewire.com domain was bought by Paul and Julian Zehetmayr, who leveraged the brand’s appeal to promote a new NFT platform.
Now, the entrepreneur brothers have bought the AI startup BlueWillow and plan to add the image-generation tool to LimeWire’s platform for artists and creators.
From File-Sharing to Content Creation
When the Zehetmayrs snapped up LimeWire’s various brand assets last year, Paul explained that although it may have once had an antagonistic relationship with the music industry, “after about 12 years of the platform being down, all the controversy […] has turned into nostalgia.”
Hoping to use LimeWire’s “iconic name” and nostalgic appeal, the brothers set about rebranding the platform as a Web3 subscription service that empowers creators to generate income from their content.
In essence, the new LimeWire allows artists (whether musical, visual or text-based) to tokenize their works as NFTs.
Fans can subscribe to receive NFTs from creators they follow. These can then be traded among other users, generating further revenue for creators who earn a 2.5% royalty fee on secondary sales.
In an interview with CCN, Julian Zehetmayr explained the continuity between LimeWire’s original concept and the platform’s latest incarnation.
“Everyone a Creator”
From the outset, he said that “our goal was to make everyone a creator.”
“That was also the thesis of the old LimeWire. Anyone was able to create something and put it on there,” he added.
As well as giving people the tools to publish and distribute content, LimeWire has increasingly focused on the creative process itself.
With the latest acquisition, Zehetmayr said the platform would not only empower people to mint their own NFTs but also equip them with the tools to create content that might otherwise be out of their reach.
Giving an example of the kind of uses he envisaged for the new tool, he described how musical artists could use BlueWillow to create album art.
Looking to the future, he has ambitions for LimeWire to integrate other forms of generative AI, such as music and video generation.
Embracing Generative AI
As well as giving people the tools to publish and distribute content, LimeWire has increasingly focused on the creative process itself.
LimeWire’s latest acquisition—BlueWillow—consists of an AI model that allows users to create digital images based on text prompts.
Having integrated BlueWillow, Zehetmayr said the platform would not only empower people to mint their own NFTs but also equip them with the tools to create content that might otherwise be out of their reach.
Giving an example of the kind of uses he envisaged for the new tool, he described how musical artists could use BlueWillow to create album art.
Looking to the future, he has ambitions for LimeWire to integrate other forms of generative AI, such as music and video generation.
Evolving Interface Design
Initially launched in January, BlueWillow has followed in the footsteps of its peer Midjourney, opting to process prompts via a dedicated Discord server.
With a community of 2.5 million members, the platform boasts the second-largest AI image-generating community on Discord, after Midjourney.
Going forward, Julian said the company plans to migrate users from Discord to LimeWire’s creative studio, although there are no plans to wind down the Discord channel in the near future.
Although he acknowledged that convincing people to transition from a free to a paid-for service can be challenging, Zehetmayr said he hoped to entice existing users with LimeWire’s “more advanced tools and more user-friendly interface.”
After all, “for users who aren’t used to Discord,” he said, the platform can be “pretty tricky” compared to more intuitive alternatives.
Image Generation Tools Are Booming
Besides Midjourney and BlueWillow, some of the biggest names in software are vying for a slice of the image generation market.
For instance, in March, Adobe debuted its latest AI tool—Firefly.
Building on the software giant’s decade-long history of integrating AI into programs like Photoshop and After Effects, Firefly represents Adobe’s first foray into prompt-based design.
Meanwhile, Google has beta-launched its own take on the technology, a text-to-image diffusion model called Imagen .
Likewise, Microsoft has introduced Bing Image Creator , an advanced version of the DALL∙E model developed by OpenAI.
Commenting on recent developments, the LimeWire CEO remarked that “it’s an exciting time […] with all these big players entering the field.”
For his company’s goal of equipping users with a full suite of AI creative tools, “with the way the market is moving right now, that might be the case pretty soon,” he speculated.
