Will Stability AI's former CEO, Emad Mostaque, join Microsoft?

The tech world has been buzzing of late with developments in the field of AI and top minds switching companies. Emad Mostaque’s recent video call with Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has set off speculations of the former joining the Redmond-based tech giant.

Emad Mostaque was the CEO and co-founder of Stability AI, one of the first companies to foray into artificial intelligence. Its contributions include the popular Stable Diffusion model used for generating images from text.

In the press release, Mostaque cited exploring different avenues for the decentralization of AI as the reason for stepping down from the position.

I am proud two years after bringing on our first developer to have led Stability to hundreds of millions of downloads and the best models across modalities. I believe strongly in Stability AI’s mission and feel the company is in capable hands. It is now time to ensure AI remains open and decentralised,

What led to Emad Mostaque’s departure from Stability AI?

Reports claim that Emad is reportedly upset with the commercialization of AI and wants to work on decentralized AI, one that’s accessible to all. His comment on X (formerly Twitter) post-resignation confirms the same.

Others cite the series of resignations at Stability AI as the reason. Days before Emad Mostaque stepped down, a report by Forbes revealed that key members, including three of the five researchers who helped develop the Stable Diffusion model, had quit the company, putting the generative AI startup’s future in jeopardy.

Finally, some do believe that it has to do with Microsoft’s hunt for talent in the world of AI. The Redmond-based tech giant recently hired DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to head the new Microsoft AI division. Along with Suleyman, Microsoft roped in a few more executives from Reflective AI, including Karén Simonyan.

With Emad Mostaque’s resignation and a picture of the video call with Satya Nadella coming around the same time, people were confused.

It signalled that Mostaque is joining Microsoft, and his subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter) didn’t help either. Emad wrote,

He is above, below and around us ?‍♂️

In Satya we trust ?

(because at this rate we’ll kinda have to) ?

jk #decentralizeAI

The road ahead for Emad Mostaque and Microsoft

As it turns out, Emad Mostaque is not joining Microsoft, at least not anytime soon. He clarified this in another post on X on the same day.

It seems like Mostaque is setting up something new, one that will most likely aid decentralization in AI, an idea close to his heart.

Mostaque is hailed as a vocal proponent of AI’s open-source nature. Someone of his calibre would have found a place at Microsoft, especially at a time when Microsoft is battling Apple and Google to win the AI race. Of the three, Microsoft is the biggest player right now, but the other two are doubling down fast!

The tech giant’s push for artificial intelligence is getting more extensive as it continues adding AI-powered features in Windows and native platforms like Microsoft Advertising. Microsoft has a vision for an AI PC that lets you perform AI-related tasks locally without relying on online services.

Do you believe Emad Mostaque should join Microsoft or continue working on decentralized AI? Share your thoughts with our readers in the comments section.