‘Avatar’ Director James Cameron Joins Stability AI’s Board of Directors, Says He Wants to Integrate AI into the VFX Industry

Just last year, film director James Cameron spoke out in interviews against the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Now, Cameron, the director of films like Avatar, Titanic, And Terminator 2: Judgment Dayhas agreed to join the board of directors of controversial technology company Stability AI, whose flagship generative model Stable Diffusion has been downloaded more than 150 million times. The director says he wants to find new ways to integrate AI into the vfx industry.

Here’s what we know about Cameron’s involvement in Stability AI, which was announced on Tuesday:

Stability AI believes Cameron’s addition to the board is an “important step forward” in the company’s “mission to transform visual media.” The company added: “Cameron’s artist-centric perspective, combined with his business and technical acumen, will support Stability AI as it continues to unlock new possibilities to empower creators to tell stories in ways once unimaginable.”
Cameron joins other newly appointed board members including Dana Settle, co-founder and managing partner of Greycroft; Colin Bryant, COO and general partner of Coatue Management; and Sean Parker, former president of Facebook, who is executive chairman.
The financial terms of Cameron’s deal with Stability AI were not disclosed. Typically, board members are compensated with commissions and stock options, among other benefits.
Prem Akkaraju, the CEO of Stability AI, is the former CEO of Weta Digital, the lead visual effects studio for Cameron’s Avatar franchise. Akkaraju said in a statement:

James Cameron lives in the future and waits for the rest of us to catch up; Stability AI’s mission is to transform visual media for the next century by giving creators a complete AI pipeline to bring their ideas to life. We have an unparalleled advantage in achieving this goal with a technological and creative visionary like James at the highest levels of our company. This is a monumental statement not only for Stability AI, but for the AI industry in general. The next frontier in visual media will be forged through a true convergence of artist and technology, and Stability AI will lead the way.
Cameron, who also runs production company Lightstorm, added:

I’ve spent my entire career searching for emerging technologies that push the boundaries of what’s possible, all in the service of telling incredible stories. I was at the forefront of CGI over thirty years ago, and I’ve been at the forefront ever since. Now the next wave is the intersection of generative AI and CGI image creation. The convergence of these two very different engines of creation will open up new ways for artists to tell stories in ways we could never have imagined. Stability AI is ready to lead this transformation. I’m excited to work with Sean (Parker), Prem (Akkaraju) and the Stability AI team as they shape the future of all visual media.

Cameron elaborated on this “intersection” between AI and CGI image creation in an interview with CNBC (watch below) in which he said “the next big step forward will be to find a commonality, a common platform, between these two fields. , which are very, very different.”

Cameron has previously expressed skepticism about the dangers of AI. He said last year CTV News“I warned you in 1984, but you didn’t listen,” referring to his film Terminator, adding, “I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger.” In that same interview, he said that AI-generated writing won’t replace human writers anytime soon:

Personally, I just don’t believe that a disembodied spirit that just repeats what other embodied spirits have said – about the life they’ve had, about love, about lying, about fear, about mortality – and puts it all together in a word salad and vomits it then off. I don’t think there’s anything about this that will move an audience.
Stability AI is among a number of companies being sued by visual artists in a class action lawsuit for using unauthorized copies of millions, if not billions, of copyrighted images to train their generative AI systems. The company’s co-founder and former CEO, Emad Mostaque, resigned in March 2024 following questions about his ability to lead the company.