IBL News | New York
Black Forest Labs, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed German startup behind the image generation model Flux 1, announced, in a blog post, an API in beta.
Developers can choose which Flux model to build into their app or service, including content moderation layer and constraints on image resolution.
The company also unveiled its latest image generation model, Flux1.1 Pro, which it claims provides six times faster generation than its predecessor.
The model can scale up to 2k (2048 × 1080) images, a feature soon available in the API.
In addition to Black Forest Labs’ platform, Flux1.1 Pro is available through the startup’s partners, including Together AI, Replicate, Fal.AI, and Freepik.
Prices start at 2.5 credits per image; 100 credits cost $1. Flux1.1 Pro costs four credits per image.
Black Forest Labs was co-founded by the engineers who built the tech behind Stability AI, including Andreas Blattmann, Patrick Esser, Dominik Lorenz, and CEO Robin Rombach. It raised $31 million in funding and is now said to be raising $100 million at a $1 billion valuation.
The start-up’s current backers include Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. It is developing video-generating models.
Competitors include Ideogram, Pika, Luma, Runway, Stability, Midjourney, and incumbents like OpenAI and Google.
The startup became controversial after its deal with xAI to build Flux into xAI’s Grok without safety guardrails, resulting in a torrent of outrageous images.
