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Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about Stability AI and a brand new feature that has just rolled out, and that is the ability for them to do audio. So this is a new update that they've rolled out recently. And Stability is kind of an interesting company. You'll probably remember it just for the fact that it was one of, like the leaders in the AI revolution. They literally invented a stable diffusion and the way that we use AI to generate images, and yet they really got left behind as a company that's had a lot of financial issues. But I think that they're about to make a big turnaround. And so because of this, I don't think it's a company that you should count out just quite yet. The one thing I did want to mention before we get into this, if you haven't tried it already, my startup, AI Box AI is officially out of. It is officially launched, and our first product is the AI Box Playground. We have a beta out right now that essentially allows you to Access the top 20 AI models all on one platform. You can chat with them all in the same chat. We have audio, image and text all in the same chat for $20 a month. So you don't have to have subscriptions to 20 different platforms. You pay one time for that and then you get access to all the different platforms. So you can check it out, the links in the description AI Box AI. All right, let's get into what's happening with Stability AI. So the new update, they have the thing that's really interesting about it, beyond the fact that, you know, they came up with kind of like an audio model, and I should preface this by saying they have a big announcement about an audio model, but this isn't like a vocal model. This is a music model. So specifically, it does music. There's a bunch of different competitors. There's Suno and Yu Dio that are doing this, but most of these ones that are kind of doing this generated music. People criticize them for the copyright. So they're like, look, these guys, they grabbed all of this data from the Internet. They grabbed everyone's music, they trained a model, and now it creates music. So people are upset about kind of the copyright in the data set for this stability tried to avoid this, essentially. And they did a couple cool things. Number one, it's a really lightweight, small model that actually can run on your phone. Meaning, like Suno and Udio have apps that can run on your phone, but obviously that's going up to the server, to the cloud. And running off of, you know, their own, their own websites and servers and stuff. You have to have access to the Internet. With this application you technically could just do everything on your phone. Your phone is powerful enough to run this model and it can generate you stuff. Now I will put a caveat on this by saying this is not as good as Sooner or Udio. It's just, that's just the nature of the beast. So Stability trained this only on content that they had copyright for, which is fantastic, right? They don't want any sort of IP risk involved with this when they're releasing it. So they said that it's entirely made out of royalty free audio libraries and free. The free music archive and free sounds, those are kind of their sources and they're allowed to do this, which is technically great except that it's not as good. So that's, I think the big thing, it is really small. It's 341 million parameters in size and it was specifically optimized to run on ARM CPUs so ARM makes chips. These are built on, you know, this model was essentially built so that it's able to run on an ARM CPU, right. On a phone. These ARM CPUs are often put into phones. So the thing that it's specifically made for doing though is for quick kind of shorter audio samples and sound effects. So you can do drums, you can do instruments, you can do riffs and it can make up to 11 seconds of audio. You can do it on a smartphone and it takes about eight seconds to do this. So this is, you know, definitely faster than your average Udo or Suno AI piece. But and I'm not saying it's bad, I actually think it's fairly decent for what it can do but like it doesn't do vocals and so if you're trying to make a fully fledged song or honestly a really great song like Suno and Yuio are going to do a much better job in my opinion of making music. I've tried both of the. I've extensively tried Suno and it does incredible work, makes amazing music. People criticize that it was trained off of the copyrighted data. I'm not too concerned about that. That's not really my problem, you know, and I'm sure people get mad at me or criticize me for that, but that's just my opinion is just like that's, you know, their copyright issue. To deal with the model so much better. As a user and a consumer and someone that would like to create things, I'm Going to use the best model. So that's kind of what I'm getting out of Suno or Yudio. All right. I wanted to give you a sample though because I'm actually quite impressed by what they have been able to produce completely copyright free. There's no issues there. So they have a couple samples of what it's able to actually. So you can actually go online, check out SoundCloud. They got a bunch of different samples and all of their samples are like much shorter but they are, you know, showing you exactly what it's capable of doing. They could do some drums, some music. They have a bunch of limitations in addition to the all the ones I've mentioned already. One, it can only do English prompts written in English. So if you speak another language, you'd have to translate your prompts into English and Google Translate or something like that. It can't generate realistic vocals or high quality songs. It's kind of low quality and it doesn't do a lot of different musical styles. It was really just built on a bunch of kind of Western, they call them Western biased training data. So these free music libraries are not very extensive. It's just mostly kind of like Western music. So it also has a little bit of restrictive usage. It's not the end of the world. You got to make money somewhere. So it's free for researchers and hobbyists and businesses that make less than a million dollars annual revenue. But if you're making over a million dollars, you have to pay Stability's enterprise license. This isn't the end of the world. And I think this is a pretty standard licensing kind of deal. Although yeah, it feels like they'd be making something open source. So I guess some people are upset about that. Now Stable Diffusion is a company that has had a ton of issues in the past. They raised some new money last year. A bunch of their investors, including Eric Schmidt from Google, the Napster founder, Sean Parker, famously who, you know, invested in Meta. We're really trying to turn the business around. So Imod Mostaq was their co founder and he was kind of the former CEO. He apparently really mismanaged all of their finances, almost completely destroyed the company. Tons of staff resigned. There was a partnership they had with Canva that fell through. Investors were super concerned about this. So in the last few months they actually got a new CEO and they appointed James Cameron to their board of directors. Which is interesting because typically this has kind of been famous as a image company and with James Cameron you can kind of imagine where they're going with this is going to become a video company. All these AI generated images are perfectly poised to create AI generated videos. And they've also released a bunch of new image generation models. So it seems like Stability is on track to do some cool things. I think specifically if we're looking at videos, doing these sound effects and kind of these like smaller music bits makes a lot of sense. They want this in the background of if, you know, they're making music tracks to be able to or sorry, videos. It'd be really cool to have also AI generated music in the background. So this makes a lot of sense with kind of their strategic direction. I'll be super curious to see where they go. This is a very, you know, prolific company. It's raised a lot of money, it's done a lot of interesting things, but again, it has faced a lot of challenges. So I'll keep you up to date on everything happening with Stability. Make sure to leave a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcast. And again, if you haven't tried AI Box already, there's a link in the description. I would love to have you try it. You can dump a ton of your subscriptions for $20 a month. You get access to all the top AI models. You can compare results side by side of different models. You can chat with all of the models in the same chat. You don't have to switch or, you know, not have the ability to keep talking to different models. And it's a lot of fun. So check it out, AI Box AI and I will catch you next time.
Summary of "The Joe Rogan Experience of AI" Podcast Episode: New from Stability AI: Creative Sound Generator
Release Date: June 6, 2025
In the latest episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience of AI," the host delves into Stability AI's groundbreaking announcement—the launch of their new audio feature, the Creative Sound Generator. This episode offers an in-depth exploration of Stability AI's advancements, challenges, and strategic direction within the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
Stability AI has been a pivotal player in the AI revolution, most notably for creating Stable Diffusion, a leading model in image generation. However, despite their innovative contributions, the company has faced significant financial hurdles. The host remarks:
"They really got left behind as a company that's had a lot of financial issues. But I think that they're about to make a big turnaround." [00:00]
These challenges have not deterred Stability AI from pushing forward, indicating a potential resurgence under new leadership and strategic initiatives.
The centerpiece of this episode is Stability AI's latest offering—the Creative Sound Generator. Unlike previous audio models focused on vocals, this new feature specializes in music generation. The host explains:
"This isn't like a vocal model. This is a music model." [Transcript Segment Following 00:00]
This distinction sets Stability AI apart from competitors by targeting instrumental and sound effect creation rather than complete vocal tracks.
Stability AI's Creative Sound Generator enters a competitive space alongside platforms like Suno and YuDo. While these competitors have established a presence in music generation, they face criticism over copyright concerns:
"People criticize them for the copyright. So they're like, look, these guys, they grabbed all of this data from the Internet... and now it creates music." [Timestamp Needed]
In contrast, Stability AI has taken measures to mitigate these issues by ensuring their model is trained exclusively on royalty-free audio libraries. Although this approach enhances legal compliance, it comes with trade-offs in model performance and versatility.
Stability AI's new audio model is designed for efficiency and accessibility. Key technical aspects include:
Lightweight Architecture: The model comprises 341 million parameters, optimized to run on ARM CPUs, making it feasible to operate directly on smartphones without relying on cloud-based servers.
Performance: Capable of generating up to 11 seconds of audio in approximately eight seconds, the model emphasizes speed and portability over length and complexity.
Output Quality: While functional for creating drums, instruments, and riffs, the model does not support vocals, limiting its ability to produce full-fledged songs. The host notes:
"It can't generate realistic vocals or high-quality songs. It's kind of low quality." [Timestamp Needed]
Stability AI has implemented specific licensing terms to govern the use of the Creative Sound Generator:
Free Access: Available to researchers, hobbyists, and businesses with annual revenues below $1 million.
Enterprise Licensing: Companies exceeding this revenue threshold must obtain an enterprise license, ensuring that Stability AI can sustain and scale its offerings.
The host comments on these terms:
"It's free for researchers and hobbyists and businesses that make less than a million dollars annual revenue. But if you're making over a million dollars, you have to pay Stability's enterprise license." [Timestamp Needed]
Beyond product innovation, Stability AI has undergone significant organizational changes to address past financial mismanagement. The host outlines:
Leadership Changes: Following financial turmoil caused by former CEO Mis Mostaq, Stability AI appointed a new CEO and added James Cameron to their board of directors, signaling a strategic pivot towards video content.
Funding and Investment: Recent investments from prominent figures like Eric Schmidt (Google) and Sean Parker (Napster founder) underscore confidence in Stability AI's potential for resurgence.
Strategic Vision: With enhancements in image generation and the introduction of audio capabilities, Stability AI appears poised to integrate these technologies into a cohesive platform for AI-generated videos, potentially revolutionizing multimedia content creation.
"With James Cameron you can kind of imagine where they're going with this is going to become a video company." [Timestamp Needed]
The episode provides a comprehensive overview of Stability AI's latest endeavors and the broader implications for the AI-generated music landscape. While the Creative Sound Generator introduces promising features with a focus on legal compliance and mobile accessibility, it also highlights the inherent trade-offs in model capabilities. Stability AI's proactive steps in leadership and strategic partnerships hint at a promising trajectory, positioning the company to play a significant role in the future of AI-driven multimedia production.
Listeners are encouraged to stay tuned for further developments as Stability AI continues to innovate and navigate the challenges of the AI industry.
Notable Quotes:
"They really got left behind as a company that's had a lot of financial issues. But I think that they're about to make a big turnaround." [00:00]
"This isn't like a vocal model. This is a music model." [Timestamp Needed]
"It can't generate realistic vocals or high-quality songs. It's kind of low quality." [Timestamp Needed]
"With James Cameron you can kind of imagine where they're going with this is going to become a video company." [Timestamp Needed]
Note: Timestamps marked as [Timestamp Needed] are placeholders where specific time references from the transcript would be inserted to attribute quotes accurately.