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A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies | TechCrunch

Jun 06, 2024 - techcrunch.com
Cara, an artist-run, anti-AI social platform, has seen its user base grow from 40,000 to 650,000 in a week due to dissatisfaction with Meta's AI policies. Artists are upset with Meta for using their public posts to train its AI systems without their consent, a practice that has led many to migrate to Cara. The platform, founded by renowned photographer Jingna Zhang, allows artists to host portfolios and post updates without the risk of their work being used as training data for AI.

However, the rapid growth has brought challenges for Cara, which is entirely bootstrapped and relies heavily on volunteer engineering support. A recent bill for web hosting services amounted to $96,280 for a week, putting the platform's future in jeopardy. Despite these challenges, Zhang remains committed to Cara's mission and has not sought venture funding to maintain independence from outside investors.

Key takeaways:

  • An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara, has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week due to artists' frustration with Meta's AI policies.
  • Founder Jingna Zhang and other artists are suing Google and other companies for allegedly using their copyrighted work to train AI image generators without their consent.
  • Cara partners with the University of Chicago’s Glaze project to provide an added layer of protection against artists' work being scraped for AI.
  • Despite its rapid growth, Cara is facing financial challenges, including a $96,280 bill for web hosting, and its future is uncertain as it has not sought venture funding.
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