$76 million in new funding for Warner Bros-backed Stability AI
Think the AI pileup is easing—Stability AI, backed by Warner Bros., just secured fresh funding to firm up its position in the increasingly crowded AI space.
In a move that puts real entertainment power behind generative tech, the three biggest music companies — Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group — are backing Stability AI alongside Electronic Arts. The idea isn’t abstract: these companies own vast music and gaming libraries, and Stability says its latest music model, Stable Audio 3.0, is trained on fully licensed material — a direct answer to the copyright worries that have dogged AI-made songs.
The new funding totals $76 million in a Series B round and lifts Stability AI’s war chest to $232 million, according to Variety. The company has been led by CEO Prem Akkaraju since 2024, and the round also brings Coatue co-founder Thomas Laffont onto Stability’s board.
Who’s in the round
- Universal Music Group
- Warner Music Group
- Sony Music Group
- Electronic Arts
- AMD Ventures
- Pacific Alliance Ventures
- Coatue (returning)
- Greycroft (returning)
- Kadmos Capital (returning)
- Sean Parker (returning)
- Eric Schmidt (returning)
Why this matters
These aren’t just investors — they’re rights holders. Stability AI already has deals with UMG, WMG and EA to build models trained on their IP. That gives the company a cleaner legal runway to deliver AI tools to music and game teams, from temp tracks and sound design to prototyping art and in-engine assets.
Stable Audio 3.0 is trained on fully licensed data.
There’s real product work behind the money. Stability’s partnership with Electronic Arts focuses on AI tools for artists, designers and developers, while ad giant WPP has invested to plug Stability’s visual models into production workflows for commercials and entertainment campaigns.
It also fits a larger pivot across Hollywood toward “IP-safe” AI. Lionsgate has taken an equity stake in Runway and launched a joint development program for AI-assisted content, and Adobe is pushing enterprise tools built around clients’ proprietary assets rather than web-scraped data. The throughline: faster iteration and cheaper experimentation, without stepping on unlicensed catalogs.
The Series B was led in part by returning backers like Coatue — and with Thomas Laffont now on the board, Stability AI adds a heavyweight VC voice as it builds out entertainment-facing tools under Prem Akkaraju’s leadership.