Unstable Diffusion, a group campaigning to legitimize AI-porn generation, had grand plans to raise funds on Kickstarter before it was booted off the crowdfunding site last month.
The group's campaign was active from December 9 to December 21, raising around $56,000 in its 12-day active period. The backers were not charged for their pledges as the campaign was canceled, per Kickstarter.
Originating on Discord, Unstable Diffusion said it aimed to "reject the limiting rules of corporate AI companies." This included allowing users to generate explicit content banned by mainstream AI art generators such as Stable Diffusion and Open AI's DALL-E.
The group's crowdfunding campaign hit a snag when it was met with backlash from some artists who argued the group was using their work without their consent. Several of them used social media to pressure Kickstarter into removing the group.
Arman Chaudhry, Unstable Diffusion's CEO, told Insider shortly after the campaign's suspension: "While Kickstarter's capitulation to a loud subset of artists disappoints us, we and our supporters will not back down from defending the freedom to create."
"We are rising to the call to defend against the artists lobbying to make all AI art illegal, and backers' support will allow us to challenge this increasingly well-funded and organized lobby," he said.
A representative for Kickstarter declined to comment on specific moderation decisions. However, they told Insider that the site had not banned all AI art. They added: "Our site is an all-or-nothing crowdfunding model, so no backers were charged for their pledges, as the project was canceled before it ended."
Everette Taylor, Kickstarter's CEO, seemingly referenced some of the backlash in a blog post about AI art published on December 21. He said: "We've read your feedback to us via our team and social media."
"Kickstarter must, and will always be, on the side of creative work and the humans behind that work. We're here to help creative work thrive," he added.
Taylor said that going forward, the platform was considering two elements in relation to AI art: "Consent to use an artist's work both in images and in software trained to create images, and potential for exploitation and harm to particular groups of people."
Unstable Diffusion's Chaudhry said the group had updated its website to allow supporters to contribute directly. Chaudhry said the group had already raised $30,000 in pre-donations and was planning to launch a new funding campaign on January 10.
