Stable Diffusion was designed by a London-based startup Stability AI in collaboration with public research university LMU Munich and Runway, a developer of multimodal AI systems.Stability AI was founded by former hedge fund manager Emad Mostaque. 39-year-old Mostaque was born in Bangladesh and grew up in England. He worked for British hedge funds for 13 years before earning a master’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Oxford University in 2005. According to his LinkedIn page, in 2019 he also co-founded Symmitree with the goal of lowering the cost of technology for people living in poverty. According to Forbes, Stability AI is in talks to raise $100 million from investors. The publication’s sources say investment firm Coatue has shown interest in a $500 million deal.