Emad Mostaque

Overview

Emad Mostaque is a British-Bangladeshi businessman and former hedge fund manager. He was born on 17 April 1983 in Jordan ^[1]. He is best known as the founder and former chief executive of Stability AI, the company behind the Stable Diffusion image model ^[2].

Early background

The sources used for this entry describe his career as a hedge fund manager, and give his birth date and place. They do not give details of his education or of any early research, so this entry does not cover those.

Main contributions

Mostaque founded Stability AI in 2019 and served as its CEO ^[2]. As CEO he announced the company's $101 million funding round on 17 October 2022. He said that the potential of AI would be realised only "if the technology is open and accessible to all" ^[3]. ## Roles at Stability AI

Mostaque resigned as CEO and from the board of Stability AI on 23 March 2024. At the time he said: "It is now time to ensure AI remains open and decentralised" ^[4]. In July 2023 Stability AI co-founder Cyrus Hodes sued Mostaque. Hodes alleged that he had been misled into selling his 15% stake in the company for $100 ^[5]. The allegation was reported by Forbes, and the sources used here do not record a ruling on it.

Later work

After leaving Stability AI, Mostaque founded Intelligent Internet and wrote the book "The Last Economy" ^[1].

Reading the record

Records about a founder's public career usually combine company announcements, press coverage and any court filings. Where an allegation has not been decided, a careful account reports it as an allegation, as this entry does.

Why it matters

Mostaque's work at Stability AI is part of the history of open-weight image generation. His stated view is that AI should remain open and decentralised. Readers can compare his statements with the company's later record.