Civitai

Civitai is an online platform and marketplace for generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) content, primarily focused on AI-generated images and models, and AI-generated videos.

Civitai

Company type	Private company
Industry	Artificial intelligence
Founded	2022; 3 years ago (2022)
Founders	Justin Maier
Headquarters	Boise, Idaho
Website	civitai.com

History

Civitai was founded in 2022 by Justin Maier.^[1][2] By January 2023, the site reached 100,000 registered users and 3 million by November.^[2] In November 2023, Civitai secured funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.^[2] By April 2024, Civitai had 23.2 million monthly accesses.^[3]

The company is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.^[4]

Platform

Civitai allows users to share and download AI models, particularly those used for image generation.^[2] The platform supports various AI models, including Stable Diffusion and Flux, and provides a space for users to showcase and monetize their AI-generated content.^[2][5] Users have profile pages and can comment on other users' models and images.^[6]

The website also features a virtual currency called Buzz that can be used to generate images on Civitai's servers.^[7] Buzz can be bought or earned by engaging with the site.^[7]

The platform is open source.^[8][9]

Controversies

In 2023, 404 Media reported that Civitai began a "Bounties" marketplace where users could commission deepfakes, of real or fake people.^[10][7] Users are rewarded with Buzz for completing Bounties.^[7]

In December 2023, AI provider OctoML announced it had ended its business relationship with Civitai after concerns were raised users were generating images that “could be categorized as child pornography.”^[11]