In further adding to his reputation as a completely insufferable individual, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is getting into the business of producing AI-generated comic books.
Having failed to secure a spot with the Las Vegas Raiders following his 2022 work out for the team, Kaepernick spent at least part of the last two years developing Lumi, described by the activist athlete in its announcement press release as a “groundbreaking platform that empowers creators by providing them with the tools needed to independently create, publish, and merchandise their stories both digitally and physically.”
“Lumi’s mission is to democratize storytelling by providing tools for creators to turn their ideas into finished products, as well as distributing and merchandising those stories – transforming any creator into Disney,” explained the company. “By leveraging advanced AI tools, Lumi enhances the creative process, allowing creators to focus on bringing their stories to life, while the platform handles all of the logistics. Creators have had a significant impact on AI, and they should be a primary beneficiary of its use.”
“By leveraging advanced AI tools, Lumi enhances the creative process, allowing creators to focus on bringing their stories to life, while the platform handles all of the logistics,” it continued. “Creators have had a significant impact on AI, and they should be a primary beneficiary of its use. Creators today face significant challenges, including exploitation and lack of independence. Lumi addresses these issues by providing an end-to-end solution for storytelling, leading to more financial stability, creative control, and ownership of their work. Additionally, as AI continues to evolve, it is essential to ensure that the resulting content reflects diverse and authentic perspectives. By empowering creators to authentically create their stories, Lumi helps ensure a more equitable future for AI.”
According to the press release, Lumi was conceived in response to “the barriers that [he] discovered publishing his own works”[such as his children’s book I Color Myself Different and his autobiographical graphic novel Change the Game]”, which apparently included “high production costs, long production timelines, and gatekeeping within the industry.”
“These challenges generate significant friction for creators, preventing many projects from getting off the ground,” said the company. “By decreasing the barrier to entry, Lumi opens the funnel of creativity to the world, enabling a new wave of diverse and innovative stories to come to life.”
Offering a direct explanation of his own, Kaepernick then personally asserted, “Lumi addresses an unnecessary dependency on gatekeepers that slows creators down his allows creators to get back to what they ultimately want to do: create.”
“The platform empowers creators to work freely and independently, deciding when and how they want to collaborate with others,” he added. “This independence is crucial for fostering a vibrant and diverse creative ecosystem.”
In service of its ongoing development, on July 24th, the company announced via the aforementioned press release that “the company has raised $4M in venture capital funding with a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, alongside Kapor Capital and Impellent Ventures, and notable angel investors like Mariam Naficy (founder of Minted), David Sze, Chamillionaire, and tech execs from Meta, Anthropic, ContextualAI, Sleeper, Pave and more.”
“The timing for this venture is perfect, as recent technological advancements have made it possible to realize Lumi’s vision,” declared Seven Seven Six Partner Cristina Apple Georgoulakis. “Colin and the Lumi team have gathered valuable insights from creators about their concerns and needs, including the desire for control over their work and financial sustainability. We believe Lumi is the perfect solution to a problem that has existed for decades.”
As of writing, neither Kaepernick, nor Lumi, nor any of its investors have offered any details regarding the exact datasets upon which the tool will be trained – in other words, whether it will generate its images based on a general scraping of images uploaded to the internet or a proprietary image library created specifically for the tool’s use.
Further, there currently exists no publicly available ‘proof of concept’ as to either Lumi’s functionality, the exact results it produces, or even its overall existence (Given that, per the company’s official website, they are still looking to hire both Software and Machine Learning Engineers, one wonders if the development on the tool has even begun at all).
