Jared Leto attends Vogue World: Paris at Place Vendôme on June 23, 2024 in Paris, France.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretin/Getty Images (Vogue)
Jared Leto is getting into the generative artificial intelligence business.
The actor and musician is also an investor in Captions, a startup developing Gen AI technology for video production and editing.
Captions announced a Series C funding round on Tuesday, in which Leto will be investing alongside other leading venture capital firms including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures and Adobe.
The startup announced a $60 million Series C funding round that brings its valuation to $500 million, bringing its total raised to $100 million.
Captions has released several tools so far, including AI Creator, AI Edit, and Lipdub (mostly focusing on videos of people speaking directly into the camera). Movement has been modest so far, but the potential of AI video generation has captivated Hollywood and Silicon Valley, with AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic releasing their own video generation tools and a flurry of niche startups like Runway ML cultivating the market.
Meanwhile, Leto invested in another generation of AI startup called Pika last month, and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars was considering using the company’s technology in its music videos, according to Bloomberg.
“We see New York rapidly emerging as a hub for AI, and we’re excited to expand our team here and further our mission of democratizing video production so that everyone can effectively share their stories and ideas,” said Gaurav Misra, co-founder and CEO of Captions. “We’re grateful for the continued support from our investors and community, and we look forward to the next chapter.”
“Storytelling is humanity’s most powerful trait,” added Damir Becirovic, Partner at Index Ventures. “Captions is taking storytelling to a higher level through its AI-enabled video creation products. We’re empowering anyone to bring their stories to life in ways never before imagined and share them with the world. The result will be a flood of amazing stories imagined and directed by Captions users.”
