On Tuesday, LimeWire announced the launch of its AI Studio, which it is billing as the first AI Studio that runs on the blockchain. It made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) in a thread that has garnered over 100 likes and nearly 50 reposts.
1/ 🍋‍Announcing the future of content creation on the blockchain: The LimeWire AI Studio with @0xPolygonLabs
We’re thrilled to announce that we have teamed up with Polygon to launch the world’s first blockchain-based AI Creator Studio: The LimeWire AI Studio pic.twitter.com/LGCr09rgtP
— LimeWire (@limewire) August 29, 2023
As the thread mentions, the AI Studio runs on the Polygon blockchain, a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum known for its quick transaction speeds and low fees. Currently, the AI supports just text-to-image functionality, though there are plans to add AI-created music and videos later this year.
In addition, the company is rolling out daily creator challenges to inspire users to use the Studio. Upon hearing of this new addition to LimeWire, Rarity Sniper did a deep dive into the Studio, creating an account and exploring what it has to offer.
The text-to-image generator runs on two AI models: Stable Diffusion (free version) and Dall-E (pro version). The way to create an image is typical of those models: A user needs to input the prompt, the negative prompt, and the style. There are also settings a creator can adjust, including prompt guidance, quality and details, CLIP preset, and sampler.
Currently, there are five monthly plans and four annual plans available. All users can receive 10 credits per day for free. This results in 20 images per day. The free plan also has ad-revenue share, which the company will create through its official cryptocurrency $LMWR. The monthly plans then scale up from there, with more and more features, along with higher subscription costs.
All in all, the move from LimeWire shows that companies are still innovating in the Web3 space, despite falling prices.
LimeWire Makes Moves in Web3
LimeWire was launched in 2000 as a free peer-to-peer file sharing system. During its hey-day, it was one of the top dogs, accounting for a great deal of torrent usage. But it faced a long period of decline, highlighted by a major lawsuit. When it decided to relaunch as an NFT marketplace, the move shocked and excited the Web3 space. Here are some of our top stories about it, all from about one year ago.
First, in 2022, LimeWire announced it was returning as a non-fungible token marketplace. The move came in partnership with Universal Music Group, to allow artists signed with the label to sell several types of NFTs on the platform. It officially debuted with a collection from rapper 7 Aurelius.
Next, LimeWire partnered with two of the biggest clubs in Ibiza, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea known for its white sand beaches and active nightlife. In the clubs, LimeWire provided a VIP area and special perks for LimeWire Originals token holders.
Lastly, LimeWire opened the waitlist for its NFT marketplace with at least 10,000 slots available. Those who signed up were in for a treat: An NFT from the company’s inaugural collection. It also remarked at the time that it was launching its own token called $LMWR as part of a public sale.
As these stories show, LimeWire has been actively building in the Web3 space for some time. Its change from file-sharing company to NFT company was certainly a surprising turn, but big news for fans of music NFTs. Rarity Sniper will keep an eye on LimeWire and report back if needed.