Midjourney kills free AI image generator access after explosion of deep fakes

It&#x27;s likely because the picture of the pope in a winter jacket went viral, and now they want to cash in on all the attempts to re-create that hype... Apps are only free until initial hype occurs now... It&#x27;s the classic web service bait and switch move...<p>Midjourney founder David Holz is behind the technology that created a deepfake Pope Francis. To the untrained eye, the image shared widely on social media late last week showed a fashion-conscious Pope Francis strutting his stuff in an all-white puffer jacket from luxury brand Balenciaga.<p>SOURCE: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fortune.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;03&#x2F;28&#x2F;pope-francis-balenciaga-puffer-jacket-midjourney-ai-deepfake-image-generator-openai-dalle&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fortune.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;03&#x2F;28&#x2F;pope-francis-balenciaga-puffe...</a>

Misleading title. Here’s the quote from midjourney: “Due to a combination of extraordinary demand and trial abuse we are temporarily disabling free trials until we have our next improvements to the system deployed”.<p>- it’s not killed, it’s paused<p>- it’s not because of deepfakes, it’s because of extraordinary demand and abuse

They disabled free deepfakes, but still generate paid deepfakes.<p>Did free trials require a payement instrument or any hint of identity?<p>Do they shut down accounts that post TOS violating pics? (Based on matching their logs?)