Jasper AI Text and Image Generation Software Raises $125 Million
This A Round Financing Makes Jasper a Unicorn
Jasper AI is designed to make OpenAI’s GPT-3 text generator and DALL-E image generator easy for anyone to use. The software provides a more user-friendly front-end interface for users that do not have experience with AI-based tools.
The business model appears to be very successful, as Jasper AI claims to have more than 70,000 customers less than two years after its founding in January 2021. The strength of that market demand vaulted Jasper AI into unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. It also delivered a series A financing round of $125 million in new cash to help drive even faster growth. Wow.
Text-to-Text
Large language models (LLM) are still relatively new but have regularly surprised users at how faithfully they render text from a simple prompt such as, “What are the top three reasons to select javascript over python for building a web app?” GPT-3’s response:
The top three reasons to select javascript over python for building a web app are:
Javascript is a more popular language than python, so there is a larger community of developers to draw from when you need help or want to collaborate on a project.
Javascript is a faster language than python, so your web app will load and run more quickly.
Javascript has more features and libraries available for building web apps than python, so you will have more tools at your disposal to create the app you want.
Another example is this prompt for a poem, “Write a poem in the style of Robert Frost about how much the Synthedia newsletter has helped you understand synthetic media, stay informed of news, and make better decisions.”
The synthedia newsletter has been a great help, Especially in understanding synthetic media, And staying informed of news and events.
It's helped me to make better decisions, And to keep up with the latest trends.
I'm grateful for all the information it provides, And for the insights it offers on the industry.
Thank you, synthedia newsletter, For all that you've done to help me!
Or consider this prompt, “Is deep fake technology good or bad for society?”
There is no easy answer for this question. While deep fake technology can have some positive applications, such as creating more realistic and accurate virtual assistants, it can also be used for malicious purposes, such as creating fake news stories or spreading false information.
I didn’t edit any of these responses. You can ask for longer pieces as well, such as blog posts and essay formats.
To do this, using GPT-3 directly presents some challenges. First, you have to know how to formulate a prompt for the desired output. Second, you need to know how long it should be in tokens (a token is expected to be about four characters). Third, you need to know how to refine the prompt to add to it.
Jasper AI simplifies this. It provides templates for specific content types, offers training to users, and meters the costs based on words instead of tokens. It also enables you to start with a simple paragraph like the one on Deepfake technology above and use that in a subsequent prompt to generate more complementary content that extends the idea. Plus, it serves as a content management system for everything that has been created by a user or group. It’s an application on top of a technology.
“We see our part in this larger technological shift as helping bridge the gap between AI availability and practical applicability by being the platform businesses use to scale their content throughout marketing, sales, and customer service,” Jasper AI CEO, Dave Rogenmoser wrote in a blog post. “That begins by making generative AI more accessible for businesses, but is also about choosing the right combination of AI models for the right use case and evolving to incorporate the unique styles and knowledge base of each business.” Reported in Voicebot.ai
Text-to-Image
You probably didn’t know that Jasper also has a new text-to-image generation application as well. Content marketers need text, but they also need images for their blogs, social media posts, and product materials. Jasper is taking DALL-E 2 technology and adding a more user-friendly interface and pricing model on top of it. The company is not the only company doing this, but it is making the technology more accessible to everyday business users and is the first to provide both services from a single software platform.
Synthetic Media Generation
Jasper AI says that content marketers can have five times higher productivity in their writing tasks. This could lead to a lower marketing headcount but, more likely than not, will lead teams to create a lot more content in the near term.
Other companies in the text-to-text space include Writer, which raised $21 million in funding in late 2021, and Regie, which closed $10 million in funding earlier this month. Paragraph AI launched an iPhone app with some similar features in August but has not yet raised funding. There are many other companies focused on the text-to-image solutions alone.
The new funding and apparent alignment with market demand suggest this market is hot and poised for even faster growth. Let me know if you have used any of these tools and what you think about the services.
