In a climate of growing discontent with Meta’s AI practices, artists have flocked to Cara, an anti-AI, artist-run social platform, propelling its user base from 40,000 to 650,000 in just one week. This significant shift not only catapulted Cara to the top of App Store charts but also highlighted a critical issue for the artistic community.
Meta’s platforms, particularly Instagram, have long been indispensable for artists to showcase their work and attract clients. However, Meta’s practice of using public posts to train its generative AI systems has sparked outrage. Only users in Europe, protected by GDPR laws, can opt out of this data usage, exacerbating frustrations globally.
Jingna Zhang, a renowned photographer and Cara’s founder, shared insights with TechCrunch on this shift. “When you excessively push AI in their face and complicate the opt-out process, it amplifies artist anger,” Zhang noted. She added, “Artists felt they had reached their limit.”
Cara provides a refuge for artists wanting to share their work without the fear of it becoming part of an AI training dataset. With both web and mobile versions, Cara merges the functionalities of Instagram and X, allowing users to maintain a portfolio and share microblog updates.
Zhang’s advocacy for artist rights bolsters Cara’s mission. Her recent victory in Luxembourg, where she defended her work against unauthorized usage by a painter, underscores her commitment to artist protection. She is also involved in lawsuits against major AI firms like Google, Stability AI, and Midjourney, for allegedly using artists’ copyrighted work without consent.
The dispute centers on the unauthorized use of artists’ creations in AI training datasets. These datasets are often amassed by scraping images from the internet, infringing on copyrights and bypassing creator consent. For many artists, their work is not merely a product but a reflection of their identity, making these AI practices particularly dehumanizing.
Cara collaborates with the University of Chicago’s Glaze project to add an extra layer of protection for artists. Other initiatives, like Spawning AI’s API, have also emerged to allow artists to opt-out of AI training datasets, though this is contingent on compliance by companies using these datasets.
Zhang’s long-standing interest in AI, sparked by Google’s AlphaGo victory over Lee Sedol, prepared her for the technological impacts on her artistic career. She reflected, “We will never experience the pre-AlphaGo world again. Now, the pinnacle of achievement in Go is defeating an AI.”
Cara is not Zhang’s first attempt at an artist-centric social network. Her journey, from managing an esports team to attending Stanford’s Ignite program, has honed her leadership and teamwork skills, which are now essential in steering Cara through its explosive growth.
Cara’s rapid rise is not without challenges. The platform, launched in late 2022 and primarily supported by volunteers, faces the strains of a 1525% increase in users. Zhang was shocked by a $96,280 bill from web hosting provider Vercel, highlighting the operational hurdles. Despite these challenges, Zhang remains steadfast in her decision to keep Cara bootstrapped and not seek venture capital.
The coming weeks are critical for Cara’s survival and growth. Yet, Zhang’s vision of building a community-centric platform for artists remains unwavering. “Creating a product is much like making art,” she said. “You design something you love, knowing it won’t appeal to everyone. But it will resonate deeply with those who share your perspective, and from there, you can build your community.”
