Y Combinator-backed Poly uses AI for art assets

As generative AI like ChatGPT And DALL-E 2 Startup entrepreneurs are seeking investors’ attention by creating new business models around their ideas. Poly is a company that allows designers to create virtual assets such as textures for 3D models using text prompts. It’s one of the most interesting ventures in the space.

Poly is essentially an AI-generated stock library, similar to Adobe Stock and Shutterstock. Poly is moving at full speed, despite platforms like Getty Images banning AI-generated content out of fear of legal backlash.

“Almost everyone is familiar with the frustrating feeling of searching online for the right icon, illustration, font, or sound effect, only to end up with something less than perfect. Poly is working to dramatically improve this situation with a suite generative tools that are focused on creators,” Poly CEO Abhay Agarwal said in an email interview to TechCrunch.

Agarwal, along with Sam Young, co-founded Poly. He was previously a research fellow at Microsoft where he published papers on AI for social change. Agarwal then started Polytopal, a “human-centered AI” consulting company that worked with brands like Spotify, Meta and Nestlé to develop various intelligent systems. Polytopal was also involved in the creation of a dance choreography system for BeatSaber. They also launched a virtual baking assistant called Toll House, which helps users to create a cookie recipe that suits their dietary requirements.

Agarwal explained that Young and he started Poly in 2022 because of a shared passion for ‘increased creativity of the planet’.

Image credit: Poly

Poly’s web-based first tool generates 3D textures using physically-based rendering maps. A technique for rendering images that is physically-based in modeling refers to one that attempts to replicate the natural flow of light in the real world.

Designers can use Poly to describe a texture (e.g. Poly allows designers to describe a texture (e.g., “Tree bark and moss”) and provide a reference image so that 3D models can be generated. These models can be customized in resolution and include normal and invert mapping — maps that are often used in game development to add depth, volume and detail to 3D objects’ surfaces.

“Poly trains its generative AI models with several proprietary methods, such as extracting texture information from normal images to augment its model’s learning capabilities,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal was asked how Poly handles sensitive content such as violent or sexually generated imagery. He did not provide any details, but stated that Poly audits its products “carefully and responsibly”. He said that he has not yet received any reports of harm.

Poly plans to compete both with traditional asset markets and developers’ manual designs. Unity is one of the major game engine vendors that hosts and sells assets via their own platforms, in addition to GameDev Market or OpenGameArt.

Poly is not the only one to use AI to generate game assets. Hotpot and Pixela.ai are direct competitors. They use similar algorithms to generate custom backgrounds, sprites, and other art content.

Agarwal claims that Poly’s generative artificial intelligence is superior to other AIs in terms of the quality and quantity of assets it produces. It’s still unclear what the jury thinks. Poly plans to differentiate itself further by offering a generative AI service that includes illustrations, sound effects, sound effects, and sprites. It intends to make money by partnering with enterprises, premium integrations of design tools, and charging a subscription fee to have royalty-free access, including commercial and reproduction rights.

Agarwal claims that Poly’s free service is being used by “thousands” while Poly’s paid plan is used by “hundreds”. Poly’s platform has already generated more than 2,000,000 textures.

This momentum attracted investors such as Felicis and Bloomberg Beta, NextView Ventures (Y Combinator), Figma Ventures, and the AI Grant. They contributed $3.9 Million in venture capital to Poly at Y Combinator’s demo day in September.

“Poly’s customers range from professionals at Fortune 500 companies to individual freelancers in game design, AR/VR, interior design, architecture and 3D rendering for ecommerce and marketing,” Agarwal said. “Poly has a multiyear runway so it can concentrate on building the best technology. A better product will help you stand out in this highly competitive space.

Image credit: Poly

If Poly is widely accepted, it and its generative AI competitors run the risk to upset the artist community. Not only are they likely to threaten livelihoods, but also because generative AI systems have been proven to be extremely effective. regurgitate Data on which they were trained (e.g. Existing art assets. ArtStation is an art community portal that allows AI-generated artwork. It launched this year earlier this year. members Protests began by many people placing images titled “No AI Art” in their portfolios.

The above-mentioned legal questions surrounding the technology are also unresolved. One class action lawsuit alleges Copilot, GitHub’s code-generating software, regurgitates sections from licensed code without credit. This could impact art-generating AI systems and art that uses them. The U.S. has also ended copyright protection in a related case. The Copyright Office, which originally granted copyright protection to a comic book made with generative AI, has now ended it. They stated that only human-created works are entitled.

Agarwal isn’t worried, or if he’s, he isn’t showing it.

“Generative artificial intelligence is getting a lot criticism from creators. Many companies in this space are trying to replace creators using automated systems. However, Poly’s focus has always been to empower creators with easier access to design assets,” Agarwal said. “Building on its current momentum, Poly plans to continue its relentless focus on its proprietary generative AI innovation, model training and product development to support more types of design assets and be embedded into designers’ daily workflows.”

Poly currently has three employees, but plans to increase that number in the next six to twelve months.