Over the years, many programs that were once a benchmark in the software sector have disappeared to make way for more modern solutions. This is the case of LimeWire. This is an application that now seems to be getting a second life thanks to AI. Surely many of you are more than familiar with this title. In fact, at the time, it had many followers all over the world. Specifically, we are talking about a software that served as a client for P2P networks. Consequently, it was used massively to exchange files between users. Moreover, this is a client that was based on Gnutella. Recall that it is a protocol that allows users to share music.
The program was originally developed by Mark Gorton in 2000. Almost from the beginning, it became a very popular solution. However, it then started to get a bad reputation because of the content that was shared and the poor security it included. As a result, users from all over the world stopped using this proposal and opted for other, more secure and reliable options. Many users abandoned LimeWire in favor of P2P clients that made use of the current Torrent networks.
So much so that the program ended up with a lawsuit from the RIAA in 2006 claiming billions of dollars from its creators. Basically, all this ended with the closure of the application as such. As a result, its developers had to pay more than 100 million dollars to various record companies.
LimeWire brought back to life by Artificial Intelligence
But as we now know, it looks like this is a program that is going to have a second life. This is largely thanks to the current AI platforms. Thus, the LimeWire program, once famous for music piracy, was launched last year. However, it launched into the content creation sector. But it hasn’t stopped there. Indeed, now the company behind the software has just announced the acquisition of BlueWillow. Here we are talking about a popular image creation platform using generative Artificial Intelligence.
Basically this translates to the popular LimeWire now competing with services like Midjourney. BlueWillow was founded earlier this year with a focus on generative AI. Additionally, it currently claims to be the second-largest AI image generation community, after the aforementioned Midjourney.
This means that LimeWire, after the purchase, will focus on maintaining BlueWillow’s presence on Discord. Obviously, it will also integrate its functions into its own website.
Here it will be part of the paid and free services of the program. These services are aimed at both multimedia content creators and image creators. In turn, this entry into the AI sector will help LimeWire to develop more multimedia services in the future. The acquisition of BlueWillow allows the company to offer its own image generation tools via AI. It also plans to add video and audio generation with these new technologies.
A very expensive AI
The new LimeWire carries a completely opposite philosophy to the original. Recall that in the 2000s it sought to offer all paid content for free to users. However, now its mentality has changed. Indeed, now what it seeks is to take advantage of Artificial Intelligence to make money.
The prices of the AI platform to generate images automatically, range from a free mode to the Pro plan. This is more expensive, costing $49 per month. In its free mode, it allows us to generate a maximum of 20 images per day. Additionally, it obliges the user to pay 50% of the profit we get from them. The basic plan, at $9.99 per month, increases the limit of images to 2000 per month. It is also faster, and allows access to all AI models. The Advanced plan, at $29.00 per month, uploads up to 7500 images per month. It also allows us to keep 60% of the profits. And the most complete, the Pro, at $49 per month, allows us to generate up to 10,000 images per month. Here the profit margin increases to 70%.
The deal underscores the company’s efforts to grow its user community and revenues. Initially, its plan was to build an NFT marketplace for music content creators. It thus raised more than $17 million through token sales. Thus, the company was valued at about $60 million earlier this year. However, interest in digital currencies has faded almost completely. Now its top managers are focusing on AI. Thus, NFTs as a secondary activity.
As a result, LimeWire has gone from being a P2P client disowned by almost everyone, to a powerful platform for content generation via Artificial Intelligence.
