Metaphysic merges with DNEG’s technology division Brahma

Left to right_ DNEG's Prabhu Narasimhan, Namit Malhotra, and Thomas Graham

DNEG Group has acquired generative AI business Metaphysic. 

Metaphysic has merged with DNEG’s technology division Brahma, with the resulting company now valued at $1.43 billion (£1.13bn). This is paired with a further $25 million (£19.84m) investment into the division from United Al Saqer Group (UASG), which already pumped $200 million (£159m) into the business last year. 

Metaphysic’s existing investors, including Liberty Global, S32, Rakuten Capital, TO Ventures and 8VC will become shareholders in Brahma. Brahma now consists of over 800 engineers. 

Brahma is currently developing foundational AI, data, and content workflow technologies as part of a suite of AI tools to create user-customized content across video, image, and audio. This is the latest of a number of acquisitions from DNEG that aim to accelerate the creation of the platform, including Prime Focus Technologies and the Ziva toolset last year. 

The acquisition sees some changes to the Brahma executive team. It will now include executive chairman Prabhu Narasimhan; founder and CEO of the DNEG Group Namit Malhotra, who continues as interim CEO of Brahma; and Metaphysic CEO Thomas Graham, who also serves as president of Brahma. Upon integration of Metaphysic with Brahma’s technology and team, Thomas Graham will transition to become CEO of Brahma.

Other members of the team are Prime Focus Technologies CEO & co-founder Ramki Sankaranarayanan, who will also become president of its AI toolset Clear; DNEG Group CTO Paul Salvini, who will also serve as CTO of Brahma; and Ziva director of character tools and workflows Crawford Doran, who becomes vice president of Ziva.

Narasimhan said: “With Brahma, we are taking DNEG’s multiple Academy AwardⓇ-winning visual effects and animation toolsets and marrying them with the incredible power of generative AI to create a suite of AI content products, including what we believe will be the industry’s leading photorealistic AI video creator. 

“I am excited to take Brahma from a niche user base focused on high-end movie and TV production to enterprise and content creators across every industry. If you have the imagination and a story to tell, we have the tools to bring your story to life faster, cheaper, and better.”

Graham added: “Brahma offers every business a strategy for generative AI content creation, from owning their data to delivering amazing, user-customized AI content across video, image, and audio. By bringing together the incredible teams at Brahma and Metaphysic, we can deliver an operating system for generative AI content that starts with securing your IP and ends with new revenue streams built on a suite of products that deliver Hollywood-quality content and experiences at unprecedented scale.”

Malhotra commented: “Brahma’s acquisition of Metaphysic turbocharges the development of a truly game- changing suite of content creation products, fueled by the limitless potential of AI. IP rights-holders and content creators across every sector—from media and entertainment, to retail, to healthcare, to education and beyond—will be empowered to create incredible content at a scale and fidelity that is currently reserved only for those with the highest budgets. Brahma will redefine how stories are told, through a platform that is purpose-built for the future of content creation.”