Something’s off with Midjourney’s pivot to body scanners

Last week, Midjourney, an AI startup best known for its image generator, made an unusual pivot : medical imaging. The company announced a futuristic ultrasound scanner that would dunk users into a vat of water and, hopefully, produce “something as powerful as MRI” yet “as casual as a trip to the spa.” Midjourney says the goal is to help people live longer, better, and healthier lives. CEO David Holz has suggested the system could one day be better than MRI. Experts are skeptical. While several medical imaging specialists told The Verge they were not dismissive of the idea outright, they said Midjourney has shown little public evidence to substantiate its goals —especially for a technology that has been around for decades and has well-understood limits. To call this a left-field move is an understatement. Midjourney is shifting from generating synthetic images online into the high-stakes, tightly regulated world of medicine — and definitely not-so-tightly regulated realm of wellness. It is not immediately clear how the venture relates to Midjourney’s existing AI business model, and AI is hardly mentioned in the blog post laying out the company’s plan. …