Freepik has just entered the AI image generation race with the launch of F Lite, a new “open” model built exclusively from commercially licensed, safe-for-work content. Developed with AI startup Fal.ai, F Lite stands out in a field riddled with copyright concerns by sidestepping one of the industry’s biggest controversies—training on unlicensed, publicly scraped images. The model is geared more toward customization and ethical use than overpowering image quality, and Freepik hopes it will become a reliable base for developers seeking a copyright-safe alternative.

Key Points:

Freepik’s new model, F Lite, is an “open” generative AI image model trained on 80 million licensed images.

• Developed in partnership with Fal.ai, it was trained over two months using 64 Nvidia H100 GPUs.
• F Lite contains around 10 billion parameters and comes in two variants: “standard” (more prompt-faithful) and “texture” (more creative but error-prone).
• The model requires at least 24GB of VRAM to run.
• Freepik doesn’t claim to surpass top competitors like Midjourney or Black Forest Labs but aims to provide an open, ethical base for developers.
• F Lite is part of a small but growing trend of AI models trained on licensed media, alongside efforts by Adobe, Getty Images, Shutterstock, and others.
• The broader generative AI industry continues to face lawsuits over training data practices, making licensed-only models like F Lite increasingly relevant.

Key Quotes:

• “The goal was to make a model openly available so that developers could tailor and improve it.”
• “Standard is more predictable and ‘prompt-faithful,’ while texture is more ‘error-prone’ but delivers better textures and creative compositions.”
• “Freepik makes no claim that F Lite produces images superior to leading image generators like Midjourney’s V7, Black Forest Labs’ Flux family, or others.”

Implications:

Freepik’s move to release a fully licensed AI model could signal a turning point for developers and companies wary of legal risks. As copyright lawsuits swirl around major players in the AI space, F Lite positions itself as a safer, more transparent option for those looking to build without legal gray areas. While it may not yet compete with industry titans in visual fidelity, its ethical foundation could make it a preferred choice for risk-averse organizations and forward-thinking creators.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/29/freepik-releases-an-open-ai-image-generator-trained-on-licensed-data/

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