Editorial illustration for Midjourney Acquires Astrology App Co-Star
Midjourney Acquires Co-Star Astrology App
Midjourney has spent the last two years training AI to render cats, landscapes, and lately full-body ultrasound scans. Now it owns an astrology app. The company confirmed Thursday it acquired Co-Star, the free personalized-horoscope app millions use to check compatibility with friends and get daily readings pulled from NASA data and human-written insight. Bloomberg first reported the deal, which closed back in spring though the financial terms remain unknown.
The move puts Midjourney, a text-to-image generator best known for operating through Discord and the web, in an odd new lane: consumer lifestyle apps built around personal guidance rather than picture prompts. Co-Star founder Banu Guler isn't stepping away from her creation. She's staying on to run the app while also taking a new title at Midjourney, according to Bloomberg's reporting. Founder David Holz says Guler and her team will help shape the startup's first standalone apps, including one built specifically for image generation, a signal that Midjourney wants to move beyond Discord servers and into something closer to a full product suite.
Midjourney, which has gone from generating AI cat images to full-body ultrasound scans, is getting into a new field: astrology. The AI startup announced on Thursday that it has acquired the personalized astrology app Co-Star, as reported earlier by Bloomberg.
Why this matters
Co-Star has millions of users who open the app daily for a horoscope push notification, exactly the kind of habitual, personal engagement Midjourney needs if it wants to move past being a tool people visit occasionally to generate images. Bringing Co-Star's founder in to help build Midjourney's first apps signals the company isn't just buying a user base, it's buying product instincts for consumer-facing AI that feels intimate rather than transactional. For founders watching Midjourney's trajectory, from cat pictures to ultrasound-style renders to now astrology, the pattern is less about any single vertical and more about testing where generative AI can attach itself to daily emotional habits.
That's a different bet than the enterprise-tooling race most labs are running. Researchers should note the acquisition says nothing about model capability and everything about distribution strategy. Whether astrology fans want their star charts generated by the same engine that renders dragons riding motorcycles is an open question, and one Midjourney is now paying to answer.
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Common Questions Answered
What is Co-Star and why did Midjourney acquire it?
Co-Star is a free personalized astrology app with millions of daily users that provides horoscope readings, compatibility checks, and insights pulled from NASA data and human-written content. Midjourney acquired Co-Star to move beyond being an occasional image generation tool and gain habitual user engagement through a consumer-facing product that feels intimate and personal rather than transactional.
When did Midjourney complete the acquisition of Co-Star?
Midjourney closed the acquisition of Co-Star back in spring, though the company only confirmed the deal publicly on Thursday. The financial terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed.
What types of AI capabilities has Midjourney developed before acquiring Co-Star?
Over the last two years, Midjourney has trained its AI to render various types of images, starting with cats and landscapes and expanding to more complex applications like full-body ultrasound scans. This progression demonstrates the company's evolution from simple image generation to more sophisticated and specialized AI applications.
How does Co-Star's user engagement model benefit Midjourney's business strategy?
Co-Star's millions of users who open the app daily for horoscope push notifications provide exactly the kind of habitual, personal engagement Midjourney needs to establish recurring user interaction. By acquiring Co-Star's founder to help build Midjourney's first consumer apps, the company is gaining product instincts for creating intimate AI experiences rather than just transactional tools.
Further Reading
- Midjourney acquired the astrology app Co-Star - TechCrunch
- AI Startup Midjourney Buys Astrology App Co-Star and is Building Its Own Apps - Bloomberg
- 'We're at a Crazy Moment in History': Midjourney Buys Astrology App Co-Star - Gizmodo
- Midjourney收購占星應用程式Co-Star，AI實驗室積極拓展新業務 - Investing.com
- Midjourney buys astrology app Co-Star, plans standalone app - AI Weekly
