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Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has a new startup called Lumi aimed at helping creators complete, publish, and sell books and comics. Lumi offers a suite of AI tools to complement users’ existing talents and merchandise what they create.
Lumi’s pitch is that most people aren’t equally proficient at every aspect of making and selling a book and that AI can fill in those gaps. For instance, if a writer can’t draw, Lumi can produce illustrations. Or, if a comic artist has a story idea but struggles with dialogue, Lumi can help compose the words for their book. And, if a creative genius lacks training in marketing and sales, they can publish and distribute their creation through Lumi’s platform.
Lumi Comics
Lumi’s initial plans center on comic books and graphic novels. The many creative skills necessary to produce comics make it an ideal market for the company, which is planning a subscription fee business model for users. One aspect unaddressed by the news is ownership and copyright. The United States Copyright Office (USCO) is not a fan of covering publications made using AI. USCO initially seemed okay with the idea of issuing copyright protection for a comic book with art made using AI, issuing copyright to Kris Kashtanova and their self-published comic made with Midjourney’s text-to-image engine, “Zarya of the Dawn.” But not long after, USCO changed its policy and took back the copyright protection.
Lumi, so far, is skipping around that stormcloud. Instead, the company claims incorporating AI will streamline production and open up opportunities to more people who might otherwise never get to the publishing stage. Kaepernick cited his own challenges in publishing as inspiration, particularly the high production costs, lengthy timelines, and industry skepticism he believes often hinder the creation and dissemination of diverse stories. Notably, he later started Kaepernick Publishing, presumably to avoid those kinds of limits.
“Lumi addresses an unnecessary dependency on gatekeepers that slows creators down,” Kaepernick said in a statement. “This allows creators to get back to what they ultimately want to do: create. The platform empowers creators to work freely and independently, deciding when and how they want to collaborate with others. This independence is crucial for fostering a vibrant and diverse creative ecosystem.”
Whatever happens with copyright protections, Kaepernick may have a little bit of leeway to give his idea a go. He secured $4 million in venture capital funding led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm set up by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
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