2024 Midjourney — 16,000+ artist names leaked (training data)
Data compromised
Artist names used for AI training; style mapping data
Technical writeup
A list of over 16,000 artist names allegedly used to train Midjourney's AI image generator was leaked in January 2024. The 'Midjourney Style List' was shared via a public Google spreadsheet and went viral. The list included notable artists (Banksy, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, etc.) and was allegedly retrieved from Midjourney developers. The leak appeared in court documents for a class-action lawsuit against Midjourney, Stability AI, and others regarding non-consensual use of artists' work.
Root cause
Internal data leak; developer spreadsheet exposure