Midjourney used image-generation cash flow to build a full-body ultrasound scanner

Midjourney 用生图的现金流造了一台扫描仪

Midjourney unveiled a full-body ultrasound CT scanner in San Francisco. A person stands in a water ring while 40 Butterfly ultrasound-on-chip modules emit sound waves from all directions; 21 servers reconstruct 3D cross-sections with 2 PFLOPS of compute. The scanner cannot image brain, lungs, or bowel—it targets body composition analysis under FDA Class II. The first location is a spa in Union Square, not a hospital sale. The real story is the funding: Midjourney has zero outside investors. Subscription revenue from millions of image-generation users covers a $15M Butterfly upfront payment, $10M annual licensing, a 9-person hardware team, and the Union Square lease. Founder David Holz's VC aversion traces back to his previous startup Leap Motion, which raised over $100M and sold for roughly $30M. Midjourney's actual revenue is undisclosed; third-party estimates range from $200M to $500M ARR. Holz mentioned a speculative $20B capex for 50,000 units—even optimistic free cash flow would need 80 years, so outside capital likely becomes necessary at scale. Only 12 people have been scanned, no clinical data is published, and Butterfly carries $879M in cumulative losses, creating a single-point supply-chain risk.

Why it matters: Midjourney funded a full-body USCT scanner with image-gen subscription revenue — the anti-VC narrative and concrete specs are strong. Capped below 85 because the scanner currently uses no AI, has clear physical limits (no brain/lung/bowel), and is positioned for body compositi...