Moonvalley brings Disney, TikTok alum as it raises $84M for ethical AI video generation

Moonvalley, an AI research company focused on “ethical” video generation, has secured $84 million in additional funding led by General Catalyst, with strategic investments from CAA and Comcast Ventures. The startup claims to differentiate itself by training its AI models exclusively on licensed content, positioning itself as a responsible alternative to competitors who use unlicensed material for training data.

What you should know: Moonvalley recently launched Marey, which it describes as the industry’s “first production-grade AI generative videography platform built for professional filmmakers and visionary brands.”

• The company works through its filmmaking arm, Asteria, led by Bryn Mooser, to develop tools specifically tailored for filmmakers and Hollywood studios.
• Moonvalley promises “cinematic quality, creative control and commercial-ready outputs” for professional use cases.
• The funding brings Moonvalley’s total capital raised to $154 million.

Who else is involved: The funding round includes several strategic partners from the entertainment and technology sectors.

• CAA and Comcast Ventures joined as new strategic investors, alongside CoreWeave, an AI cloud company.
• Existing investors Khosla Ventures and YCombinator also participated in the round.
• The company’s team includes alumni from Google’s DeepMind, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Disney, and DreamWorks.

Why this matters: The investment signals growing industry support for AI companies that prioritize content licensing and creator rights over rapid deployment.

• Traditional AI video models often train on vast amounts of unlicensed content, raising legal and ethical concerns within the entertainment industry.
• Moonvalley’s approach directly addresses these concerns by building relationships with content creators and paying for licensing rights.

What they’re saying: Company leaders emphasize their commitment to supporting rather than replacing creative professionals.

• “This funding proves you don’t have to choose between powerful technology and responsible development,” said Moonvalley CEO and co-founder Naeem Talukdar. “We’re building world-class models while respecting the creative community, and these partners will help us give studios and creators a real alternative to unlicensed models.”
• CAA head of strategic development Alexandra Shannon noted: “Ethically led and talent-friendly applications of AI are a top priority for CAA. We see an opportunity with these emerging tools and technologies, and having a set of partners who are aligned in the ethics behind AI is critical.”

What’s next: Moonvalley plans to use the funding to scale its operations and expand its platform capabilities.

• The company will focus on scaling the Marey system and expanding its licensed content library.
• Development priorities include API access for developers and internal platform teams, plus features requested by studio and enterprise partners.
• Moonvalley is actively hiring engineering and support teams for enterprise-scale deployments.