Midjourney купил астрологический сервис Co-Star — первое поглощение AI-стартапа

Midjourney bought astrology service Co-Star — the first acquisition by an AI startup

On July 24, 2026, Midjourney announced the acquisition of Co-Star, a popular personal astrology app. This is the first acquisition in the history of the AI startup famous for its image generator; the financial terms of the deal, which reportedly closed in spring 2026, were not disclosed by either party.

What Co-Star is

Co-Star is a free app that sends users daily horoscopes and lets them check "compatibility" with friends. According to the service's FAQ page, personalized advice is formed at the intersection of three sources: human expertise, NASA astronomical data, and artificial intelligence.

• Buyer — Midjourney, the image generator developer
• Deal subject — the Co-Star app (daily astrology, compatibility test)
• The deal reportedly closed in spring 2026
• The acquisition was announced on July 24, 2026
• The amount and terms of the deal were not disclosed

"Combines human expertise, NASA data, and artificial intelligence," is how the FAQ page of the

Co-Star app itself describes the service.

Bloomberg was the first to report the deal, and The Verge confirmed the story. Midjourney founder David Holz publicly commented on the acquisition, speaking positively about Co-Star's founder.

Why an image generator needs astrology

Midjourney has been consistently moving beyond image generation. The company, which started with AI images of cats, later moved on to generating images like full-body ultrasounds, and is now entering consumer services with a ready-made audience. According to Bloomberg, in addition to acquiring Co-Star, the startup is also developing its own apps in parallel.

The acquisition looks like a logical step for a company that has so far grown organically, without acquisitions. A ready-made product with a loyal user base gives Midjourney fast entry into a new niche — without the need to build a consumer app and gather an audience from scratch.

Why this matters for the market

The deal shows how generative AI companies are shifting from pure technology to mass consumer products. Instead of only refining generation models, Midjourney is buying a ready-made service and its audience — a classic move for mature tech companies, but still a novelty for a first-generation generative AI startup.

Co-Star itself is a hybrid product: it already combines astronomical data and AI. For Midjourney, this is a way to test its technology in an app where generative AI serves not as an image, but as part of the daily user experience.

What this means

Midjourney's first-ever acquisition is a signal that generative AI startups are increasingly buying distribution and audiences, not just developing their own models. An astrology service with a daily user habit is, for Midjourney, an inexpensive way to move beyond image generation and gain a foothold in the consumer segment.