Midjourney Has Bought the Astrology App Co-Star, and the Reasons Are Genuinely Interesting

Key points

• Midjourney acquired Co-Star, a social astrology app with roughly 4.3 million monthly active users, according to TechCrunch AI.
• Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Co-Star's team of about two dozen employees has joined Midjourney.
• Midjourney currently has no standalone app of its own, operating almost entirely through Discord.
• The acquisition adds to a growing and eclectic Midjourney portfolio that already includes a medical arm and a spa.

Midjourney, the AI lab best known for letting people type a sentence and get a striking image back, has bought Co-Star, a social astrology app that millions of people use to check their birth charts and share compatibility readings with friends.

The price was not made public.

What is Co-Star, exactly?

Co-Star mixes AI-generated text with writing by human astrologers to produce horoscopes, personality profiles and compatibility assessments based on a user's birth date, time and location. About 4.3 million people open it every month, mostly to do things like check whether their Virgo tendencies clash with their partner's Scorpio ones, then send the result as a screenshot.

The app blends two things: a social network built around astrological identity, and an AI writing tool that personalises the output for each user.

Why would an image-generation company want this?

Honestly, the fit is not obvious at first glance. Midjourney built its name on AI image generation, the technology that turns a written description into a picture. It runs almost entirely through Discord, the group-chat platform, and has never released a standalone app.

But Midjourney has been quietly reaching into other areas. The company is reportedly working on a medical product and, yes, a spa. An astrology app is a big swing for a lab that has so far been defined by one Discord server.

The likely prize here is talent. Co-Star's two dozen employees have real experience building and shipping a polished consumer app. That is exactly the skill set Midjourney would need if it ever wants to get off Discord and into people's pockets with a product of its own.

What does this mean for Co-Star users?

Nothing changes immediately. The app should keep working as normal. Longer term, Midjourney's image-generation technology could make Co-Star's charts and readings look a lot more interesting, though nothing has been announced on that front.

One thing worth knowing: Co-Star collects your exact birth date, time and location, and connects that to your social graph inside the app. That personal data will now sit with Midjourney. If you are careful about what you share with AI companies, that is worth bearing in mind. Neither company has said how user data will be handled post-acquisition.

Common questions

Does Co-Star cost anything to use?

Co-Star is free to download, with optional paid features. Midjourney has not announced any changes to Co-Star's pricing.

Is Midjourney free to use?

Midjourney offers a limited free trial, then charges a monthly subscription starting at around $10 per month for basic access to its image generator via Discord.

Should Co-Star users worry about their data?

Midjourney has not published a new privacy policy for Co-Star users yet. Until it does, it is worth checking what data Co-Star holds on you via the app's settings, particularly your birth details and friend connections.