Metaphysic – the generative AI startup whose toolset was used to age and deage Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in Robert Zemeckis’ “Here” – has been acquired by DNEG Group’s AI company Brahma with an eye toward accelerating its AI tech development. The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
DNEG Group is also the privately held parent of VFX giant DNEG, whose work on “Dune: Part Two” won a BAFTA on Sunday and is VFX Oscar nominated; Prime Focus, developer of the Clear asset management tools; and Ziva, a 3D character creation toolmaker that DNEG acquired last year.
Brahma was launched in 2024 following a $200 million investment in DNEG Group by Abu Dhabi-based investor United Al Saqer Group. The Metaphysic acquisition is aimed at speeding up Brahma’s goal to build AI-powered tools for content creators across industries, to create professional content at scale.
According to today’s announcement, UASG and DNEG Group intend to invest a further $25 million into Brahma. Per the agreement, Metaphysic’s existing investors, including Liberty Global, S32, TO Ventures and 8VC will become shareholders in Brahma. In today’s announcement, privately-held DNEG Group reported a post-transaction value of Brahma at $1.43 billion.
Last week, Metaphysic’s work on “Here” won a Visual Effects Society Award in the emerging technology category. It’s tools and services have also been used to bring the likeness of late actor Richard Carter, who played the Bullet Farmer in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” to actor Lee Perry, who played the role in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” And, it was used during production of VFX nominated “Alien: Romulus” to help create the likeness of the late Ian Holmes, who appeared in 1979’s “Alien.”
DNEG Group founder and CEO Namit Malhotra told Variety that UK-headquartered Brahma works closely with all of its sister company, including VFX company DNEG. The Brahma banner will also include VFX tech developed at DNEG, whose work has been featured in such VFX Oscar-winning films as Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” “Interstellar” and “Tenet.” Malhotra clarified that productions do not have to be a DNEG VFX customer to use the Metaphysic tools and services.
According to Malhotra, the Metaphysic team will remain with the company, with its CEO Thomas Graham coming on board as Brahma’s president, with a plan to transition to the role of CEO.
Brahma’s executive management team is headed by executive chairman Prabhu Narasimhan with Malhotra currently serving as interim CEO.
“With Brahma, we are taking DNEG’s multiple Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation toolsets and marrying them with the incredible power of generative AI to create a suite of AI content products, including what we believe will be the industry’s leading photorealistic AI video creator,” said Brahma executive chairman Prabhu Narasimhan in a released statement.
Added Graham, “by bringing together the incredible teams at Brahma and Metaphysic, we can deliver an operating system for generative AI content that starts with securing your IP and ends with new revenue streams built on a suite of products that deliver Hollywood-quality content and experiences at unprecedented scale.”
