Research laboratory Midjourney has paused free trials of its image-generation software until a new version of the system can be deployed.
"Due to a combination of extraordinary demand and trial abuse we are temporarily disabling free trials until we have our next improvements to the system deployed," Midjourney founder David Holz said in a post this week on the company's Discord channel, as reported by The Washington Post.
The decision was initially believed to be caused by the popularity of deepfake images created with the tool in the last few weeks, including pictures showing former US President Donald Trump getting arrested, Elon Musk walking with congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Pope Francis wearing a puffer jacket.
Paid-for accounts are still able to use the service, the organisation has confirmed.