Midjourney launches a full-body ultrasound scanner as a medical device, positioning it as a faster, safer alternative to MRI and calling it the first new whole-body imaging modality in 50 years.

What happened: Midjourney announced the Midjourney Scanner, a full-body ultrasonic imaging system using 358,000 ultrasonic elements arranged in a ring, capable of producing images with resolution down to about 0.5 mm. The company is also opening the Midjourney Spa, a 25,000 sq ft facility around Union Square in San Francisco with around 9–10 scanners, targeting an opening by end of 2027. The prototype has scanned about a dozen people so far, and current scans take around 20 minutes.

Why it matters: Midjourney is using revenue from its image-generation business to fund ambitious hardware R&D without investor constraints. The scanner aims to make frequent, affordable full-body imaging accessible—Holz suggested it could eventually be hundreds or thousands of times cheaper than MRI on a per-scan basis—potentially enabling preventive medicine and early disease detection at scale. The company projects a long-term goal of 1 billion scans per month across a fleet of 50,000 scanners.

What to watch: Midjourney says it is self-funded and has started FDA discussions, with the initial regulatory path likely focused on body composition. Gen 2 and Gen 3 scanners are planned by end of 2026 and later, respectively. Scaling to thousands of spas is estimated to require around $20B in upfront capex. The first spa is intended as a learning lab to test consumer demand, pricing models, and usage patterns before replicating the template globally.