Merger with the leading AI VFX tool company used in Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Here’ to de-age stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, coupled with United Al Sager Group’s second investment in the DNEG Group, leaves Brahma with post-transaction value of US$1.43 billion.
DNEG Groups’ AI and content technology Brahma division has just announced its acquisition of Metaphysic, a leading developer of AI content creation technologies. The acquisition, handled as a merger, is designed to accelerate Brahma’s development of AI-powered products for enterprise, IP rights-holders, and content creators across industries to create high quality content at scale.
According to the company, the valuation of Brahma following the transaction is US$1.43 billion. Leading Abu Dhabi-based investor United Al Saqer Group (UASG) will invest a further US$25 million into Brahma on the heels of its US$200 million strategic investment in the DNEG Group in 2024. Metaphysic’s existing investors, including Liberty Global, S32, Rakuten Capital, TO Ventures and 8VC will become shareholders in Brahma.
Brahma now plans to develop foundational AI, data, and content workflow technologies as part of a comprehensive suite of AI-native products designed to create user-customized content across video, image, and audio. Post transaction, Brahma’s global team will include more than 800 engineers and creative technologists, bringing together the DNEG Group’s creative technology portfolio with Metaphysic’s AI technology, as well as the CLEAR purpose-built AI platform for rapid in-house AI development, and Ziva’s award-winning technology for the creation of digital human and character simulations.
This announcement comes on the heels of Ziva being recognized with a 2025 SciTech Award by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, as well as Metaphysic’s AI neural performance toolset being honored at the Visual Effects Society Awards with the Emerging Technology Award.
Brahma’s executive management team is led by Executive Chairman Prabhu Narasimhan; Founder and CEO of the DNEG Group Namit Malhotra, who continues as interim CEO of Brahma; and Metaphysic CEO Thomas Graham, who also serves as President of Brahma. Post transaction, Graham will become Brahma CEO.
Prime Focus Technologies CEO & Cofounder Ramki Sankaranarayanan will also become President of CLEAR; DNEG Group CTO Paul Salvini will also serve as CTO of Brahma; and Ziva Director of Character Tools and Workflows Crawford Doran will become Vice President of Ziva.
“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 Narasimhan. “I am excited to take Brahma from a niche user base focused on high-end movie and TV production to enterprise and content creators across every industry. If you have the imagination and a story to tell, we have the tools to bring your story to life faster, cheaper, and better.”
“Brahma offers every business a strategy for generative AI content creation, from owning their data to delivering amazing, user-customized AI content across video, image, and audio,” said 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.”
Source: DNEG Group
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
