The platform now brings more than eight million users and 2.5 million digital designs under new management.

As AI-generated content continues to spread rapidly across the world, the livelihoods of countless human creators in the 3D printers community are being threatened.

To counter this, MyMiniFactory has stepped in, taking control of Thingiverse, the oldest and largest repository for 3D printing files.

From MakerBot to UltiMaker to MyMiniFactory

Thingiverse was originally launched in 2008 by MakerBot as an open platform for sharing printable files across different 3D printers, regardless of manufacturer.

Over time, control shifted through corporate acquisitions, eventually landing with UltiMaker before this latest transfer of ownership.

The scale of the archive alone explains why the deal matters within the 3D printing community, as Thingiverse has functioned as a vast public library of user-generated designs, ranging ...