Timbaland Announces Work With AI Artist, Sparking Criticism
Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Veteran producer and artist Timbaland is now working with artificial intelligence, announcing that he'll also be working with a new AI artist as part of a venture with an AI company. But the news has caused some backlash. Timbaland has launched Stage Zero, an AI-focused entertainment company, which he claims has signed the first-ever AI artist named TaTa.
'I'm not just producing tracks anymore. I'm producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch,' Timbaland said in an interview with Billboard. '[TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She's the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.' He and Stage Zero released an image of 'TaTa,' depicted as a young, pink-haired woman.
The venture is what the artist hopes will be a new genre of music called 'A-pop,' reflecting his work with Suno, a company that has reportedly used millions of copyrighted songs to train its AI engine. In an interview with Rolling Stone , he's reportedly created 50,000 songs from working with Suno, saying: 'The technology of today is perfect for what this is. What used to take me three months only takes me two days. In the beginning, it was like a toy. It was like going to a toy store. You gotta go through gluttony, because you can't believe that it's here.'
The Grammy-winning producer's stance has earned him some backlash from fans and others in the music industry, notably from producer Young Guru who blasted him on his Instagram page. 'I'm going to say it again,' Young Guru wrote. 'I swear I love you bro but this ain't it. Do you not realize what is going on in the world. Your voice is powerful and way too important to do anything like this. I have students who worship you. They are going to say 'if Tim can do it, then it is ok for me to do it.' These are the times, right here, that history is defined .. Human expression can never be reduced to this!!! This is way bigger than music!!! I say this all in love.'
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