Negotiations Between Google and Universal Music for Artificial Intelligence ‘Deepfakes’ Agreement: Report
Alphabet’s Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists’ voices and melodies to songs produced by artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing four people familiar with the matter.
The music industry is grappling with “deepfakes,” songs made with generative artificial intelligence that mimic artists’ voices, often without their consent.
The goal behind the talks is to develop a tool for fans to create songs legally and pay copyright owners for them, the report said, with artists having a choice in the process.
Talks between Google and Universal Music are in the early stages and a product launch is not imminent, while Warner Music is also in talks with Google about the product, the report added.
The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In related news, Google recently asked the US Court of Appeals for New York on Tuesday to stay a decision to return an antitrust lawsuit filed by the state of Texas back to federal court in Texas.
In June, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the state’s request to send the lawsuit back to federal court in Texas. The lawsuit alleges that Google, a unit of Alphabet, abused its dominant position in ad tech.
The panel stayed the decision to give Google time to appeal its decision to the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
After the lawsuit was filed in 2020, Google successfully sought to have it moved from Texas to a New York federal court where other ad tech cases were heard.
