🎵YouTube AI Record Label Deals

Hey TEDchats Fam!

Happy Friday! Imagine a world where your favorite artist releases a new hit every week, even while on vacation, thanks to AI. This is the direction YouTube seems to be heading. But will the music industry’s giants embrace this change?

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🚨FEATURE STORY

YouTube’s Bold AI Music Initiative: Striking Deals with Record Labels

Can YouTube revolutionize the music industry with AI? As the platform seeks to clone musicians, it’s betting on major deals with top record labels to make it happen.

Introducing Dream Track

Last year, YouTube introduced Dream Track, a generative AI feature capable of creating music in the style of artists like Charlie Puth, John Legend, and Sia. Although initially supported by only ten artists, this experiment laid the groundwork for something far more ambitious (read more about Dream Track here).

Major Labels Push Back

The main hurdle? Convincing major record labels and artists to participate. Companies like Sony Music and Universal Music Group (UMG) have expressed strong opposition to the unauthorized use of their content, with Sony issuing warnings and UMG temporarily pulling its catalog from TikTok over similar issues. Not to mention, major labels like Universal, Sony, and Warner have sued AI music companies Suno and Udio for copyright breaches, alleging unauthorized use of artists' works and seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringement (see the lawsuits here and here).

Despite these challenges, YouTube is undeterred. The platform is reportedly offering substantial lump-sum payments to labels such as UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records to license their songs for AI training in other “experiments”. This one-time payment strategy marks a shift from the traditional royalty-based models in the music industry.

YouTube's Vision for AI and Artist Collaboration

As discussions progress, YouTube remains hopeful that its offer will attract dozens of artists, enabling the launch of new AI tools later this year. This initiative reflects a “consent-first” philosophy, aiming to navigate the complex landscape of copyright and artist rights.

If successful, YouTube’s AI music tools could reshape how music is created and consumed, setting new precedents for AI’s role in the industry. As other AI music companies face legal challenges, YouTube’s strategy might offer a blueprint for balancing innovation with respect for artistic rights.

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🍕 QUICK BITES

Google is Rolling Out 110 New Languages to Google Translate

Google Translate is set to nearly double its language support, adding 110 new languages, thanks to advancements with Google's PaLM 2 AI language model. This expansion includes long-requested languages like Cantonese, which poses unique challenges due to its overlap with Mandarin in writing. Additionally, about a quarter of the new languages come from Africa, reflecting Google's commitment to inclusivity. With this update, Google Translate will support over 200 languages, catering to millions more users worldwide (see Google’s announcement).

ChatGPT's “Advanced Voice Mode”, Capable of Understanding and Responding to Emotions, is Delayed

OpenAI’s highly anticipated “advanced voice mode” for ChatGPT, initially expected to roll out in late June, has been postponed to July due to ongoing improvements and scaling preparations. The company is focused on regulating content and refining the user experience to ensure seamless, real-time interactions. Although the Voice Mode launch for ChatGPT Plus customers might be delayed until the fall, OpenAI still plans to roll out new video and screen-sharing capabilities. These new features will enable ChatGPT to solve math problems from images and explain device settings, enhancing functionality across both mobile and desktop platforms (see OpenAI’s announcement).

Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman Expresses Admiration for OpenAI’s Sam Altman

In a recent interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, expressed his admiration for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Suleyman highlighted his trust in Altman's sincere commitment to AI safety and his belief in genuine regulation. Despite the intense competition between their companies, Suleyman underscored the importance of their partnership and the constructive dialogue on AI's future. He noted that taking the time to regulate and ensure the safe development of AI technologies is crucial, even if it means slowing down progress temporarily (watch the full interview here).

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🤯 MIND SPARK

Is AI the Future of Personalized Medicine? SoftBank Group Corp. has launched a joint venture with Chicago-based Tempus AI to bring AI-powered personalized medical services to Japan, starting with oncology. This collaboration aims to revolutionize cancer research using data analysis and AI insights, with a goal to offer tailored treatment plans for patients (see Softbank’s announcement). Tempus, connected to around 50% of U.S. oncologists, also recently received U.S. FDA clearance for its AI-based ECG-AF device, which identifies patients at risk of atrial fibrillation/flutter (see Tempus AI’s announcement).

Toys 'R' Us Resurrected with AI Magic: The beloved toy store brand, Toys 'R' Us, has made an unexpected comeback with an AI-generated video using OpenAI's new tool, Sora. Despite past decline, this effort suggests a revival, fueled by the media frenzy over the video's flaws. Embracing the "no such thing as bad publicity" mantra, Toys 'R' Us plans new stores and innovative digital content (watch the video here).

OpenAI Unveils CriticGPT — GPT-4's Sidekick: Say hello to CriticGPT, OpenAI’s latest innovation designed to hunt down bugs in GPT-4’s code. This bug-busting sidekick is joining the RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) alignment pipeline, helping humans keep a closer eye on AI (see OpenAI’s announcement).

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