😺 Record labels strike back

PLUS: See how many AI images you can guess correctly!

Welcome, humans.

The NYT has a new quiz similar to “Thursday Trivia” that has you guess whether an image is AI-generated or real. After 18 months of eyeballing AI images, I managed only a 7/10—the guy covered in tattoos totally threw us off (both literally and figuratively).

Take the quiz and report back on your score!

What did you score out of 10?

Here’s what you need to know about AI today:

Three major record labels filed lawsuits against Suno and Udio over copyright.
44.3% of Neuron readers think Sora is the best AI video tool.
Apple might be teaming up with an unexpected partner: Meta.
OpenAI has snapped up another AI startup named Multi.

The record labels have taken Suno and Udio to court for nicking their tunes.

They had fair warning…

3 months back, 200+ big-name musicians wrote an open letter to AI companies urging them not to swipe their songs and voices for AI training. 2 months ago, Sony put 700+ companies on notice: don’t use our music without permission…or else…

Or else they’ll sue, apparently.

Yesterday, Universal, Sony, and Warner filed a lawsuit against Suno and Udio, accusing them of infringing on copyrighted songs with their AI music generators.

Here’s their side of the story:

Suno and Udio trained their AI using decades of our music, which isn’t fair use.
The music the AI creates, in many cases, very closely resembles our copyrighted songs and voices.
We know this cause we repeatedly replicated versions of incredibly famous songs that we hold the copyright to…AND Suno/Udio won’t disclose their training data.
This threatens the value of the original recordings—Suno boasts over 10M users and is valued at $500M!
So we’re seeking up to $150,000 in damages per infringed work. Time to pay up.

In the detailed 34-page complaint against Suno, examples of when Sono outputs eerily resembled famous songs include Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," Michael Bublé's "Sway," and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

You know who’s not feeling so good right now? Suno and Udio (probably).

The record companies make a strong case. And you can hear it for yourself. Ed Newton-Rex managed to coax Suno into mimicking the style of many famous artists, including:

Eminem (it literally says, “This is Eminem on the mic”.
Ed Sheeran.
ABBA.
Oasis.
Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody.

On the flip side: Suno’s CEO Mikey Shulman clapped back, stating, “Our technology…is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content.”

The suit is pushing for a jury trial, so it could be a dozen (hopefully not) angry men and women who get to decide just how “completely new” these outputs really are.

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Around the Horn.

OpenAI acquired Multi, an AI startup that was building a multiplayer operating system.
Google is bringing Gemini to students via their school accounts on Google.
This summer, Shopify will roll out several AI-powered tools, including a support chatbot tailored for store owners.
Apple is chatting with Meta about potentially integrating Meta’s AI tech into its devices.
AI power users are getting very frustrated that OpenAI hasn’t launched its anticipated new voice feature.

Treats To Try.

*No more vibe checks! Instantly and accurately detect hallucinations, prevent data leakage, and stop prompt attacks. Get started with Galileo Luna today.
Klarity AI uses AI to automate the review of invoices, contracts, and other business documents (raised $70M).
Dot is an “emotionally intelligent” AI companion that offers personalized guidance.
Mavenoid is a product support AI that provides guidance on choosing products, troubleshoots issues, and facilitates parts replacement (raised another $6M).

*This is sponsored content. Advertise in The Neuron here.

Tuesday Ticker.

Here are the results from last week’s poll:

L.M. chose Sora: “In terms of final output it appears to have the edge still. But it looks like Runway latest is very close. ”
R.C. chose Runway Gen-3: “Just from demos, of course. But it sure looks snappy.”
E.S. chose Someone Else: “Invideo.”