Google refuses to admit it’s feeding YouTube creators to its music AI
▼ Summary
– A group of independent musicians is suing Google, alleging it illegally used songs they uploaded to YouTube to train its Lyria 3 AI music model.
– Google has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the musicians’ claim is based on an unsupported hypothesis that their specific works were used.
– Google contends that the musicians granted a broad license to use their uploaded content when they agreed to YouTube’s terms of service.
If you’ve ever uploaded a song to YouTube, there’s a strong chance Google considers your work fair game for training its Lyria music AI. But the company won’t say so publicly, at least not right now.
A group of independent musicians has filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of illegally using songs they uploaded to YouTube to train its Lyria 3 model. The artists claim Google scraped their content without consent, effectively feeding their creative output into its AI without compensation or credit.
Google has responded with a motion to dismiss the case. In its filing, the company argues that the lawsuit rests on what it calls an “unsupported hypothesis” that Google trained Lyria on the plaintiffs’ specific works. “Even accepting their untested allegations as fact, the Complaint cannot stand,” Google writes. It adds that each artist granted YouTube and Google a broad license to use uploaded content when they agreed to the platform’s terms of service.
The dispute highlights a growing tension between creators and AI developers over data usage. While Google maintains it has the legal right to use uploaded material under existing licensing agreements, the musicians see it as an unauthorized exploitation of their intellectual property. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how AI training data is sourced from user-generated content platforms.
(Source: The Verge)
