AI Music Generator Suno Secures $125 Million Funding Round
Suno, a ChatGPT-like model for music generation, can make AI-generated music with both music and vocals
An Artificial Intelligence music maker capable of quickly creating songs with AI-generated music and vocals just raised $125 million, the latest sign of the fast-developing AI arms race in the music business.
Suno is like a ChatGPT for music; users input phrases and keywords for a song they’d like to make, and Suno spits back out an artificially generated track. The program can generate both music and vocals, a feature only a few other AI generators like Google and fellow startup Udio had developed.
“We started Suno to build a future where anyone can make music,” Suno co-founder and CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement. “To help people rediscover the joy of play and exploration we had as kids. Technology is a means to that end, and today’s state-of-the-art creates the potential for a flourishing of new sounds, new styles, and new artists in a way we’ve always dreamt about.”
Per Suno’s announcement, some of the investors as part of the funding round include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, Matrix and Founder Collective. Suno also has several advisors including the musicians 3lau and Flosstradamus, the company said. Shulman said the company would use the funding “to accelerate product development and grow our team of music makers, music lovers and technologists.”
The investment comes at a time of unprecedented development — and concern from stakeholders — for AI in the music business. Record labels and industry advocates have called for increased regulation to ensure AI models don’t use artists’ recordings and likenesses without consent. In a recent Rolling Stone profile on the company, Suno declined to give specifics on what content the company is using to train its model.
Last month, over 200 artists including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj and Pearl Jam signed an open letter calling upon AI companies to stop using their music without permission to train their tech. But while there’s healthy skepticism about the tech, artists are testing it out as well. FKA Twigs said earlier this month that she is preparing to launch an AI deepfake of herself to interact with fans online. Meanwhile country legend Randy Travis recently used an AI voice clone to release his first song since suffering a near-fatal stroke that took his speaking ability in 2013.
