A fake AI-generated Travis Scott album was taken off YouTube as the fight against AI music continues
- AI Hub is a Discord server housing over 36,000 members making AI music.
- Members from the group created "UTOP-AI," an AI album featuring the voices of Travis Scott and other artists.
"I ain't talking Uber, come take a trip into my mind," croons Travis Scott on a song called "Winter Snow."
The thing is, the track isn't by Travis Scott at all. It's not an official recording from the artist. The song — and the album it comes from — are generated entirely with AI.
A 16-song "Travis Scott" album dubbed "UTOP-AI," featuring vocals from other big name artists like Drake, Baby Keem, and Playboi Carti, was uploaded to YouTube and SoundCloud over the weekend, Vice reported.
Warner Music Group flagged the album for copyright infringement, and it was removed hours after being uploaded, but not before it was able to garner about 17,000 plays on YouTube and about 150,000 plays on SoundCloud, per Vice.
"The project at first was a joke between me and another admin of the server named Rec," Qo — a moderator of AI Hub, a Discord server dedicated to AI music producers — told Insider over email. The album included visuals and took about a week to make, he said.
Warner Music Group and representatives for Travis Scott did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
The Discord server AI Hub has over 36,000 members and includes a number of channels that provide tools for users to implement voice models based on existing artists like Don Toliver, Frank Ocean, or Alicia Keys.
Some of the results are uploaded to the group's YouTube channel, like a clip of Kanye West covering Wu-Tang Clan and The Weeknd covering Tame Impala.
Over the past month, AI generated music has raised concerns over copyright infringement and royalties.
"There are all sorts of grounds for infringement proceedings there," veteran music and copyright lawyer Alexander Ross previously told Insider.
The alarm bells sounding off in response to AI music have already been rung by the power players in the industry.
Major labels are understandably protective of the copyrighted material they own, and they are imposing pressure on streaming services like Spotify to monitor what is getting uploaded to their platforms.
Most of the AI-generated tracks that have gone viral are singles or popular songs reimagined through the prism of another artist — like a cover of Beyoncé's song "Cuff It" in the likeness of Rihanna.
Responses by artists have been mixed, with Grimes openly embracing the potential of creators using her vocals and Drake notably annoyed by the same scenario.