Warner Music Group acquires AI detection startup Sureel to track how artists' work trains models

Warner Music acquires AI attribution startup Sureel AI

Warner Music Music (WMG) announced on Wednesday that it's acquiring AI attribution startup Sureel AI. Sureel's patented technology creates "AI DNA" for songs and breaks them down into component parts to trace how AI models use those elements. Through the acquisition, WMG aims to better track when its artists' and songwriters' work is used in AI-generated content or for training AI models. "Bringing Sureel into WMG strengthens our capability for protection, control and monetization and ensures that the creative community remains in control of its intellectual property, name, image, likeness, and voice," said WMG chief executive Robert Kyncl in a press release. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2022, Sureel also offers intellectual property provenance, audit and compliance reporting, model optimization, and AI business intelligence. The startup also has a name, image, and likeness (NIL) attribution suite to track how artist voices, likenesses, and performance identities are used in AI training and generation. This includes voice clones, AI-generated avatars, and style replication. The startup will continue to operate as a standalone platform serving the broader music and AI ecosystem, WMG says. "Rightsholders deserve to know how AI interacts with their work, and to share fairly in the value it creates," Sureel founder and chief executive Tamay Aykut said in remarks. "Sureel was built to make that possible, and with WMG's backing, we can deliver on our mission at scale, building a more transparent and fair future and driving value growth for the whole music and entertainment ecosystem." WMG has embraced AI after initially opposing it, as the company originally sued music generation startup Suno in 2024 and later signed a licensing deal with the company last year. WMG said at the time that artists and songwriters would have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions are used in new AI-generated music. It's worth noting that Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group are still pursuing massive copyright infringement claims against the AI music startup. WMG last year also settled its lawsuit against AI music startup Udio and reached a licensing deal with the company.

Warner Music Group Acquires AI Detection Company Sureel

Warner Music Group has acquired the AI detection company Sureel, the companies announced on Wednesday. WMG and Sureel didn't disclose any financial details of the acquisition, though the companies confirmed Sureel will continue to operate as a standalone company. WMG is hoping the deal will help the music company and its artists and songwriters better track how their works are being used to train AI models, and when their works appear in AI tracks. In a press release, Sureel said that it creates "AI DNA" for every work" it's fed, "breaking it into component parts and tracing how AI models use those elements." "Bringing Sureel into WMG strengthens our capability for protection, control and monetization and ensures that the creative community remains in control of its intellectual property, name, image, likeness, and voice," WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. "We look forward to working with Tamay and his team to advance all of their incredible work." WMG has been particularly active in the AI space, as the company notably settled its lawsuits and carved out deals with AI music generation platforms Suno and Udio last year. WMG is currently the only major record label to have settled with Suno. The ability to trace how your copyrights are being used in AI training is becoming an increasingly crucial tool as AI continues to proliferate across the entertainment industry from music to film and TV. It's unclear at press time how effective Sureel actually is, as THR hasn't used the technology. But the company touts itself as a more sophisticated method than merely detecting if a work is present in training data, rather breaking down on a more granular level how the works are being used. "Rightsholders deserve to know how AI interacts with their work, and to share fairly in the value it creates," Dr. Tamay Aykut, Sureel's founder and CEO said in a statement. "Sureel was built to make that possible, and with WMG's backing, we can deliver on our mission at scale, building a more transparent and fair future and driving value growth for the whole music and entertainment ecosystem."