Greetings, Alexei Oreskovic, your tech editor, stepping in for Allie. As you convene for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, you might engage in discussions about the current AI bubble with your attendees. There's a substantial amount to contemplate, ranging from inflated valuations and significant investments to self-sustaining business strategies and highly attractive compensation packages.
TL;DR
- Warner Music Group settled copyright claims with AI music startup Suno, enabling AI music creation using Warner artists.
- This swift settlement, unlike past tech disputes, signals belief in the AI market's future growth.
- Major music labels like Warner and Universal are settling with AI music platforms, indicating a shift.
- The AI market's rapid progress and business attitudes are highlighted by these rapid settlements.
Let me highlight a fresh point for consideration that might have been overlooked: Warner Music Group’s legal settlement with AI music startup Suno. This agreement, revealed on Tuesday, concludes Warner's legal action concerning copyright against Suno and initiates a collaboration enabling users to produce AI-created music utilizing the voices, musical arrangements, identities, and appearances of any Warner Music performers who opt to join.
This is a big deal not just for Suno, which raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation earlier this month, and for its investors (including Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed, and Nvidia’s NVentures), but for AI in general. I’m not making a judgement here about whether the deal is good or bad for musicians or for the future of music as an art form; I’m simply recognizing how remarkable of a statement it is about the business world’s attitude towards artificial intelligence.
Reflecting on the prominent copyright dispute from the previous major technological transition, when Viacom initiated legal action against YouTube back in 2007 concerning individuals uploading video segments to the streaming platform. That particular lawsuit persisted for a duration of seven years before finally settling in 2014.
In the realm of AI, progress accelerates rapidly. Consequently, merely a year following Warner's lawsuit against Suno, the music company is now prepared to welcome the startup and artificial intelligence. Warner and Universal Music Group have also each settled with Udio, an alternative platform for AI-created music, in recent times. These recording companies operate within the intellectual property sector. Intellectual property constitutes their paramount asset, and they instinctively contend fiercely to prevent any encroachment upon it.
Their swift capitulation, rather than preparing for an extended conflict, indicates a belief that the AI market won't experience a downturn in the near future.
We’re off until Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!
Alexei Oreskovic
X:@lexnfx
Email:[email protected]
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Venture Deals
- Rangea wealth management platform powered by AI, with headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and New York City, has secured $60 million in Series C financing. Scale VenturePartners led the round and was joined by GradientVentures, CathayInnovation, and others.
- CoPlanea San Francisco-based firm specializing in AI software for optimizing back office functions secured $14 million in initial funding. Ribbit led the round and was joined by Stripe, OptumVentures, and Terrain.
- Mnzila workforce housing solutions firm located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, secured SAR 44 million (equivalent to $11.7 million). FoundersFund led the round and was joined by existing investor COTUInvestors.
- Onton, a San Francisco-based AI-powered ecommerce platform, raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Footwork led the round and was joined by Liquid2, ParableVentures, 43, and others.
- Juoa Warsaw, Poland-based company specializing in a developer-focused suite for physical product subscriptions has secured €4 million (equivalent to $4.6 million) in initial investment. MarketOneCapital and Peak led the round and were joined by SmokVentures, BADideas, and others.
- Monqa negotiation platform for sales teams, based in London, U.K., and powered by AI, has secured $3 million in pre-seed financial backing. OutwardVC led the round and was joined by CornerstoneVC, PortfolioVentures, OctopusVentures, and others.
- SportAI, a Oslo, Norway-based sports technology company, raised $3 million in funding from AltitudeCapital and others.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- CourizonPartners acquired AirBurnersa provider of air curtain burner systems based in Palm City, Florida, utilized for the disposal of wood and vegetable waste. The financial specifics were not revealed.
EXITS
- EMKCapital agreed to acquire ProjectInformatica, a Milan, Italy-based IT infrastructure and services provider, from H.I.G.Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- SPGlobal acquired WithIntelligencea London, U.K.-based firm specializing in private markets data, was acquired for $1.8 billion by a consortium of investors headed by Motive Partners.