SZA calls ‘Suno’ and musicians using AI

SZA has launched a blistering attack on AI music generators and the artists who support them, specifically calling out Suno and claiming that producer Diplo has equity in the company and is trying to train it in the work of black musicians.

The Grammy-winning artist took to Instagram on Saturday to make her feelings known in no uncertain terms.

Writing on her private account, she argued that black artists are unfairly vulnerable to having their creative work exploited.

“We make up 13% of the US population, yet influence the world with our sound and perspective,” she wrote.

“I HAVEN’T HEARD A WHITE AI SONG YET…We have no protection in legislature, medical or creative. Easiest to steal from. DON’T GIVE YOUR VIBRANIUM!!! DON’T TRAIN YOUR GENIUS.”

On her main Instagram account, she went further and claimed that a search of her name showed that AI models have been trained on 238 of her songs.

Her message to any musician who supports the practice was clear.

“If you’re a musician and you support this degenerate shit? You disgusting and there’s NOTHING YOU CAN EVER SAY TO ME TO MAKE THIS OK. I hope you get the life you deserve.”

A Suno spokesperson declined to comment directly on SZA’s claims, instead pointing to a LinkedIn post by the company’s chief product officer Jack Brody, who stated that Suno’s training metadata does not include artists’ names, cannot duplicate material on which it was trained, and that the company is working to improve imitation detection.

Suno’s approach to platform integrity and music copyright protection

Last week we shared that we are now testing a new music model developed in collaboration with the music industry. We’re extremely excited about this, and it’s a great opportunity to share more about how we think about platform integrity and protecting the people behind the music. At Suno, preserving artistic and human creativity is just as important as product innovation itself. We know it’s easy to be skeptical – especially if you haven’t actually delved into our product. But most of those who build Suno are musicians. Empowering human creativity is why we emerge, not just a corporate positioning. We believe that companies that build AI have a responsibility to invest in security measures with the same level of ambition and rigor that they add to building products. From our earliest days, we worked to build protection directly into the foundation of our platform. That includes clear rules that prohibit users from uploading or distributing content they don’t own or have rights to use, meaningful enforcement when those rules are violated, and partnerships with industry standard providers like Audible Magic, Musixmatch, and ACRCloud to help us identify and prevent abuse. It has also influenced how we have approached the model development itself. One of the most common questions people ask about AI is whether models can reproduce material from their training data. Our answer is simple: No, it shouldn’t happen. Our philosophy has always been that artificial intelligence should help people create new music, not copy someone else’s. That’s why we built our models around what we call “Original Creation, By Design,” training strategies that aim to reduce the risk of generating unauthorized reproductions. For example, we don’t use artist names as a category of training metadata – meaning we’ve made a conscious choice not to teach the models artist names, because our goal is to help people create brand new songs, not music that sounds like existing artists. Alongside these efforts, we are actively developing additional approaches to audio fingerprinting, watermarking, and spamming and impersonating AI in the context of discussion and impersonation. labeling with our users and creatives at all levels, to understand how to best empower them while respecting privacy. labels, distributors and partners across the music industry, and these conversations will continue to shape the safeguards we make and the investments we make going forward

It is still unclear whether Diplo holds equity in Suno. A representative for him did not immediately respond to requests for comment, although he has spoken favorably of using the platform.

Diplo’s own stance on artificial intelligence in music is the opposite of SZA’s. In an interview in April, he stated that there was “no fighting AI” and that he no longer needed human voices for his tracks.

“The customer and the accessibility is what will always be triumphant,” he said.

“99% of people will love the best product, made fastest, made for the cheapest, that’s what the American economy is.”

In a follow-up post on X, he told artists to “adapt or just like give up and become an Uber driver.”

The row reflects a deeper fault line running through the music industry.

Producer Jack Antonoff recently called those making music with AI “godless wh**es” and “bad actors”, while Will.i.am and Timbaland have invested in AI companies.

SZA’s own label RCA Records is owned by Sony Music, which is currently in active litigation against both Suno and competitor Udio.

Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have settled their own lawsuits against the platforms, a move that has since prompted a further lawsuit against the record labels by the American Federation of Musicians.

Suno recently completed a $400 million investment round, with CEO Mikey Shulman saying contributors included prominent figures from across the music industry, though the company has declined to name them.