Warner Music Group has acquired AI detection company Sureel, the companies announced Wednesday.
WMG and Sureel did not disclose financial details of the acquisition, but both companies confirmed that Sureel will continue to operate as an independent company. WMG hopes this deal will allow music companies and their artists and songwriters to better track how their work is used to train AI models and when their work appears in AI tracks.
Sureel said in a press release that it creates an “AI DNA” for every work it supplies, “dividing it into component parts and tracking how the AI model uses those elements.”
“Bringing Sureel to WMG strengthens our protection, management and monetization capabilities, ensuring the creative community remains in control of its intellectual property, name, image, likeness and voice,” WMG CEO Robert Kinkle said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Tamei and his team to advance their great work.”
WMG has been particularly active in the AI space, with the company specifically settling lawsuits and signing deals with AI music generation platforms Suno and Udio last year. WMG is currently the only major record label to settle with Suno.
As AI continues to permeate across the entertainment industry, from music to film to television, the ability to track how copyright is used in AI training is becoming an increasingly important tool. How effective Sureel actually is is unknown at the time of writing. THR I don’t use technology. But the company touts itself as a more sophisticated way to analyze how works are used at a more granular level, rather than simply detecting whether a work is present in training data.
“Rights owners have the right to know how AI affects their works and to have a fair share in the value AI creates,” Sureel founder and CEO Dr. Tamai Aykut said in a statement. “Sureel was built to make that possible. With WMG’s support, we can deliver on our mission at scale, build a more transparent and just future, and drive value growth across the music and entertainment ecosystem.”
