YouTube Starts Music AI Incubator with Universal Music as Partner

YouTube unveils their new paid subscription service at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015. (Reuters)
YouTube unveils their new paid subscription service at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015. (Reuters)
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YouTube Starts Music AI Incubator with Universal Music as Partner

YouTube unveils their new paid subscription service at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015. (Reuters)
YouTube unveils their new paid subscription service at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015. (Reuters)

YouTube is launching an incubator to work with artistes and musicians to explore the use of artificial intelligence in music, according to its blogpost on Monday.

The Alphabet unit has signed up Universal Music as its first partner for the Incubator, and will work with artistes including Anitta, ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, and Max Ricther.

"The incubator will help inform YouTube's approach as we work with some of music's most innovative artists, songwriters, and producers across the industry," YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said in the blog.

The group "will help gather insights on generative AI experiments and research that are being developed at YouTube," said Mohan, adding that YouTube would bring on board more partners.

Generative AI is artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, sounds and other data.

With the launch of ChatGPT late last year, the technology has been adopted in a range of industries and use-cases even as lawmakers deliberate rules that prevent its misuse including copyright infringement and spam.

YouTube said it will further invest in AI-powered technology, including evolving its copyright management tool, Content ID, to protect viewers and creators.



DeepSeek Faces Expulsion from App Stores in Germany

FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
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DeepSeek Faces Expulsion from App Stores in Germany

FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - The smartphone apps DeepSeek page is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Germany has taken steps towards blocking Chinese AI startup DeepSeek from the Apple and Google app stores due to concerns about data protection, according to a data protection authority commissioner in a statement on Friday.

DeepSeek has been reported to the two US tech giants as illegal content, said commissioner Meike Kamp, and the companies must now review the concerns and decide whether to block the app in Germany, Reuters reported.

"DeepSeek has not been able to provide my agency with convincing evidence that German users' data is protected in China to a level equivalent to that in the European Union," she said.

"Chinese authorities have far-reaching access rights to personal data within the sphere of influence of Chinese companies," she added.

The move comes after Reuters exclusively reported this week that DeepSeek is aiding China's military and intelligence operations.

DeepSeek, which shook the technology world in January with claims that it had developed an AI model that rivaled those from US firms such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI at much lower cost, says it stores numerous personal data, such as requests to the AI or uploaded files, on computers in China.