Spotify Goes AI. People Will Be Furious. Plus, OpenAI Cracks An 80-Year Math Problem. (28 min)

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• Release date: 2026-05-22
• Listen on Spotify: Open episode
• Episode description:

  Thanks to HP & Intel for sponsoring us! More on the Zbook Fury https://bit.ly/4uapNHs Spotify just made AI music official. They cut a deal with Universal Music Group for AI-enhanced and remixed tracks and we all know where this goes. This week on AI For Humans, Spotify officially crossed the line. They announced a sweeping deal with record labels, distributors, and music publishers to bring AI music tools to the platform, complete with fan-remix features that use real artist voices and tracks. They also rolled out AI-generated personal podcasts and launched Studio by Spotify, a standalone AI creation app. Gavin and Kevin break down why this changes everything for music, who actually signs up, and why the fan backlash is just beginning.  Meanwhile, a Higgsfield AI feature film just premiered at Cannes for $500,000 total cost, but $400,000 of that was pure AI compute, raising big questions about what the new economics of filmmaking actually look like.  Plus, an unreleased OpenAI general LLM model disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry that had stood for 80 years, the best new Google Omni prompts and practices and a humanoid robot fail that traveled the entire internet IS IT TIME TO PANIC? NO, SAYS THESE TWO MORONS. // Show Links // Spotify's Official Announcement: Artist-First AI Music Collaboration  https://newsroom.spotify.com/2025-10-16/artist-first-ai-music-spotify-collaboration/ Billboard Coverage Of The Spotify AI Music Deal https://x.com/billboard/status/2057479053649600917?s=20 Spotify's AI-Generated Personal Podcasts (Hollywood Reporter)  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/spotify-ai-generated-personal-podcasts-1236603314/ Higgsfield Cannes Film: $500K To Make, $400K Was AI Compute  https://www.wsj.com/cio-journal/this-cannes-film-cost-500-000-to-make-400-000-was-ai-compute-costs-a823b08d?mod=e2tw The Impact Of AI In Four Charts https://x.com/marcportermagee/status/2057000000000000000?s=20 Google Omni Horseback Riding Prompt https://x.com/AIWarper/status/2057489859615605244?s=20 FoFR Animals With Google Omni https://x.com/fofrAI/status/2057281646270026097 FoFR Rooster Dog https://x.com/fofrAI/status/2057290425170616754?s=20 Clean Up The Alley Prompt https://x.com/nmatares/status/2057143283357569280?s=20 Ogre Walks On Stage https://x.com/maxescu/status/2057169603001004400?s=20 US Gov Poster Situation https://x.com/usedgov/status/2056839488152670378?s=20 OpenAI Model Disproves Central Conjecture In Discrete Geometry  https://openai.com/index/model-disproves-discrete-geometry-conjecture/ Noam Brown's Post About The OpenAI Breakthrough https://x.com/polynoamial/status/2057178198228586824?s=20 The Humanoid Robot Fail That Traveled The Internet https://x.com/adamcurtisbroll/status/2057050384166764826?s=20 Ben Relles Launches Make Believe (Hollywood Reporter)  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/new-interactive-ai-startup-make-believe-ben-relles-1236602882/

Summary

• 🎵 Spotify’s AI remix deal: Spotify partners with UMG to allow fan-made remixes of artists’ songs, with opt-in participation and potential new revenue streams, though creator compensation remains unclear.
• 🎬 AI film at Cannes: Higgsfield’s AI-generated film ‘Hell Grind’ premieres at Cannes with a $500,000 budget, highlighting the growing feasibility of AI in filmmaking but raising questions about quality and monetization.
• 🧮 OpenAI solves math problem: A general-purpose OpenAI model disproves an 80-year-old conjecture in discrete geometry, signaling AI’s potential to advance fundamental science and solve complex problems.
• ⚖️ AI music copyright lawsuit: Indie band The American Dollar sues Suno, claiming AI-generated music wiped out 80% of their licensing revenue, highlighting the legal challenges of AI training data and output similarity.
• 📈 AI drives content explosion: AI leads to a surge in books, music, and scientific papers, but the hosts caution that ‘more’ doesn’t mean ‘better’, complicating content discovery and quality control.

Insights

• Will artists embrace AI remixes on Spotify despite potential backlash?
  • Time: 0:00 – 5:10
  • Answer: Spotify’s deal with UMG allows fan-made remixes of artists’ songs, but artists must opt in. The hosts debate whether living artists will participate, noting that while some may grandstand against it, history shows that artists eventually adopt new technologies like digital downloads and sampling. The key tension is between potential revenue and fan backlash.
• What are the ethical implications of using AI to generate content that mimics specific artists?
  • Time: 5:16 – 6:20
  • Answer: The hosts discuss the opt-in nature of Spotify’s remix feature and the potential for artists to be pressured by labels. They compare it to sampling culture in the ’90s, where legal and ethical battles eventually led to compensation models. The core issue is balancing artist control, fan creativity, and fair revenue sharing.
• How will AI-generated music impact licensing revenue for independent artists?
• Will consumers pay extra for AI-powered features like personalized podcasts on Spotify?
• How does the ‘more of everything’ trend from AI affect content quality and discovery?
• Can AI-generated feature films compete with traditional movies at festivals like Cannes?
• How does AI video editing compare to traditional methods for professional use?
• What does OpenAI’s solving of an 80-year-old math problem mean for AI’s potential in science?

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