Kehlani And SZA Slam A.I. Artist Xania Monet’s $3 Million Record Deal

Kehlani is pushing back against artificial intelligence taking over music after Xania Monet, a virtual artist, inked a $3,000,000 deal with Hallwood Media and already landed spots on the Billboard charts.

According to Billboard Pro, poet Telisha Jones is the creative force behind the A.I.-powered sensation. To bring Xania to life, Jones leaned on Suno technology, the same platform currently tied up in copyright battles with major record companies. When Jones took a Zoom meeting with record executives earlier this month, she landed on the 3 mil deal from former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson’s Hallwood Media.

@kehlani all yall in the comments saying God annointed her.. baby that is a computer!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 #AI ♬ original sound – Kehlani

And SZA is telling fans not to make AI-generated photos or songs using her voice: “I Hate AI”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)

“Please don’t make any AI images of me or songs. [People] and children are dying from the harm [and] pollution [that] AI energy centers are creating. A stupid photo is not worth polluting and harming underserved communities. Thank you.”

According to MIT research, artificial intelligence requires “a staggering amount of electricity,” which leads to “increased carbon dioxide emissions and pressures on the electric grid.” On top of that, “a great deal of water is needed to cool the hardware” for training the AI models themselves.

SZA’s post continued, “Please know every time [you] use or prompt AI, someone in a forgotten community is suffering. Eventually, the effects will reach everyone. By then, it’ll be too late.” In another Story, she shared an AI-generated meet-and-greet picture of a fan and herself: “Like, I love y’all, but I’ve seen dozens of these.”

The Grammy-winning singer later addressed AI artist Xania Monet’s reported multimillion-dollar record deal. “I don’t f**k with this either. Why devalue our music???” she asked. “Something tells me they wouldn’t do this [with] any other genre.” It’s worth mentioning that Monet resembles a Black woman in a space — R&B — that is historically shaped and dominated by Black women.