Google won’t just admit it’s feeding YouTube creators to its music AI

Jun 11, 2026 12:20 AM - 2 hours ago 98

If you’ve uploaded a opus to YouTube, Google almost surely considers your video adjacent crippled for training its Lyria euphony AI, it conscionable won’t admit it correct now.

A group of independent musicians is suing Google, claiming that it illegally utilized songs they uploaded to YouTube to train its Lyria 3 model. Google has revenge a motion to dismiss the case, saying:

Their suit is based connected the unsupported presumption that Google trained connected their circumstantial works. Even accepting their untested allegations arsenic fact, the Complaint cannot stand. Plaintiffs each granted YouTube, and Google — which provides the service—a wide licence to usage the uploaded content. That license, coming successful YouTube’s Terms of Service, authorized the behaviour alleged successful the Complaint.

This is modular hedging for a ineligible filing: “you can’t beryllium we did it, and moreover if we did, we’re allowed to.” When asked straight if Google was utilizing YouTube videos to train its Lyria 3 AI euphony model, the institution declined to comment. But based connected past nationalist statements, it seems safe to presume the reply is yes.

In an question and reply from April 2024 pinch Bloomberg, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said that “some portion” of YouTube videos whitethorn beryllium utilized internally to train models for illustration Gemini. Later that year, a blog post astir creator devices confirmed arsenic much, saying “we usage contented uploaded to YouTube to amended the merchandise acquisition for creators and viewers crossed YouTube and Google, including done instrumentality learning and AI applications.”

The institution moreover confirmed to CNBC that it was utilizing YouTube uploads to train Gemini and Veo. What Google hasn’t done is specifically corroborate that it’s besides utilizing YouTube uploads to train Lyria.

However, successful its mobility to dismiss, Google says that by uploading contented straight to YouTube, the plaintiffs agreed to the position of service, which grants the institution the correct to “reproduce, distribute, [and] hole derivative works,” based connected the upload.

With each of that considered, it mightiness look overseas that Google won’t conscionable admit the obvious. But correct now, the institution has small to summation by going connected record. And pinch litigation pending, maintaining plausible deniability is simply a calculated move.

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