1,000 Artists, News Publishers, & AI Workers Protest AI Laws As The Industry Continues To Grow

On February 27, 2025, OpenAI introduced yet another generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) model—GPT-4.5.

Although the model was released as a research preview and pretty much only came about because the company ran out of GPUs—as per OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—it represents OpenAI’s largest and best model for chat yet. As per the company, early testing showed that interactions with GPT-4.5 felt more natural.

Additionally, OpenAI’s primary backer Microsoft (which may soon change) announced it was bringing users free, unlimited access to Voice and Think Deeper (powered by OpenAI’s o1 model), allowing them to enjoy extended conversations using voice interactions and Think Deeper’s advanced reasoning.

Of course, these announcements came amidst others made by Microsoft and OpenAI, along with other AI companies such as Google, Anthropic, xAI, Perplexity, Apple, Alibaba, and more.

Suffice it to say, the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is buzzing with innovations for users.

However, not all users are happy with the wonderful and majestic benefits AI is set to bring.

Over 1,000 musicians have come together to release a joint music album criticizing proposed changes to AI-related copyright laws put forward by the British government. The new law would allow AI companies to use artists’ work to train their models without their permission—if they have lawful access to it.

Artists that don’t want their material used this way would need to opt-out.

The album is called “Is This What We Want?” and features artists such as Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox (from Eurythmics), and others. It consists of a track list of twelve audio recordings. We use “audio recordings” and not “songs” because they haven’t sung anything.

The tracks consist of recordings of empty studios and performance spaces, which are meant to represent the potential impact the new rules would have on artists and creativity. Moreover, the title of each track in the playlist consists of only one word, which when put together in order conveys a message that reads “The British Government Must Not Legalize Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies.”

While the artist responsible for the tracks is uncredited, more than 1,000 artists are listed as co-writers. At the time of writing, the playlist collected 17,583 monthly listeners for a total playtime of 47 minutes and 17 seconds.


This protest was joined by major newspaper publishers across the U.K., in a movement called “MAKE IT FAIR”, in which the “AI” from “FAIR” stood distinguished, to bring attention to the proposed law changes. The logo was supported by a tagline that read “The government is siding with big tech over British creativity.”

The initiative highlights that the creative works of British artists, authors, journalists, illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, scriptwriters, singers, and songwriters are being used by Big Tech to train their AI tools. However, the creators behind such material aren’t getting paid for their work or required to provide permission for its use, which makes it feel like AI companies are stealing their work.

“Tech giants should not profit from stolen content, or use it for free,” reads the website. “The government must stand with the creative industries that make Britain great and enforce our copyright laws to allow creatives to assert their rights in the age of AI.”

“We’re calling on the government to ensure creatives are rewarded properly so as to ensure a sustainable future for AI and the creative industries.”


Other than these new developments, the previous battles continue.

A deepfake video of Scarlett Johansson, David Schwimmer, Jerry Seinfeld, and other Jewish celebrities wearing a white T-shirt imprinted with the Star of David on a hand showing the middle finger above the word “Kanye” (referencing Kanye West). As per reports, this follows “a tirade of antisemitic posts” by the rapper.

Ahead of this, five Microsoft employees were removed from a meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for protesting contracts to provide artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to the Israeli military. This too included an imprinted T-shirt that read “Does Our Code Kill Kids, Satya?” which was unfurled by employees standing close to Nadella.

Add to this the looming fears that the rise of AI agents could make the internet go dark. This would come about as users wouldn’t need to visit websites to read published content as it will be read to them by AI agents.

All of this comes with news of potential cuts being made to the U.S. AI Safety Institute (AISI), which is leading experts to believe that the development of responsible AI could be at risk. The move comes as President Trump looks to downsize the federal government and could impact around 500 AISI workers.

Do you think artistic industries should be protected from AI training or are all industries fair game?

Let us know in the comments below!