Tupac's heirs threaten to sue Drake for using the rapper's AI voice

Tupac Shakur's estate is set to sue Drake over his new diss track against Kendrick Lamar, which uses artificial intelligence to mimic the late rapper.

Here's What We Know

On Friday, Drake released a track called "Taylor Made Freestyle" that uses AI to generate verses imitating Tupac and Snoop Dogg. The attorney for Shakur's estate, Howard King, sent Drake a letter demanding that the recording be removed by Thursday afternoon.

If he refuses, the heirs threatened to "pursue all of its legal remedies". They call the use of Tupac's AI voice "blatant abuse" over his legacy and a violation of his right of publicity.

According to King, the track creates "false impression" of Tupac's approval of the lyrics. The legacy is seeking damages, including profits from the recording.

King specifically noted that Drake used Tupac's AI voice against Lamar, who is "friend to the Estate" and showed respect for the rapper.

The development of AI to generate music has been ethically controversial in the industry. Drake's label previously removed a track with an AI imitation of his voice after it went viral.

Go Deeper:

• Drake's controversial track "Push Ups" has ignited a debate on social media: is it his voice or an AI clone?

Source: NBC