Timbaland Launches AI Entertainment Company

Rapper and producer Timbaland has launched a new company focused on AI entertainment and introduced his first artist.

Co-founded with Rocky Mudaliar and Zayd Portillo, the venture — Stage Zero — uses AI platform Suno. The company inputs demos into the program, which then generates songs with new melodies and lyrics and creates vocals.

The first artist, known as TaTa, will be the pioneer of a genre Timbaland calls “A-pop.”

“I’m not just producing tracks anymore. I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch,” he said in a press release. “[TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”

Since announcing the move, Timbaland, who has been one of the rare producers to openly embrace AI even before launching Stage Zero, has faced criticism from other producers and labels. He’s responded on social media with AI-generated videos in which he suggests that only “mediocre” artists and producers should be threatened by AI, but then struck a more serious, less confrontational tone.

“I know I’m trolling but let’s have real conversation,” he said. “I love my independent artists. This doesn’t mean I’m not working with real artists anymore. And nah I don’t train ai off y’all music. This just means more creativity for creators.”