Deepfake Drake + HatGPT + Ben Smith on the End of the BuzzFeed Era

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode spans AI’s expanding reach across music, politics, and media. Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton discuss deepfake songs like “Heart on My Sleeve,” the legal and moral fight over voice cloning, and artists’ options for licensing synthetic versions of themselves. A lightning-round segment covers Snapchat’s MyAI backlash, Taylor Swift’s FTX diligence, a cyborg goldfish experiment, and an AI-generated Republican ad. The show closes with Ben Smith on the collapse of social-media-driven digital media and the need for newsrooms to adapt beyond platform dependency.

Main Topics: AI-generated music and deepfake Drake (Priority: 5/5): The hosts examine the viral AI song mimicking Drake and The Weeknd, its rapid spread and takedown, and the legal uncertainty around whether training models on artists’ voices violates copyright law. Artist control, licensing, and synthetic voices (Priority: 5/5): They contrast artists who oppose voice cloning with Grimes’s proposal to split royalties on AI-generated songs using her voice, and discuss how fan-created synthetic music could become a new model for fandom and monetization. Hat GPT lightning round (Priority: 4/5): A new rapid-fire segment covers multiple tech stories: Snapchat’s unpopular MyAI feature, Taylor Swift’s FTX skepticism, a brain-instrumented goldfish study, an AI-generated anti-Biden ad, and the UK blocking Microsoft’s Activision acquisition. The collapse of social-media-driven digital media (Priority: 5/5): Ben Smith argues that the BuzzFeed/Facebook era of traffic-fueled publishing is ending, with media now moving away from the old dependence on viral distribution platforms. Platform power and media business models (Priority: 5/5): The conversation revisits how Facebook and Twitter shaped news distribution, distorted publisher incentives, and then lost their grip, forcing outlets to rethink audience and revenue strategies. AI as a tool for journalism rather than replacement (Priority: 4/5): Smith describes Semaphore’s use of AI for video production and workflow support, while stressing that reporting, scoops, and high-end human journalism remain hard for AI to replicate.

Key Arguments: AI voice cloning is likely to trigger major copyright disputes, especially around whether training on copyrighted music constitutes infringement. Artists may have a viable business model in licensing their voices for fan-made or AI-generated work, if they can control terms and share revenue. For superstar musicians, AI-generated copies are less threatening than Napster-era piracy because touring and live performance remain major income sources. The new media era is shifting away from dependence on Facebook/Twitter traffic and toward direct audience relationships, email, subscriptions, and trusted reporting. Platforms and AI tools are changing journalism, but the most vulnerable work is commoditized rewrites, SEO filler, and content that mostly repackages existing information. AI-generated political content may be more dangerous when used to discredit real footage as fake than when used directly as propaganda. Major tech acquisitions face increasing antitrust skepticism, signaling that the biggest companies may be blocked from buying more assets even when they have regulatory patience.

Data Points: Song listens on Spotify: Hundreds of thousands - The AI-generated Drake/Weeknd track was uploaded and then quickly pulled after gaining traction. Universal Music Group labels involved: Drake and The Weeknd share the same label, Universal Music Group - The label’s response framed AI deepfakes as a threat to artists and compensation. Grimes royalty split offer: 50% royalties - Grimes offered to split earnings from successful AI-generated songs using her voice. BuzzFeed traffic scale: 7 billion content views a month - Ben Smith cites BuzzFeed’s scale at its peak as evidence of the era’s extraordinary reach. Microsoft-Activision deal value: $69 billion - The UK blocked Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. MyAI access limitation: Cannot be unpinned, blocked, or removed - Snapchat users objected to the pinned AI chatbot in their chat feed. Goldfish study method: Electrodes threaded through tiny holes in the skull - Researchers instrumented a goldfish to study navigation brain circuits.

Pivotal Quotes: "Which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on?" — Universal Music Group: The label’s dramatic statement after the AI Drake/Weeknd song gained attention. "I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice." — Grimes: Her tweet proposing an open licensing model for AI voice use. "The end of one era and the beginning of another in digital media." — Ben Smith: Smith’s framing of the transition away from the Facebook/Twitter-driven publishing boom.

Implications: The episode suggests AI will reshape creative industries, but the biggest near-term fights are over rights, control, and trust. Media businesses must pivot from platform dependence, while artists and publishers decide whether to resist, regulate, or monetize synthetic versions of themselves.