OpenAI is developing a new AI music generation tool that can create original compositions from text and audio prompts, marking the company's latest expansion beyond its flagship ChatGPT platform. The initiative, first reported by The Information on October 24, involves collaboration with students from the prestigious Juilliard School to annotate musical scores for training data.
The tool will allow users to generate instrumental accompaniments for vocal tracks or create background music for videos, with potential integration into OpenAI's existing platforms, including ChatGPT or its video generator Sora. Sources familiar with the project indicate the system could fulfill requests such as "add a guitar accompaniment to this melody" or "create fitting background music" for video content.
Market Competition Intensifies
OpenAI's entry into AI music generation puts it in direct competition with established players in a rapidly growing market.
Suno, currently the leading AI music startup, is generating approximately $150 million in annual recurring revenue and is reportedly in talks to raise over $100 million at a $2 billion valuation—four times higher than its previous funding round.
Google has also staked its claim in the space with
Lyria RealTime, available through its
Gemini API since May 2025, which allows real-time music mixing and genre blending. The broader AI music generation market was valued at $440 million in 2023 and is projected to reach $2.8 billion by 2030, according to industry reports.
Legal Challenges Cloud the Industry
The AI music sector faces mounting legal pressure as major record labels challenge existing platforms.
Universal Music Group,
Warner Music Group, and
Sony Music Entertainment have filed lawsuits against both Suno and
Udio, alleging the companies used copyrighted recordings without permission to train their AI models. The labels recently expanded their claims to include allegations of "stream-ripping" YouTube videos, circumventing anti-piracy protections.
Independent artists have also joined the legal battle, with Illinois-based musicians filing separate lawsuits claiming AI companies scraped lyrics from databases like
Genius and
AZLyrics without authorization. The International Confederation of Music Publishers has called it "the largest IP theft in human history".
Meanwhile, AI-generated music is flooding streaming platforms at an unprecedented scale. French service
Deezer reported that 28% of all daily track deliveries are now fully AI-generated—over 30,000 synthetic tracks daily—with up to 70% of streams from AI content being fraudulent.
