The past few years have seen an explosion in ‘generative’ AI products which use databases of creative work to generate writing, music, videos, and more. This has caused a stir, because the vast majority of tech giants behind these products have used people’s creative works without permission. If you stole a book or a CD, this would be recognised as theft, of course, but our system isn’t designed to recognise thievery when rich people do it. One person who’s fighting the good fight for artists to retain their copyright rights is Elton John.
And he’s speaking out in much firmer tones than before, because like everyone else in this country, he’s feeling betrayed by Keir Starmer’s government of faux-Labour Party shysters:
Elton John calls Peter Kyle a 'moron' and Labour a 'government of absolute losers' over their proposed AI bill
The bill would see Big Tech allowed to ignore copyright laws and train models with artists' music pic.twitter.com/h3mSBKRAZ6
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) May 18, 2025
Another anti-worker policy from Labour
The Labour Party was established to protect the rights of workers. While it wasn’t necessarily focussed on songwriters and novelists, those people are workers nonetheless. What big tech wants is the ability to use the fruits of others’ labour to churn out infinite content forever – slop content they’ll charge people to generate.
Not sure what’s worse between Trump posting this and Elon sharing it https://t.co/CJDHa5Q9UQ
— Insane Facebook AI slop (@FacebookAIslop) May 18, 2025
Earlier this week, the House of Lords added an amendment to the government’s currently-progressing data bill. Said amendment would have meant big tech companies had to disclose the copyrighted material being used in their models, and as the Guardian reported, it “passed by 272 votes to 125”. The Guardian also noted:
Ministers have used an arcane parliamentary procedure to block an amendment to the data bill that would require artificial intelligence companies to disclose their use of copyright-protected content.
The government stripped the transparency amendment, which was backed by peers in the bill’s reading in the House of Lords last week, out of the draft text by invoking financial privilege, meaning there is no budget available for new regulations, during a Commons debate on Wednesday afternoon.
Data protection minister Chris Bryant acknowledged that the rise of generative AI likely looks like an “apocalyptic moment” to the creative industries. Labour’s issue then? They apparently believe the amendment wouldn’t offer the ‘required solutions’, and yet they don’t seem to be offering any alternatives.
Once more, Labour seems to have no idea what it’s doing besides reflexively siding with wealthy, robbing tech giants.
Elton John: ‘losers’
Elton John made his feelings clear in an interview with the BBC‘s Laura Kuenssberg – although his ableist slur left a lot to be desired. As reported by the BBC:
Sir Elton warned the government was on course to “rob young people of their legacy and their income”, adding that he thought the government was “just being absolute losers, and I’m very angry about it”.
The singer said that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer needed to “wise up” and described Technology Secretary Peter Kyle as “a bit of a m*ron”.
He said if the government does not change its plans, he would be ready to take ministers to court, saying that “we’ll fight it all the way”.
Since getting into power, Starmer has been openly hostile to old people, the LGBTQ+ community, and creatives. Elton John is all three; he’s also incredibly rich, popular, and happy to take on the government.
It’s hard to see Labour winning the popularity contest in this instance given that Labour and Starmer have done nothing but lose popularity since they took power:
🚨 BREAKING | Keir Starmer's favourability rating collapses to an all-time low (-46)
✅ Favourable – 23% (-4)
❌ Unfavourable – 69% (+5)Via @YouGov, 14 May (+/- vs 29 Apr) pic.twitter.com/U1NXxLkRLt
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) May 16, 2025
Does Labour really want to strap itself to the mast of another sinking ship? Quite possibly.
At this point, there are only three logical explanations for Starmer’s actions:
- He’s the worst at politics a person has ever been.
- He’s a deep state plant with the intent to destroy the Labour Party as a political organisation.
- He’s basing all his moves on ChatGPT suggestions.
Elton John isn’t the only person speaking out either, as the BBC noted:
Speaking alongside the 78-year-old, playwright James Graham said ministers “do understand the value of creativity… but what’s frustrating is either the complacency or the willingness to let Silicon Valley tech bros get it all their own way”.
The chief executive of UK music, Tom Kiehl, told the BBC that the government is “on the brink” of offering up the country’s music industry “as a sacrificial lamb in its efforts to cosy up to American-based tech giants”.
He added that the prime minister “must not sell” the next generation of singers, songwriters, musicians, and music creators “down the river and allow all that talent to be crushed by letting soulless AI bots plunder their work”.
Ahead of the vote in the House of Lords, Sir Elton joined more than 400 British musicians, writers, and artists in signing a letter calling on the prime minister to update copyright laws in a way that protects them from artificial intelligence.
Beatles singer Sir Paul McCartney, who also signed the letter, previously told the BBC there was a risk AI would create a “Wild West” in which artists’ copyright was not properly protected.
Labour’s response is, as you might imagine, appalling, with a government spokesperson saying they want both creative industries and AI companies to “flourish”, adding:
That is why we have committed to publishing a report and economic impact assessment – exploring the broad range of issues and options on all sides of the debate.
It’s like saying they want to see banks and bank robbers flourish.
The economic impact assessment is also a joke. Labour is essentially saying they’re going to put a figure on how much money American tech companies can leech from the UK creative industry. And let’s be real, however much money they decide is okay today, it will be ten times as much ten years from now.
Public support for Elton John
Many have spoken out in support of Elton John and his crusade against the thieving American oligarchs:
Elton John going in to bat for creators. He is 100% right. AI must not be allowed to rip off creators. I hope the government grows a pair and stands up to the tech bros and the orange toddler!
— Lynne Featherstone (@lfeatherstone) May 18, 2025
Sir Elton thinks @peterkyle is a moron. Do hope the latter is listening. #bbcLauraK
— Elaine Bolton الين بلطن (@elaine_bolton) May 18, 2025
Elton John just told Kier Starmer to wise up regarding AI. You don’t want to piss Elton off Kier! #BBCLauraK pic.twitter.com/LtrKMOA71W
— Sohail Shah (@KingOfSunshine) May 18, 2025
Elton John calls Starmer an idiot and Peter Kyle a moron over their AI policy towards young artists 😃
Well done Sir Keir on managing to lose the support of even your 2024 Celebrity supporters and add them to your ever growing list of critics#bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/VMnH4EUkTJ
— Coolagorna (@trueclausefour) May 18, 2025
Broader implications
To be clear, we’re not saying all AI technology is bad (we also understand that many wildly different technologies are currently being described as ‘AI’). As an example, the potential for AI to drive medical breakthroughs is extraordinary, and that field will have astounding positives for the species as a whole. Moreover, AI as an accessibility aid for chronically ill and disabled people has endless possibilities.
Letting an AI owner like Elon Musk rip off the works of emerging writers, however, will only have astounding positives for Elon Musk.
Featured image via the Canary
