Government adviser said AI firms would never have to pay artists

A senior ministerial aide said AI companies would never have to compensate creatives for using their content to train their systems, in a statement that has alarmed campaigners demanding Labour deliver a fairer deal for musicians, artists and writers from the tech industry.

- Robert Booth Dan Milmo

Kirsty Innes, recently appointed as a special adviser to Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, said: “Whether or not you philosophically believe the big AI firms should compensate content creators, they in practice will never legally have to.”

The government is consulting on how creatives should be compensated by AI firms and only last week leading British artists including Mick Jagger, Kate Bush and Paul McCartney urged Keir Starmer to stand up for creators’ human rights and protect their work.