Since it arrived four years ago with the technology to generate fresh songs from a few words of text, the A. I. music company Suno has been both an innovator and a deeply divisive force in the music industry. To Suno, its simple interface is a tool and a toy to inspire creativity in novices and professionals alike.

More than 100 million people have created songs with the service, Suno says, and two million pay for an upgraded plan that includes commercial rights to the music they make with it."People feel really good when they’re creative," Suno’s chief executive, Mikey Shulman, said in an interview. "The company exists to let people feel those warm and fuzzy feelings of being creative."But to the major record companies that are pursuing it in litigation, Suno is little more than a pirate, Suno wants to reset the industry debate and reposition itself as a fully fledged partner to labels and artists. The latest iteration of Suno’s service, released on Wednesday, is based on an A. I. model that was trained on songs licensed from the Warner Music Group, the home of Madonna, Led Zeppelin and Lizzo, after the music giant exited a lawsuit filed with other major labels and struck a deal that Warner executives say will open up new revenue streams for its artists."By being early, you have a seat at the table," said Robert Kyncl, Warner Music’s chief, "instead of just sitting and watching what’s happening and pursuing lawsuits."In some ways, the fight over A.

I. is just the latest chapter in the music industry’s long history of conflict and adaptation with technological disrupters, stretching from Napster to You Tube to Tik Tok. The difference now may be that the big labels operate in an almost entirely tech-enabled business, and music executives say they are eager to strike A. I. deals — as long as they respect the labels’ intellectual property rights."The relationship that the major labels have with technology is vastly improved from 20, 25 years ago," said Drew Thurlow, a former music executive and the author of a recent book, "Machine Music: How A.

I. Is Transforming Music’s Next Act." "They are basically media companies that operate like tech companies."To most users, the latest version of Suno’s interface is little changed from previous ones. It can still, in a matter of seconds, transform a prompt — even one as simple as "I’m late for work, make it a country song" — into a surprisingly plausible finished track.

For Suno, the value of the new model is partly symbolic, a sign of how the company can create things "that could not have existed before, without a really big music company and a really progressive A. I. music company coming together," Shulman said. That may be an edge in a crowded field that also includes A.

I. generators like Udio, Eleven Labs and Lyria, Google’s model. But with Suno still facing a barrage of lawsuits, and occasionally stumbling in public, much of the music business may be skeptical. Just last week, four musicians, including the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, sued the company, saying it imitates their voices and styles without permission. (Suno said the claims were "without merit.") And Suno withdrew an ad it had shot with Mary J.

Blige in which the R&B star called the service "dope," drawing an onslaught of criticism online. A Suno representative said the company learned it had negotiated a deal with someone who was not authorized to sign on Blige’s behalf. Meanwhile, the biggest legal case against Suno shows no signs of slowing down.

In 2024, the three major labels — Sony, Universal and Warner — sued Suno for copyright infringement, accusing the company of pulling millions of copyrighted songs from You Tube and other sources without permission to tr...