Elton John has slammed Britain’s Labour government for its approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright law.
Elton John described the government as “absolute losers” and said he feels “incredibly betrayed” over plans to exempt major tech firms pursuing AI from aspects of copyright law.
Speaking on the BBC show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he told the host that ministers’ plans to allow AI firms to use artists’ content without paying would be “committing theft, thievery on a high scale”
Elton’s intervention comes as the House of Lords aimed to force AI companies to disclose what material they were using to develop their programmes. Their proposals were rejected by the House of Commons.
A government spokesperson told the BBC that “no changes” to copyright laws would be “considered unless we are completely satisfied they work for creators”.
The U.K. government’s proposals to allow tech firms to use copyrighted material as training data have come under fire from numerous figures in the music industry, including Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, and Dua Lipa.
Criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s team, Elton said they would “rob young people of their legacy and their income”, adding that he thought they were “just being absolute losers, and I’m very angry about it”.
He also described Technology Secretary Peter Kyle as “a bit of a moron”.
The U.K. government has said it is “committed to publishing a report and economic impact assessment – exploring the broad range of issues and options on all sides of the debate”.
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