Part of the Department of Digital Humanities Seminar Series

Title:

Appropriated Intelligence: Making AI Training Fair

Speaker:

Ed Newton-Rex, composer and the founder of the AI non-profit Fairly Trained.

Date and time:
17.30 – 19.00, Wednesday 11 February 2026

Location:
Embankment Room, Macadam Building, Strand Campus

Abstract:
In this not-to-be-missed event, Ed Newton-Rex will draw on his extensive experience as a tech executive and campaigner for creators’ rights to discuss the spread and impact of unlicensed AI training, and what can be done about it. Ed Newton-Rex is the Founder & CEO of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for fairer training data practices. He previously founded Jukedeck, an AI music generation startup that was acquired by ByteDance. In 2025, he was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College, London, and a composer of choral music.

Speaker:
Ed Newton-Rex is a composer and the founder of the AI non-profit Fairly Trained.

In 2010 he founded Jukedeck, one of the first AI music generation startups, which was acquired by ByteDance. At ByteDance, Ed led the AI Music lab, then led Product for TikTok in Europe. He later led the Audio team at Stability AI, where his team’s product, Stable Audio, was named one of TIME Magazine’s best inventions of the year in 2023.

In 2024 he founded Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies for fairer training data practices. He organised the Statement on AI Training, an open letter rejecting unfair generative AI training practices signed by more than 50,000 people, and Is This What We Want?, a protest album co-written by 1,000 UK musicians. He was named in TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence in 2025.

Ed’s music is published by Boosey & Hawkes and Novello. He has composed music for various choirs, groups and festivals, including the King’s Singers, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and the BBC Radio 3 broadcast from the Edington Festival.