Paul McCartney Leads 400 Artists Urging Trump to Shield Creative Works from A.I.

An open letter signed by Paul McCartney and over 400 prominent artists urges President Donald Trump to protect creative works from exploitation by artificial intelligence companies.

The group addressed their concerns to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on March 18, 2025. The signatories include Paul Simon, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Bette Midler, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. They oppose requests from tech giants like Google and OpenAI to weaken copyright protections for AI training purposes.

“America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” states the letter. The artists emphasize that these industries support 2.3 million American jobs and generate over $229 billion in annual wages.

The appeal responds directly to Trump‘s January executive order aimed at removing “unnecessary government control” of AI and boosting “America’s global AI dominance.” Trump recently revoked Biden’s 2023 AI regulations that required safety testing disclosures from developers.

Tech companies argue they need access to copyrighted works for AI training to compete with Chinese rivals. OpenAI claimed that without fair use access to data, “the race for AI is effectively over” against models like China’s DeepSeek.

McCartney Joins Ongoing Copyright Battles Over AI

The artists’ intervention follows McCartney’s consistent advocacy on this issue. In January, he opposed similar changes to UK copyright law, warning that technology should not “rip creative people off.”

This dispute unfolds amid numerous copyright battles. Major record labels recently sued AI music generators Suno and Udio for alleged copyright infringement “on an almost unimaginable scale.” The lawsuits seek $150,000 per infringed work.

The US Copyright Office currently conducts its most comprehensive review in 50 years, focusing on AI’s impact. Their forthcoming reports will address the copyrightability of AI outputs and legal implications of training models on copyrighted works.

Artists remain concerned that without proper protections, AI will undermine creative industries and diminish American cultural influence globally. The White House continues to gather signatures and input as it develops its approach to AI regulation.