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Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” has been out for only a few days, yet it’s already obvious that we’ll be talking about it for years to come — it’s breaking records across streaming platforms, and the artist herself calls it “the best music [she’s] ever made.” But in the middle of the press release for “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé made an unexpected statement against the growing presence of AI in music. Some of the best-known AI companies, like Open AI and Stability AI, use datasets that include copyrighted artworks without consent. Beyoncé’s stance makes even more sense in the context of “Cowboy Carter” itself. Though it does not explicitly discuss AI, “Cowboy Carter” already addresses the theft and appropriation of artworks without consent. Even the title “Cowboy Carter” nods to the appropriation of Black music for white people’s gain.