Jorja Smith’s label condemns AI “clone” vocals on viral track I Run: “This isn’t just about Jorja. It’s bigger than one artist or one song”Jorja Smith’s record label, FAMM, has taken aim at the British dance act Haven over their viral track I Run, alleging that the song was created using an AI “clone” of Smith’s voice. The label also calls the case a troubling snapshot of how quickly artificial intelligence is reshaping the industry — and how slowly regulation is keeping up.
I Run went viral on TikTok in October, boosted in part by its smooth, soulful female vocals. While the original singer was never credited, listeners have drawn comparisons to the BRIT Award winner – and as chart success in both the UK and US loomed, the song was pulled from streaming services following complaints of impersonation and copyright violation.

READ MORE: “Music producers are rejecting AI”: Study reveals over 80% of producers are against AI-generated songs

FAMM now says it is seeking compensation for the song, arguing that I Run was created using an AI model trained on Smith’s discography, and that this training unfairly exploited the work of Smith and her co-writers.
Although Haven later re-released the track with new vocals, the label maintains that “both versions of the track infringe on Jorja’s rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates.”
“This isn’t just about Jorja. It’s bigger than one artist or one song,” FAMM writes in a statement. “We cannot allow this to become the new normal”.
The label argues the case underscores a broader industry crisis, warning that AI is advancing “at an alarming rate and substantially outpacing regulation”.
“If we are successful in establishing that AI helped to write the lyrics and melody in I Run and are awarded a share of the song, we would seek to allocate each of Jorja’s co-writers with a pro-rata share,” says FAMM. “This allocation would be based on the [percentage] of Jorja’s catalogue that they have contributed to, as, ultimately, if AI helped to write I Run, it would have been trained on Jorja’s catalogue of songs.”
According to Billboard, the track’s producers Harrison Walker and Waypoint (real name Jacob Donaghue) have acknowledged using AI in the song’s creation. Walker insists the original vocals were his own but heavily transformed using Suno, an AI music generation platform often described as ‘ChatGPT for music’. Donaghue similarly confirms that AI was used to “give our original vocal a female tone”.
“As a songwriter and producer I enjoy using new tools, techniques and staying on the cutting edge of what’s happening,” says Walker. “To set the record straight, the artists behind Haven. are real and human, and all we want to do is make great music for other humans.”
For FAMM though, the issue goes far beyond one viral track. Without transparency requirements – such as clear labels on AI-generated or AI-altered material so the public may choose whether or not to consume them – the label argues that artists risk becoming “collateral damage in the race by governments and corporations towards AI dominance.”
Its concerns echo a wave of growing alarm across the music community. Early this year, over a thousand artists – including Kate Bush, Hans Zimmer, Paul McCartney and Imogen Heap – released a silent album in protest against the UK government’s proposed AI copyright exemptions.
Elsewhere, controversies such as the Velvet Sundown saga – in which an AI-generated track was falsely marketed as the work of an emerging artist, complete with a fabricated persona and backstory – have fuelled broader fears that AI tools can easily blur, distort or outright replace an artist’s creative identity.
The post Jorja Smith’s label condemns AI “clone” vocals on viral track I Run: “This isn’t just about Jorja. It’s bigger than one artist or one song” appeared first on MusicTech.