Timbaland Launches AI Entertainment Company With Virtual Star TaTa

Grammy-winning producer Timbaland has unveiled Stage Zero, his groundbreaking AI entertainment venture that promises to reshape how we think about musical artists. The company’s debut signee isn’t your typical recording artist—it’s TaTa, an AI-powered pop performer created using Suno AI technology, according to Billboard.

Timbaland co-founded Stage Zero alongside Rocky Mudaliar and Zayd Portillo, positioning the company as a pioneer in what he calls “A-Pop”—an entirely new musical genre built around artificial intelligence. The legendary producer will handle the majority of production work for this innovative project, bringing his decades of experience to the cutting edge of music technology.

“I’m not just producing tracks anymore,” Timbaland explained in his announcement, as reported by the outlet. “I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. [TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”

Technology Transforms Creative Process

Timbaland’s embrace of AI signals a dramatic shift in his creative workflow. It allows him to accomplish in days what previously required months of studio time. The producer has consistently championed AI’s potential in music creation. He says he views it as a powerful tool rather than a threat to human creativity.

“The technology of today is perfect for what this is,” Timbaland shared with Billboard in an April interview. “What used to take me three months only takes me two days. In the beginning, it was like a toy. It was like going to a toy store. You gotta go through gluttony, because you can’t believe that it’s here.”

Mudaliar emphasized the company’s vision for the future of entertainment, suggesting that traditional boundaries between human and artificial performers will continue to blur. “The artists of tomorrow won’t just be human, they’ll be IP, code and robotics that are fully autonomous. That’s what we’re building at Stage Zero,” he told the publication.

Creative Legends Embrace AI Collaboration

While Timbaland forges ahead with AI innovation, other music industry veterans are also exploring artificial intelligence as a creative partner. ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus recently revealed he’s using AI technology to help write a new musical, treating the technology as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement for human creativity.

“It is such a great tool,” Ulvaeus shared at The Future of Entertainment panel at SXSW London, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s unimaginable that you can bounce back and forth with a machine, or a software, which can give you ideas to go in various different directions.”

The legendary songwriter emphasized that he employs AI as “another songwriter in the room” rather than allowing the technology to create complete compositions independently. “A misconception is that AI can write a whole song. It’s lousy at that — very bad. And thank God! It’s very bad at lyrics as well. But it can give you ideas,” Ulvaeus explained.

This creative embrace of AI technology comes amid ongoing tensions within the music industry, where over 400 artists, including Elton John, Dua Lipa, Kate Bush, and Paul McCartney, have called for updated copyright protections.