What do you get when you combine an electronic musician, artificial intelligence, and a quantum computer? Apparently, a futuristic track called “Recurse” — the first commercial song created using quantum-powered AI.
Quantum computing meets music production
British electronic artist ILĀ collaborated with tech startup Moth to create the experimental track. The project used a quantum computer provided by Finnish company IQM, which specializes in machines that can solve problems traditional computers cannot.
In the process, ILĀ first created an original melody as she normally would. That musical pattern was then used to train a generative AI system. Once the system created a draft, it was returned to ILĀ to build upon before being finalized using IQM’s quantum computer.
“I created a piece of music in the way that I normally would, and then those patterns were used by Moth to train this generative system,” she said in a video with Moth.
The song is also being released not just as a song, but as an interactive audio stream — one that dynamically evolves with changes in listener engagement and environment.
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The world’s first song made with artificial intelligence supercomputing, “Recurse,” was released in 2025 through a partnership between ILĀ and tech startup Moth.
AI in music raises legal and ethical questions
The release comes amid ongoing debate about the legality and ethics of using AI in creative fields. Musicians and industry leaders have expressed concern about AI systems training on copyrighted work without permission.
On Friday, May 9, the U.S. Copyright Office published a prerelease report addressing this issue. The report supports the licensing of copyrighted content when used for commercial AI training, especially in cases where the output is monetized.
This follows a January policy shift that allows artists to copyright AI-assisted work, as long as a human plays the central creative role. The updated guidance reverses previous policy, which denied protection to works generated in whole or in large part by AI.
Not everyone wants to make music the hard way
While some artists welcome AI as a creative partner, others remain skeptical of how it’s reshaping music. Suno, an AI music startup, was built on the idea that music-making has become too hard for most people to enjoy.
“It’s not really enjoyable to make music now — it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of practice, you have to get really good at an instrument or really good at a piece of production software,” CEO Mikey Shulman said in a January podcast. “I think the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of time they spend making music.”
The comment stirred backlash, but Shulman was explaining why Suno exists — to make music creation more accessible.
Artists explore collaboration, not competition
Despite concerns from some artists, ILĀ said she feels optimistic about the technology. She told The Next Web that it’s “refreshing to use technology that’s designed to work with you, not replace you.”
As AI and quantum computing continue to shape creative industries, “Recurse” may signal a new era of music — one where artists and machines collaborate to produce entirely new sounds.
contributed to this report.
