Fender CEO Backtracks After Calling Bandmates ‘Analog AI’

Fender CEO Backtracks After Calling Bandmates ‘Analog AI’
Fender CEO Bud Cole wanted to make the case that AI could lower the barrier to making music. Instead, his comparison of musicians learning from songs and collaborating with bandmates to “analog AI” hit a raw nerve among players who see human craft as the point.

The dispute began with Cole’s interview with T3, where he argued that AI had long existed in music and described cover playing as a precursor to today’s generative tools. “I actually believe cover music has been sort of analog AI for a long time,” he said, suggesting that players absorb influences before making something new.

Cole extended that analogy to the rehearsal room: a guitarist might bring a riff, then a drummer or bassist helps turn it into a song. In his view, AI could similarly help players move beyond covers and into songwriting. “We are on the brink of freeing up people to move beyond the same old covers,” he said.

That framing drew sharp criticism from guitar fans and commentators, with some prominent YouTubers saying they would stop buying Fender products. The backlash focused on the gulf between a person shaped by physical limits, taste and life experience, and a model trained on vast datasets of copyrighted work. Critics also rejected the notion that AI assistance can replace the repetition and failure through which songwriters develop their voice.

After the criticism mounted, Cole sought to reset the argument. In a statement provided to The Verge, he said AI should be limited to helping beginners understand difficult chords or giving established artists ways to “explore, refine and experiment” with their own ideas. His clearest concession was also his simplest: “Every creative idea starts with people, and music starts and ends with people. It always will.”

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