Ed Newton-Rex

In this public resignation letter, Ed Newton-Rex, who served as Vice President of Audio at Stability AI, explains his decision to leave the company over a fundamental disagreement about whether training generative AI models on copyrighted works without the consent of rights holders should be considered fair use. Newton-Rex argues that the position adopted by many AI companies, that ingesting copyrighted material to train commercial AI systems constitutes fair use, is legally dubious, ethically wrong, and harmful to the creative professionals whose work provides the raw material for these systems. He contends that the economic impact on creators is significant and measurable, as generative AI products directly compete with the creators whose work was used to build them, undermining the market for original creative output. The letter is notable both for its clarity of argument and for the personal sacrifice it represents, as Newton-Rex walked away from a senior position at a well-funded AI company to take a principled public stand. His resignation became a rallying point for creators and advocates arguing for consent-based licensing frameworks and helped catalyze broader public debate about the intellectual property implications of generative AI training practices.