Grimes v. William E. Donaldson et al

On February 24, 2026, musician Grimes initiated a lawsuit in California federal court against William E. Donaldson and his company Synthetix AI, alleging that they unlawfully used her voice to train a commercial AI voice synthesis model. The model, dubbed "Ethereal Voice," could generate new vocal tracks indistinguishable from Grimes' own. The complaint asserts violations of the California right of publicity statute, the federal Lanham Act for false endorsement, and common law misappropriation. Grimes claims she never consented to the use of her vocal identity and that the AI-generated content misleads fans and dilutes her brand. The defendants contend that the model was trained on publicly available recordings and constitutes fair use. The case has drawn significant attention as one of the first major legal tests of AI voice cloning and personal identity rights, raising urgent questions about the boundaries of technology, art, and intellectual property.

As of the latest public filings in May 2026, the district court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss and granted a preliminary injunction, preventing Synthetix AI from further distributing the "Ethereal Voice" model pending trial. A settlement conference is scheduled for August 2026.

Whether an individual's unique voice is protected under right of publicity laws when used to train an AI model; whether AI-generated vocal clones constitute transformative fair use or commercial misappropriation; and the applicability of the Lanham Act to synthetic media that does not use an artist's name.

The case has catalyzed a global debate on AI and personality rights. Multiple music industry groups have filed amicus briefs supporting Grimes, while technology advocates warn that a broad ruling could hamper AI innovation. Several U.S. lawmakers have cited the case in proposing new federal legislation to explicitly protect voice and likeness from unauthorized AI simulation.