There is suddenly a little bit of tension about one of the most ambitious plans in football. High-placed sources say this week brings a lot of discussion between Saudi Arabian representatives and those of top players in order to try and convince them to join the planet’s most disruptive competition. Some involved see it as a key period for the Saudi Pro League in terms of keeping the momentum going by getting truly big players. Interest in Neymar and David De Gea is now well known, but representatives are also looking at Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, and there are offers for a series of Chelsea players. Among them are N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Romelu Lukaku, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech. It would represent quite the analgesic for what had been a real headache at Stamford Bridge. Throughout the last few months, the major question at Stamford Bridge, beyond the manager, was who was going to buy the players they needed to sell to trim the squad and meet Financial Fair Play requirements. Everyone “knew they were coming”, to use the industry phrase. Clubs were going to go in low and well under the asking price, as Manchester United have attempted with Mason Mount. Now, a solution has suddenly presented itself. Chelsea could clear a lot of players for big money, allowing Mauricio Pochettino a much cleaner slate to start working with. It has raised a lot of chatter within the game as well as outside. Football officials have privately pointed to the strong relationship between Chelsea majority owners Clearlake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund [PIF], who have billions of pounds worth of assets managed by the American firm. Many within the game are now asking about Saudi influence on Chelsea but it has long been stressed there was no involvement in Clearlake’s 2022 purchase, and consequently no concern about potential conflicts of interest given the ownership of Newcastle United. The Owners and Directors test would also require that any influence be declared. It is being insisted now at Stamford Bridge that the only discussions taking place are “transactional conversations about players they’re interested in”. Chelsea and the Premier League have been approached for comment. The London club look to have just benefitted from good timing, although the biggest question now is how many players will actually be convinced to move, and “what actually gets done”. Lukaku is already reluctant. Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva would be unlikely to even consider a proposal if it arrives. The very fact such discussions are being had does raise two wider issues for the game. One, in the abstract, is the growing influence of private equity in football. Part of the reason such questions are being asked is that it’s unclear what money funds private equity in such takeovers. The Premier League, for example, doesn’t have to know. There are an increasing number of people in football who see private equity’s influence - going right up to possible deals with Serie A and La Liga - as just as problematic as state ownership, especially with how the potential is there for the two to overlap. There is then the big story of the summer, which revolves around one of the most ambitious and biggest of those states. Offers from the Saudi Pro League are expected to escalate in the next few weeks, as this is viewed as a key stage of the project. Bringing Ruben Neves from Wolves was a coup but they want bigger than that. It is also why there was some disappointment about the “complacency” of Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin about the extent the Saudi Pro League’s growth could distort the game. The Slovenian official gave an interview in the Netherlands on the eve of the Nations League final, in which he said the European game should not be concerned about any player exodus. “No, no, no… I think that it's mainly a mistake for Saudi Arabian football. Why is that a problem for them? Because they should invest in academies, they should bring coaches, and they should develop their own players." “The system of buying the players that almost ended their career is not the system that develops football. It was a similar mistake in China when they all brought players who are at the end of their career.” “Tell me one player who is top, top age and who starts his career and went to play in Saudi Arabia? But it's not about money only. Players want to win top competitions. And top competition is in Europe.” That question is something currently being tested, but a growing view is that Ceferin is wrong to make the comparison to China. Saudi Arabia has a much more developed football culture, with a good level of quality, and part of this project is improving that. There is then the wider issue of the football authorities' general lack of regulation and foresight on the influence of states and private equity groups. The next few days will nevertheless tell a lot, but this is really about the next few years. Read More First golf, now football? Saudi Arabia’s grand plan and the 72 hours that changed everything Sportswashing is about to change football beyond anything you can imagine The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever Saudi Arabia can help Chelsea solve headache — but talks raise issues Carabao Cup 2023/24 fixture dates and schedule revealed Chelsea fixtures released for Premier League 2023/24 season

With the rise of AI, we've all seen how powerful this new technology can be particularly when it comes to music. As a result, people have been using AI to perfectly replicate the singing voices of different artists such as Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles in order to make AI covers of different songs. For example, there is a viral AI cover of Harry Styles singing in a duet with Taylor Swift on her track Style which fans have been going crazy about. While AI can also be used to create deep fakes of celebrities too - where the celeb's face is digitally imposed on someone else's body which is often used to spread misinformation or for malicious intent. But what do artists think about this issue? Here are the celebrities who have spoken out so far on the topic of AI: Drake An AI song called "Heart on My Sleeve" that used Drake's and the Weeknd's voices went viral before being taken down by music streaming services. While Drake himself hasn't commented on all the AI songs that have been created, he did express his disapproval of the practice after the rapper responded to an AI-generated cover of him rapping Ice Spice’s “Munch”, writing: “This is the final straw AI.” Grimes Grimes has expressed enthusiasm towards the new AI-generated songs - and has told her fans they can use her voice to create their own tracks. Taking to Twitter, she shared a New York Times article about the viral AI-generated song using Drake and The Weeknd's voice. She wrote: "I'll split 50 per cent royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist I collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings." "I think it's cool to be fused w a machine and I like the idea of open-sourcing all art and killing copyright," she added. Though, later she did add a clarification on the platform as to what circumstances would cause her to get certain AI songs taken down for copyright - where "rly rly toxic lyrics," are used with her voice. "Ok hate this part but we may do copyright takedowns ONLY for rly rly toxic lyrics w grimes voice: imo you'd rly have to push it for me to wanna take smthn down but I guess plz don't be *the worst*. as in, try not to exit the current Overton window of lyrical content w regards to sex/violence. Like no baby murder songs plz," she wrote. "I think I'm Streisand effecting this now but I don't wanna have to issue a takedown and be a hypocrite later. ***That's the only rule." Rly don't like to do a rule but don't wanna be responsible for a Nazi anthem unless it's somehow in jest a la producers I guess "- wud prefer avoiding political stuff but if it's a small meme with ur friends we prob won't penalize that. Probably just if smthn is viral and anti abortion or smthn like that. Grimes added: "Rly rly don't like adding rules so I apologize but this is the only thing." Most recently, the singer and producer has shared a guide on how to do this, and shared the link in a tweet: "HOW TO MAKE MUSIC FEAT GrimesAI - we can distribute it for you and you can earn royalties from your work." Billie Eilish During an appearance on The Late, Late Show with James Corden back in May this year, Billie Eilish shared her thoughts on AI. "I feel like my approach is not as optimistic, I'm a little bit scared of it," she admitted. "I'm a little scared of what someone could create of me doing something with it." Eilish added: "Scary, scary to me, it just looks so real," as she went on to note how it's "One of the most impressive things I've encountered in my life." The singer's comments come after deepfake porn' of singer Eilish was promoted on people's TikTok in December last year. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Yamaha has unveiled a self-riding electric motorbike that features no handlebars or other standard controls. The Yamaha Motoroid 2 is the next generation of the firm’s Motoroid concept bike first revealed in 2017, but unlike its predecessor, Yamaha has built a working prototype of the latest vehicle. The self-balancing bike features gyroscopes and image recognition AI systems to stay upright and navigate roads, while also being capable of riding itself without anyone aboard. “Motoroid 2 is a vehicle for personal mobility that can recognise its owner, get up off its kickstand and move alongside its rider,” the company said. “[It] has a distinctly lifelike feel when somebody is riding on its back and has a presence more like a lifetime companion.” Yamaha plans to show off the prototype of the Motoroid 2 at the Events Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo next month. It is not clear whether Yamaha plans to release a production model of the bike, however its continued development suggests that the automotive giant is working to integrate at least some of its features into future motorcycles. Self-driving technology is increasingly common in production vehicles, though it is currently limited to four-wheeled cars and trucks. Some have even considered eschewing steering wheels, with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk originally planning to build a fleet of self-driving electric taxis that have no visible user controls. The plan was reportedly sidelined after company executives noted that regulators in most major markets require steering wheels and pedals on vehicles. Several motorcycle manufacturers have unveiled concept bikes that require no rider to operate. BMW’s ConnectedRide retrofits the company’s R 1200 GS Adventure with autonomous technology to serve as a “testbed for advanced motorcycle safety” equipment that it hopes to introduce to its production models. “In a future world of autonomously driving cars, being connected will be an urgent requirement for all motorcycle segments,” BMW’s Markus Schramm said in 2020. “This will enhance safety and ensure that motorcycling remains future-proof.” Read More Reinventing the seatbelt for the self-driving era

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