Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe (born 1985) is a genre-crossing musician, songwriter, and actor whose sci-fi concept albums (“The ArchAndroid,” “Dirty Computer”) and film roles (“Hidden Figures,” “Moonlight,” “Glass Onion”) have made them one of the most inventive artists of their generation. Their work has long interrogated the relationship between humanity and machines.

Signing against copyright rollback

In March 2025, Monáe was among more than 400 actors, writers, directors, and musicians who signed an open letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The letter responded to submissions by Google and OpenAI arguing that AI systems should be free to train on copyrighted material without permission. Its signatories — who included figures across Hollywood and music — warned that weakening copyright would strip creators of consent and compensation.

The letter argued that AI leadership “must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” and framed the stakes as reaching beyond entertainment to every knowledge worker whose output could be ingested for training. Monáe’s signature aligns them with peers such as Billie Eilish and organizations like the Artist Rights Alliance pressing the same case.