Fender's CEO thinks your garage band is just AI with worse WiFi
Fender CEO Bud Cole just handed guitar Twitter another reason to side eye the brand. In a resurfaced T3 interview marking the Telecaster's 75th anniversary, Cole mused that AI in music is nothing new, comparing musicians learning cover songs and jamming with bandmates to how AI models train on data, basically framing human musicianship as analog machine learning. The comments landed right as Fender is already getting torched online for sending cease and desist letters over the Stratocaster's body shape, with YouTubers boycotting the brand. Timing, as always, is everything.
Nothing says 'I understand musicians' like comparing your rhythm guitarist to a chatbot.