After a fruitful session with Open AI CEO Sam Altman in July for for his upcoming project 'Secret Mountain', Google Cloud has announced its partnership with the eminent composer-singer to launch the metahuman digital avatar band in an attempt "to power a new era of entertainment."
In their statement, Google said that the project leverages their advanced AI models including Gemini, Imagen, and Veo, and secure, scalable infrastructure to bring hyper-realistic avatars and real-time fan engagement worldwide. "This collaboration blends human artistry with cutting-edge AI to redefine how digital artists connect with fans," they said.
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud said, "By building on Google Cloud’s infrastructure and advanced AI models, Secret Mountain is not only delivering an awe-inspiring interactive digital experience, but also ensuring that security, scalability, and governance are built in," he said, while noting that the collaboration with AR Rahman is setting a new bar for the industry.
Over the past few months, Rahman has been meeting CEOs and heads of leading AI creators including Open AI vice president Srinivas Narayanan and CEO Aravind Srinivas of Perplexity AI to discuss details regarding the project.
What is Secret Mountain?
'Secret Mountain' is a virtual global band project made with the help of AI. Aimed at immersively blending technology and art, it narrates the story of a woman named Luna who is taken to the Secret Mountain universe and meets a variety of musical figures from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The first glimpse of the project was announced in February 2024. The video began with the character introducing herself. "Like most of us, I have been wandering the jungle instead of gratification, dooms of scrolling," she says.
Hedera, a distributed ledger technology that functions as an alternative to blockchains, is associated with 'Secret Mountain'. It is a Metahumans project. A human character that exists online or in the metaverse is referred to as a metahuman.
According to AR Rahman's website, 'Secret Mountain' invites its audiences to unveil the mysteries surrounding Cara, Blessing, Ekam, Zen Tam, David, and Aafia. Good Fellas Studio, in collaboration with Qyuki, conceptualised 'Secret Mountain' which has been "meticulously crafted" and involves "intricate design and conceptualization, blending elements of fantasy, mythology, and technology."
AR Rahman’s musical compositions serves as the core of the project, with each melody and rhythm intricately woven into the fabric of the narrative.
He will use this project to bring mentors and singers from China, Africa, India, Ireland, and other countries together on a single stage.
