Grimes calls AI ‘magic’ at TIME100 AI Impact Awards in Dubai: here’s why it matters

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Grimes and three other leaders were recognized for their contributions to AI at the TIME100 AI Impact Awards in Dubai.
• Grimes praised innovators like David Holz (Midjourney), Aza Raskin (whale language decoding), and Holly Herndon (AI ethics tools).
• The event highlighted the positive potential of AI, with Grimes calling it “magic” and celebrating its creative and problem-solving applications.

Grimes Celebrates AI Innovators as ‘Real-Life Wizards’

On February 11, 2025, Grimes, Elon Musk’s ex wife, took the stage at the TIME100 AI Impact Awards in Dubai to honor leaders shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

Alongside Grimes, Caltech professor Anima Anandkumar, visual artist Refik Anadol, and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna were recognized for their groundbreaking work.

The event, presented by the World Government Summit and the Museum of the Future, also featured a performance by Emirati soul singer Arqam Al Abri.

While many in the music industry have hesitated to embrace AI, Grimes has been a vocal advocate.

In 2023, she made headlines by allowing fans to use AI to simulate her voice for new music, even offering to split royalties. Grimes has always believed in the power of AI to push creativity forward. Take her work with electronic artist 3LAU, for example — they created the first song using two AI voice clones, showing how AI can open up new possibilities in music. She’s also said that AI can help real talent shine by breaking down the usual roadblocks in the industry.

Her speech at the awards echoed this forward-thinking approach, referencing Arthur C. Clarke’s famous quote: “Advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Watch Grimes’s speech at the Time100 AI Impact Awards

Grimes used the platform to celebrate other innovators she admires:

• David Holz, founder of Midjourney, for creating AI-generated images.
• Aza Raskin, who is decoding whale language with AI.
• Sam Zeloof, an entrepreneur who built silicon chips in his parents’ garage.
• Holly Herndon, who developed tools to help artists protect their work from being used in AI datasets.

“The world is so focused on what’s negative that we don’t realize there’s magic solutions right in front of our very eyes,” Grimes said.

Grimes’ speech highlighted the need to celebrate AI’s positive impact. “Tech has a bad habit of not canonizing its heroes,” she noted. “There are a lot of people trying to save the world right now, and I believe they are succeeding.”