Walled Garden does not ban AI as a creative tool. AI may be used in production, composition, arrangement, sound design, vocal generation, mixing, mastering, or performance, as long as the project is human-led, rights-cleared, and not deceptive.
AI is allowed as a tool. Fake artists, stolen voices, and mass-generated slop are not.
Before publishing, every release carries a declaration: whether AI tools were used and how, whether any cloned or synthetic voice appears, whether a real person's voice or likeness was intentionally imitated (and with what permission), and confirmation that the release is not part of a mass-generated catalog. Releases that declare a cloned or synthetic voice imitating a real person are verified by a human before payout. Primarily automated releases with minimal human authorship are not eligible for Walled Garden.
Uploading mass-generated work to exploit the payout system is fraud, and it is treated as fraud. Beyond removal and suspension, it triggers the clawback and recovery of losses set out in the terms (section 6b): every dollar paid on the fraud is repaid, and the real losses it causes, including money diverted from honest artists and our cost to detect and undo it, are recovered on top, which together typically come to several times what was paid.
See also the human-led artist policy.