AR Rahman joins hands with Google for digital avatar band
What's the story
Music legend AR Rahman will harness Google's AI and cloud technology to create immersive entertainment experiences with his digital avatar band, Secret Mountain. The collaboration was revealed on Wednesday, October 15, a day after Google announced its $15 billion AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Here's all you need to know about it.
Project details
What is Secret Mountain?
Launched in February 2024, Secret Mountain is a virtual band featuring six avatars representing diverse cultures. The band members include Zen Tam (a Tamil rapper), Cara (an Irish singer-songwriter), and Blessing (an African vocalist and percussionist). Rahman had said in a statement, "Secret Mountain is about reimagining how music, storytelling, and technology come together to create new experiences for audiences all over the world."
Technology integration
How will Google Cloud help 'Secret Mountain'?
Secret Mountain will use Google's advanced AI models like Gemini, Veo, and Imagen, to create hyper-realistic avatars and diverse music experiences. Veo 3 will enable avatar embodiment and video generation, while Imagen and Gemini Flash 2.5 Image (Nano Banana) will handle high-quality visual production. The avatars' intelligence will be driven by Gemini 2.5 Pro, trained on custom datasets for real-time fan engagement at scale.
Industry impact
'India is showing how to fuse world-class artistry with AI'
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a statement, "India is showing how to fuse world-class artistry with production-ready AI, and this collaboration with AR Rahman is setting a new bar for the industry." He added that by using Google Cloud's infrastructure and advanced AI models, Secret Mountain is delivering an interactive digital experience while ensuring built-in security, scalability, and governance.
Past partnership
Shankar Mahadevan collaborated with Google this year
Earlier this year, Grammy-winning composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan also collaborated with Google to explore Music AI Sandbox. This is a set of experimental tools created by Google DeepMind in partnership with YouTube and music industry experts. Mahadevan used text prompts in Music AI Sandbox to create musical samples that included Indian instruments like the dholak and tabla, leading to a song called Rubaroo.