From AI beats to brand streets: FYI.AI’s big sync for Qualcomm

His global successes notwithstanding, American musician and actor will.i.am has a childlike glee when talking about FYI.AI—his creative AI platform that he launched in 2023—and how it plans to unify sound, drive and radio into one seamless experience on Snapdragon-powered devices. At the heart of FYI.AI lies a deeply personal mission: to make music and experiences contextually responsive.

"If I write a song about heartbreak, it’s triggered by real-life emotions," he told Campaign in an exclusive interaction. For will.i.am, even a bus stop can stir a melancholy memory. FYI.AI, he believes, should adapt similarly: if a listener with shared experiences drives past a similar location, the music should shift in mood and tone.

This isn't just music; it's ambient, embedded creativity. And Qualcomm, with its global Snapdragon footprint, is helping FYI.AI scale that idea into millions of devices—across cars, phones, XR and beyond.

It’s not music; it’s moodware

At Snapdragon Auto Day in New Delhi last week, will.i.am and Qualcomm's chief marketing officer Don McGuire laid out an ambitious vision for the future of personalised content and conversational AI inside connected environments.

The implications for advertisers are massive. "Now imagine, if this can be done with songs, how can brands fare with coupons?" will.i.am asked. He envisions FYI.AI not just as a creative assistant, but as a commerce engine. "This opens a new income stream where they [brands] have experiential moments in advertisement, fused with entertainment and information."

That fusion becomes especially powerful in high-stakes scenarios. Recalling his return from CES this year, will.i.am drove into a wildfire zone outside Los Angeles. The alerts he received were via impersonal texts.

"I can't talk to the alert but I could talk to FYI.AI RAiDiO or GPT," he said. "In 2025, emergency alerts are not conversational. I might be panicking and the music in the car should be calming or meditative to keep my emotions in check. Maybe marketing should be transformational, which is a combination of these two technologies on a chip."

Nakul Duggal, group general manager, Automotive and Industrial & Embedded IoT at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc with musician will.i.am Qualcomm's chief marketing officer Don McGuire.

That chip, of course, is Snapdragon. In March 2025, FYI formally announced its collaboration with Qualcomm to optimise FYI.AI’s on-device capabilities for Snapdragon-powered ecosystems. This includes smartphones, automotive platforms, XR, and robotics. FYI.AI’s core pitch is productivity for creatives: idea generation, music creation, and collaboration. The goal? Zero latency, hyper-personalisation, and embedded security.

Don McGuire underscored the scalability: "Will had it up and running on an Android phone for us in a week. So, the scalability is just there. As things evolve, FYI.AI will be there along the journey with us."

The drive that composes itself

A key integration example is with Mercedes-AMG. In January 2024, will.i.am and Mercedes launched MBUX SOUND DRIVE, an interactive music system that syncs music with real-time driving behaviour—transforming the car into a musical instrument. Acceleration, braking, steering angle, and even rain sensors feed into the composition.

"I'm excited to see how composers, producers, and songwriters will harness this to create new works and reimagine classics for motorists to drive to," said will.i.am. It’s immersive music as UX.

So, what’s Qualcomm’s role in this? Well, it powers the digital chassis. Don noted, "Will.i.am has successfully struck a partnership with Mercedes, which is also a Snapdragon digital chassis customer. We can now help him get that same relationship, but faster, to more OEM’s vehicles, in a democratised way—from an economy car to a luxury one."

Qualcomm's chief marketing officer Don McGuire

And how will users access FYI.AI across these devices? The business model blends freemium, subscription, and contextual advertising.

"Radio changed my life because it was free," said will.i.am. So, FYI Radio will remain free for access, with ads. A premium tier will allow users to opt out of ads, but will.i.am is more interested in reinventing ads themselves.

"On FYI Radio, we will supercharge content makers and media companies to curate and decide what commercials are on the back of their content," he said. At Salesforce’s Dreamforce event last year, FYI demonstrated transactional advertising—ads that users can converse with and buy from directly. This feature is expected by late 2025 or early 2026.

Soundtrack to a sale?

That vision hinges on deep relevance and real-time data interpretation. Don put it succinctly: "It gives a whole new meaning to the word relevance, because some situations are emotional. In marketing, marketers can no longer chase impressions or clicks, but have to pursue relevance or contextuality."

Yet with hyper-personalisation comes responsibility. Qualcomm, Don said, is investing in platform-level safeguards. "Our platforms have inherent security, privacy and personalisation built in. You can interact and converse with AI and not worry about your data going someplace else. It can stay in your car, phone, glasses or other devices and still learn from your behaviour without being compromised."

Grammy award winner will.i.am

For will.i.am, FYI.AI’s success also depends on cultural resonance. "To ensure the platform resonates across diverse linguistic, cultural, and emotional contexts—especially when embedded into global devices and vehicles—we focus on building adaptable systems," he said. That includes training on varied datasets and refining outputs to suit local behaviours.

He’s also keen to establish a strong India footprint. "The reason we came here on this trip is to put together our partnerships," he told Campaign. Globally, FYI has tied up with Time, Fortune, and BMG. India, with its multilingual, mobile-first user base, presents the ideal sandbox for scale.

And scale he will. During his visit to India for the Snapdragon event on July 29, will.i.am presented a song that he created from scratch to surprise the Qualcomm team. Titled We don't know impossible, we make it possible, the track had a frenetic, DIY origin.

"A week before my trip to India… I was chilling with Menon, my Indian British colleague, in London," he said. They picked a beat that featured an AI voice named Neela. "So, I decided to make a persona for Neela, making her a real artist. Let’s make a video right and have it ready by Sunday."

He recorded his vocals in a studio just before a flight to New York, filmed against a green screen in 15 minutes, and edited the video on the flight. The visuals? "I said, chip city… imagine a Qualcomm chip, and the board looks like a city." He generated them using FYI.AI, prompting it with: "young Indian female, fashionable."

"Qualcomm didn’t even commission this," he said. "I just told them I wanted to surprise Don."

Don was, in fact, blown away. "Over the past 40 years of Qualcomm’s invention and innovation, and our wizards in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, are inventing daily, making the impossible inevitable. It was beautiful to see this manifest in this song."

Radio that sells, talks back and stays private

When asked whether this speed of creation is unsettling, will.i.am admitted, "It changes how our band, Black Eyed Peas, does music moving forward. I spent 30 years scouting for locations, cameras, lights, wardrobe... this AI-song happened within three days."

That may soon become the norm. "Once we give Neela more abilities, she will probably have more albums than I have had in my 30-year career," he said. "Neela as an entity already has a style that we've identified. You could talk to her. I can't talk to a million people at the same time. But Neela would be able to take all those insights and make more songs."

From musical journeys that sync with real-time driving patterns to ads that talk back, the Qualcomm-FYI partnership signals a future where devices don’t just play content—they perform it, personalise it, and even profit from it. This isn’t just a new UX layer. It’s a cultural OS in the making.