Celebrated Indian composer AR Rahman recently met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco to explore their collaboration on Secret Mountain, a technology-infused music and storytelling initiative that blends artificial intelligence with cultural expression.
Confirmed over X
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Rahman confirmed the meeting and offered a glimpse into the nature of their discussion. “It was a pleasure meeting @sama at his office,” the 58-year-old musician wrote. “We discussed ‘Secret Mountain’, our virtual global band, and empowering Indian minds to use AI tools to address generational challenges and lead the way forward.”
The meeting has revived interest in Secret Mountain, a project Rahman first introduced to the public on February 14, 2024, through a short five-minute video titled Introducing the Secret Mountain. The video presented a stylised, animated vision of a metaverse-based musical world, offering a hint of what appears to be an original narrative universe at the intersection of technology, music, and global folklore.
At the heart of the story is Luna, a young protagonist transported to a magical realm inhabited by culturally diverse musical entities, each embodying a distinct sound and aesthetic. The project aims to evolve into a global collaborative platform for musicians, powered in part by AI-enabled creative tools.
What is Secret Mountain?
The online community has responded to the Altman–Rahman meeting with fascination. “Was not anticipating this crossover episode,” wrote one user, capturing the broader sentiment around this unexpected pairing of a music legend and a tech leader. Another commenter reflected on the implications for Indian music, saying, “I used to wonder about AI’s impact on movie music in India, and now this meeting happens between two stalwarts.”
Secret Mountain marks one of the more high-profile cultural experiments at the intersection of AI and the arts to come out of India. While details of the collaboration remain under wraps, Rahman’s statement hints at a wider mission to enable Indian creators to adopt and shape the future of AI-enabled storytelling.