Ne-Yo Confused About His Label Signing A.I. Artist TaTa

Ne-Yo gets his breaking news from TMZ, because our photog clued him in to the fact one of his music labels signed an A.I. artist ... and he told us why it could be a good thing for humans.

We got Ne-Yo at LAX, and our photog asked him about his Pan-Asian music and entertainment company, Pacific Music Group, signing Timbaland‘s A.I. artist TaTa Taktumi.

Ne-Yo said he didn't sign off on the deal and didn't even know about it ... but he says it's cool in his book, as long as human beings are writing the lyrics and producing the songs.

Timbaland's A.I. company Stage Zero created TaTa, and a press release announcing the deal says an artist with Filipino heritage created TaTa ... so it sounds like humans are involved here.

Watch the full video ... Ne-Yo tells us folks who give A.I. prompts to create music are "cheating" ... so it sounds like as long as people are the ones doing the heavy lifting and the A.I. artist is just the voice, that's kosher as far as Ne-Yo is concerned.

TaTa's music is going to be released in Asia ... and it will be interesting to see how it's received.