tech
March 23, 2026
North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud.
Last week, Michael Smith pleaded guilty to creating hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs and then using bots to stream the songs “billions” of times. The scheme allowed Smith to earn over $8 million in royalties, according to the DOJ.
TL;DR
- Michael Smith pleaded guilty to AI music streaming fraud.
- He created hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs.
- Bots were used to stream these songs billions of times.
- The scheme resulted in over $8 million in fraudulent royalties.
- Spotify was targeted by this fraudulent activity.
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