US Man Jailed for Using Bots to Generate Billions of Streams for AI Music
A North Carolina man, Michael Smith, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for using thousands of bot accounts to generate fake streams for AI-generated songs. Prosecutors said the scheme ran from 2017 to 2024 and generated more than $8 million in royalties across major streaming platforms. Smith reportedly used up to 10,000 bot accounts, fake email addresses and fraudulently obtained debit cards to make the streams appear legitimate. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was ordered to forfeit more than $8.09 million. Prosecutors said the case is the first criminal prosecution involving fraud through AI-generated music streams, stressing that the offence was the use of bots to fake listeners, not the creation of AI music.
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