Man who made $8 million using AI-generated songs and an army of streaming bots gets 18 months in prison

Michael Smith, of Cornelius, North Carolina, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to fraudulently inflate plays of AI-generated music on popular streaming platforms.

Smith worked with co-conspirators between 2017 and 2024 to exploit streaming bots and defraud the platforms, including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube.

The case highlights the potential for AI to be used for fraudulent activities and the importance of platforms taking steps to prevent such abuse.