Feds: North Carolina Musician Ran $10 Million Streaming Fraud Using AI-Generated Songs

Federal prosecutors have charged a North Carolina musician with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly using bot accounts and hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs to fraudulently earn over $10 million in royalties from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Rolling Stone reports that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has indicted Michael Smith, a 52-year-old musician from North Carolina, for allegedly running a complex music streaming manipulation scheme. According to the indictment, Smith used bot accounts and hundreds of thousands of AI-generated...