Michael Smith Arrested for $10M AI-Generated Streaming Fraud, Faces 60 Years

Sep 5, 2024, 01:15 PM

Michael Smith, a 52-year-old music producer from North Carolina, has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including wire fraud and money laundering, for allegedly using artificial intelligence to generate hundreds of thousands of songs and employing bots to stream these songs billions of times. This scheme, which involved streaming the AI-generated songs over 600,000 times a day, allowed Smith to fraudulently collect over $10 million in royalties from major streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. The case, described as the first of its kind by SDNYLIVE, highlights the intersection of technology and crime. Smith faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted. Additionally, the CEO of Boomy was allegedly involved in the scheme. Smith was arrested on Wednesday.