Musician Arrested for Earning $10 Million in Royalties Through Bot-Generated Streams

FBI has arrested American singer Michael Smith for allegedly earning $10 million in royalties through fraudulent bot-generated streams.

Smith is accused of using artificial intelligence (AI) tools and bots to artificially inflate song streams by billions, leading to the unlawful accumulation of royalties.

Michael Smith is being charged with three counts of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

The Justice Department in a news release, explained that each offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.

“As alleged, Michael Smith fraudulently streamed songs created with artificial intelligence billions of times to steal royalties.”

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney in the release, said, “Through his brazen fraud scheme, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to other rights holders whose songs were legitimately streamed.

“Thanks to the FBI and the career prosecutors of this Office, it’s time for Smith to face the music.”