Streaming fraudster sentenced to 18 months for AI-generated song bot scheme

Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $8,091,843.64 for a streaming fraud scheme that used 10,000 bots and AI-generated songs to inflate streams.

The U.S. Department of Justice argued the scheme cut into the royalty pool shared by genuine artists, reducing payouts across the board. Smith's lawyers had sought probation, arguing the case was an example being made of him.