Man Sentenced to Prison for Bot Streams of AI Songs — SkimNews
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- Mike Smith used thousands of bots from 2017 to 2024 to stream his own and AI-generated music, amassing millions in royalties on digital platforms
- Mike Smith pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a charge carrying up to five years in prison, with prosecutors seeking at least 46 months
- Mike Smith agreed to forfeit $8 million in streaming proceeds as part of his plea deal with federal authorities
- U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald stated that Smith’s bot-driven streams displaced real artists and fans, calling it a theft of royalty payments
- The U.S. Department of Justice has begun using the term 'super intelligence' instead of 'artificial intelligence' following a Trump executive order, per Reuters
Why it matters: Streaming platforms pay artists based on their share of total monthly streams, so artificial inflation from bots directly reduces payouts to legitimate musicians. With Spotify and Apple Music facing scrutiny over fake streams, this case sets a precedent for treating streaming fraud as criminal wire fraud, not just a platform policy violation.
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