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Fraudster jailed for using 10K bots and AI songs to outstream Taylor Swift

Fraudster jailed for using 10K bots and AI songs to outstream Taylor Swift
Ars Technica Wednesday 07 October 2026, 17:57 UTC By Ashley Belanger 1 min read
Key Points

After pleading guilty, a 54-year-old North Carolina man, Michael Smith, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using artificial intelligence to generate songs for a scheme that stole millions from music streaming platforms. In a press release Tuesday, the US Department of Justice said that Smith is the first American criminally charged with AI-assisted streaming fraud. First charged in 2024, Smith successfully ran the scheme for seven years without detection.

After pleading guilty, a 54-year-old North Carolina man, Michael Smith, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using artificial intelligence to generate songs for a scheme that stole millions from music streaming platforms.

In a press release Tuesday, the US Department of Justice said that Smith is the first American criminally charged with AI-assisted streaming fraud.

First charged in 2024, Smith successfully ran the scheme for seven years without detection.

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AI (ORG) Taylor Swift (PERSON) North Carolina (LOCATION) Michael Smith (PERSON) the US Department of Justice (ORG) Smith (ORG) American (ORG)
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