North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud.

Last week, Michael Smith pleaded guilty to creating hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs and then using bots to stream the songs “billions” of times. The scheme allowed Smith to earn over $8 million in royalties, according to the DOJ. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. A free daily digest of the news that matters most. The Verge is a part of PMX Global, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 VM Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.