US Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Over $8 Million in Royalties Using AI-Generated Songs

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that North Carolina resident Michael Smith pleaded guilty to streaming royalty fraud. He used AI to generate hundreds of thousands of songs and created billions of fake plays via bot accounts on major platforms like Amazon Music and Spotify.

This fraud diverted royalties from legitimate creators to himself, totaling over $8.09 million. Smith has agreed to pay restitution of more than $8.09 million and faces up to five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for July 2026.

The case exposes flaws in streaming royalty models and the risk of AI abuse, highlighting the industry's urgent need for AI content regulation and fair distribution mechanisms.