# Man jailed for using 10,000 bots and AI songs to defraud music streamers

https://mins.news/en/item/90268

- Ars Technica, 2026-10-07 17:57 UTC
- Tech
- Original: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/outstreaming-taylor-swift-is-easy-with-10k-bots-and-ai-songs-fraudster-admits/

> Michael Smith, 54, of North Carolina, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to using AI-generated songs in a scheme that siphoned millions from music-streaming platforms. The Justice Department called him the first American criminally charged with AI-assisted streaming fraud. His scheme went undetected for seven years before he was first charged in 2024.