Arabic version: رجل من كارولينا الشمالية يعترف بالاحتيال في بث الموسيقى باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي

A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to defrauding music streaming platforms and his fellow musicians out of millions in royalties by flooding the services with thousands of AI-generated songs – and using automated “bots” to artificially boost the number of listens into the billions. According to The Guardian, Smith’s case marks one of the first successful prosecutions of AI-related fraud in the music industry.

Smith entered a guilty plea on Friday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a deal with federal prosecutors in New York’s southern district. His actions, which occurred between 2017 and 2024, involved generating fake songs that amassed as many as 661,440 streams daily, resulting in more than $10 million in royalty payments that he fraudulently obtained.

US attorney Jay Clayton stated, “Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real,” emphasizing the significant impact on legitimate artists and rights holders. The scheme diverted funds that should have gone to musicians whose work was genuinely streamed.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Smith faces up to five years in prison and the forfeiture of $8,091,843.64 when sentenced in July. This case highlights the growing challenges the music industry faces from AI-generated content, which threatens to undermine the earnings of genuine artists in a landscape already complicated by streaming economics.

As the industry grapples with this new form of deception, the issue of AI-generated music has become increasingly prominent, raising concerns about fairness and the future of artistic creation. Smith’s actions serve as a cautionary tale about the potential for AI technology to disrupt traditional music revenue models.