A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to orchestrating an $8 million AI-generated music streaming fraud scheme. Michael Smith, 54, admitted to using artificial intelligence and thousands of bot accounts to inflate streaming numbers across major platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music between 2017 and 2024.

Smith deployed automated software to direct bot accounts to continuously play hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs, generating billions of streams. To avoid detection, he spread activity across thousands of tracks and used virtual private networks to mimic legitimate listeners. He created up to 10,000 active bot accounts at once using fake email addresses purchased in bulk.

Through the scheme, Smith collected more than $8 million in royalty payments that would have gone to legitimate artists and songwriters. He also made false statements to streaming services, rights organizations, and music distributors to conceal the fraud. Prosecutors say he faces up to five years in prison. The case highlights growing challenges as streaming platforms like Deezer report receiving over 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, forcing the industry to develop new detection tools and transparency measures.