Billion-stream ‘ghost artist’ exposed: North Carolina man pleads guilty in first AI music fraud case, forfeits $8.1 million World News
It’s a feat most Grammy winners never achieve: billions of streams on the world’s largest platform. But for 54-year-old North Carolina resident Michael Smith, “fans” don’t exist. They are lines of code and the music is “AI slop”.Smith has formally pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the first conviction in U.S. history for … Read more