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New Delhi: With the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), crimes to it have also started coming to light. One such shocking case has come to light in America, where a person created fake music with the help of AI and got billions of streams and earned crores of rupees illegally.

This case is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind, which has raised serious questions about the misuse of AI in the music industry. This incident has also shown how fraud can be done on a large scale by misusing technology.

Thousands of fake songs created by AI

North Carolina resident Michael Smith created thousands of music tracks using AI technology. After this, with the help of automated bots, he streamed these songs billions of times.

Through this fake streaming, he earned more than $8 million in royalties. This entire network continued to run without being detected for a long time.

millions of fake streams daily

The investigation revealed that Smith generated about 661,440 fake streams every day between 2017 and 2024. In this way he earned approximately 1.03 million dollars annually.

He was arrested in September 2024 and faced several charges to streaming fraud.

confessed to the crime in court

Michael Smith, 52, pleaded guilty March 20 to U.S. District Judge John G. Pleaded guilty before Koeltal to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

US Attorney Jay Clayton said, "Michael Smith used artificial intelligence to create thousands of fake songs and then streamed those fake songs billions of times."

he adds, "Even though the songs and the audience were fake, the millions of dollars stolen by Smith were real. Smith embezzled millions of dollars in royalties from original, deserving artists and rights holders. Smith’s nefarious scheme has come to an end as he has been convicted of a federal crime for fraud committed with the aid of artificial intelligence,"

threat of punishment and fine

Under the plea agreement, Smith will now be sentenced on July 29. He faces up to five years in prison and forfeiture of $8,091,843.64.

AI music becomes a challenge for the industry

The growing trend of AI-generated music has created a new challenge for the music industry. Artists’ identities are being misused through fake songs and deepfake technology.

Recently, Sony Music had demanded the removal of more than 135,000 fake songs from streaming platforms, which were being broadcast impersonating its artists.

Big artists also became targets

Big artists like Beyonce, Queen and Harry Styles were also targeted in deepfake content created through generative AI. From this it has become clear that misuse of AI is now happening on a large scale.