FBI detains American singer Smith for Bot stream fraud

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested Michael Smith, an American artiste, for allegedly generating $10 million in royalties through bot streams.

He was accused of employing Artificial Intelligence (AI), tools, and bots to fraudulently stream billions of songs.

Michael Smith is facing three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

In a statement, the Justice Department said that each offense is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

“As alleged, Michael Smith fraudulently streamed songs created with artificial intelligence billions of times to steal royalties,” it said.

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney in the release, said, “Through his brazen fraud scheme, Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to other rights holders whose songs were legitimately streamed.

“Thanks to the FBI and the career prosecutors of this Office, it’s time for Smith to face the music.”