Prosecutors Seek 46-Month Prison Term for Man Who Pocketed $8M via AI Songs and Bot Streams

Federal prosecutors are pushing for a sentence of at least 46 months for a man accused of defrauding music streaming platforms out of $8 million by flooding them with AI-generated songs paired with bot-driven artificial streams. Prosecutors presented emails to Judge Koeltl that they say demonstrate the defendant knew from the outset that the scheme constituted fraud, undermining any defense of ignorance or ambiguity.

The case is being closely watched across the music and streaming industries as one of the first major criminal prosecutions at the intersection of AI-generated content and streaming fraud. Prosecutors framed the harm in human terms, arguing the scheme stole royalties from "hard-working" songwriters whose legitimate streams were diluted by the fabricated activity.