this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
1091 points (99.0% liked)

Technology

59087 readers
3244 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
L3s@fry.gs
L4s@fry.gs
L4s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
1091
Man Arrested for Creating Fake Bands With AI, Then Making $10 Million by Listening to Their Songs With Bots (futurism.com)
submitted 1 month ago by ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net to c/technology@lemmy.world
229 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The songs that the AI CEO provided to Smith originally had file names full of randomized numbers and letters such as "n_7a2b2d74-1621-4385-895d-b1e4af78d860.mp3," the DOJ noted in its detailed press release.

When uploading them to streaming platforms, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, the man would then change the songs' names to words like "Zygotes," "Zygotic," and "Zyme Bedewing," whatever that is.

The artist naming convention also followed a somewhat similar pattern, with names ranging from the normal-sounding "Calvin Mann" to head-scratchers like "Calorie Event," "Calms Scorching," and "Calypso Xored."

To manufacture streams for these fake songs, Smith allegedly used bots that stream the songs billions of times without any real person listening. As with similar schemes, the bots' meaningless streams were ultimately converted to royalty paychecks for the people behind them.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Was anyone really stealing? The ads were served, right? The checks for the ads were paid.

[–] emax_gomax@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I hate ads but their designed to be shown to people and intentionally using bots to inflate ad views is very clearly fraud. Silicon valley had something similar with bot farms to fake user engagement to take in VC funding. You take money in exchange for some kinda engagement metric which you're faking.

[–] RangerJosie@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago

Yeah. I'm totally cool with ripping off advertising companies.

Fuck them in particular.

[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Ah shit. You've got a legal point.

[–] NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

The ads were served, right?

No, and that's exactly the point that makes it a fraud (not stealing)