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The Latest Breaking News from Michael Smith

The invisible hand needs a conscience

Capitalism’s invisible hand can create wealth. It cannot decide what we owe one another.

Fortune · Oct 11

Man Who Used AI Songs and 10,000 Bots to Out-Stream Taylor Swift Jailed for 18 Months Over $8 Million Fraud

AI music streaming fraud: a North Carolina musician, 54, faked billions of plays on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music before a guilty plea in March.

International Business Times UK · Oct 8

How a North Carolina Man Out-Streamed Taylor Swift With Bots and AI — and Stole $8 Million From Real Artists

Michael Smith, 54, gets 18 months for stealing $8M in royalties via AI songs and bot streams — the first U.S. sentence of its kind

Latin Times · Oct 7

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Man Who Used AI Songs and Bots to Outstream Taylor Swift Nearly 9 to 1 Jailed for $8M in Royalty Fraud

Michael Smith has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for using AI-generated songs and bots to fraudulently obtain more than $8 million in royalties.

International Business Times UK · Oct 7

Singer’s Photos Go Viral After Netizens Couldn’t Look Away From Two Hard-To-Ignore Details: “Double Prize”

“That outfit definitely shows off all his assets,” one netizen commented as a musician shared photos of himself in tight-fitting traditional Mexican attire.

Bored Panda · Oct 5

Feds say AI music fraudster who ‘stole’ $8M in streams deserves prison

Michael Smith’s catalog logged 80.9 million YouTube Music streams from family-plan subscribers in April 2023 – nearly nine times Taylor Swift’s 9.3 million

The Independent UK · Sep 30

England’s Dan Lawrence delighted with form as Pakistan focus on the future

Dan Lawrence missed out on a century but said he was ‘really happy’ with recent displays, while Pakistan’s batting coach hailed his team’s potential

The Guardian - UK · Sep 10

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Meet Callum Smith: The 23-year-old armless racing driver who steers with his feet at 110mph, joins Team BRIT alongside quadruple amputee Harvey Phillips and targets a historic Le Mans debut

Callum Smith, 23, was born without arms but is now pursuing a racing career by steering with his feet. Having crossed 110mph on track, he has joined Team BRIT and is working towards his racing licence. Alongside quadruple amputee Harvey Phillips, Smith hopes to help the team achieve its historic…

The Times of India · Sep 7

New Zealand blocks lawsuits against firms over climate harm

WELLINGTON - New Zealand has passed hotly contested legislation to block lawsuits that seek to hold companies liable for climate change harm.

Bangkok Post · Aug 19

Why the 137-year-old developer Hongkong Land is reinventing itself—and trying to broaden its focus beyond its home city

Hong Kong currently makes up 60% of Hongkong Land's rental income; CEO Michael Smith, who took over in 2024, wants to get it down to 40%.

Fortune · May 19

Michael Pennington obituary

Distinguished classical actor and co-founder of the English Shakespeare Company who brought sardonic dash and physical grace to his many stage roles

The Guardian - UK · May 11

Beau Greaves becomes first woman to win PDC ranking title with victory in Milton Keynes

The 22-year-old beat three former world champions including Rob Cross at the Players Championship 11

The Independent UK · Apr 27

‘It has your name on it, but I don’t think it’s you’: how AI is impersonating musicians on Spotify

Fraudulent music streams have long been a scourge for the industry, but experts say generative AI has supercharged it

The Guardian - US · Apr 11

‘This must stop’: Mark Kelly in absolute disbelief as Donald Trump proves there’s no limit to how low he will go

America is acting like a rogue nation under Trump.

We Got This Covered · Apr 8

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The Guardian - US · Apr 7

Retired military officers call Trump’s threats against Iran ‘likely war crimes’

Alarm among military observers after president says ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran ignores demands

The Independent UK · Mar 29

Hacked hospitals, hidden spyware: Iran conflict shows how digital fight is ingrained in warfare

Iran has turned to its cyber operations to make up for its military disadvantages in its conflict with Israel and the U.S. Since the war began last month, hackers supporting Iran have launched thousands of cyberattacks on companies and organizations in both the U.S. and Israel, seeking to undermine the…

Fortune · Mar 25

U.S. natural gas exporters literally answer Asia’s calls for ‘help’ from the Iran war, but aid can’t come ‘overnight’

Global natural gas shortfalls from Qatari facility damages may last years, but a massive wave of U.S. export growth is underway.

MusicRadar · Mar 24

“Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real. Millions of dollars in royalties that Smith diverted from real, deserving artists and rights holders”: US Man pleads guilty to industrial scale AI fraud

Michael Smith stole over $10 million in royalties

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PC Gamer · Mar 22

Man pleads guilty to generating songs with AI then having bots stream them 'billions of times' to make over $8 million in royalties

"Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real."

Metal Hammer · Mar 21

"The songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars stole was real." American fraudster earns eight million dollars streaming AI songs that no human has ever listened to

US man pleads guilty to defrauding musicians and music streaming platforms

The Guardian - US · Mar 21

US man pleads guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions using AI

Michael Smith, 52, charged after flooding platforms with thousands of AI songs and boosting them with bots

The Times of India · Mar 21

Billion-stream ‘ghost artist’ exposed: North Carolina man pleads guilty in first-ever AI music fraud case, forfeits $8.1M

It is a feat most Grammy winners never achieve: billions of streams across the world’s largest platforms. But for Michael Smith, a 54-year-old North Carolina resident, the "fans" didn't exist. They were lines of code, and the music was "AI slop."

Fortune · Feb 5

Developer Hongkong Land launches a $6.4B Singapore real estate fund, the country's largest, as part of CEO Michael Smith's strategic pivot

The new fund has the Qatar Investment Authority as a key investor, as Hongkong Land focuses on commercial property and slims its residential business.

The Independent UK · Jan 21

Florida therapist stabbed to death by former patient after he burst into her office demanding session, police say

The alleged attacker took his own life shortly after therapist Rebecca White was stabbed

The Guardian - UK · Jan 9

‘Why can’t it be us?’: Weston-super-Mare hope FA Cup dream run can go on

National League South side face Grimsby in the third round and those at the club are desperate for the ride to continue

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