6 October 2026

New York court sentences Michael Smith to 18 months in prison - his bots played AI songs billions of times, earning him over $8 million in royalties

Judge John G. Koeltl on Tuesday, October 6, sentenced Michael Smith, 54, of North Carolina to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release and ordered the forfeiture of $8,091,843.64, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. According to prosecutors, from 2017 to 2024 Smith ran thousands of fake accounts (up to 10,000 at once) that streamed hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs billions of times; in April 2023, Smith's bots using YouTube Music family plans played his music 80.9 million times, while Taylor Swift's entire catalog had 9.3 million plays on such plans. Smith pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit fraud; it is the first criminal streaming fraud case in the US, Billboard reports, adding that the defense asked for no prison time and prosecutors for at least 46 months.

justice.gov ↗ Billboard ↗ Gizmodo ↗

From recent days

Amazon delivery drivers' glasses will photograph their surroundings almost nonstop, including people and properties, Bloomberg reports

According to Bloomberg, the smart glasses worn by Amazon delivery drivers will photograph everything in the driver's field of view, including people and private properties. The company plans to upload the photos, up to several thousand per shift, to an AI platform called Wellspring. Customers will not be able to see the photos or request their deletion. Asked whether people will be able to refuse to be photographed, Amazon's Viraj Chatterjee replied: "We haven't thought about that." Amazon says its systems will blur people and license plates before the photos reach the staff who review them.

The Verge ↗

DoorDash will let you order food by text and start drone deliveries in California

DoorDash announced ordering by text message: just write something like "order my usual," and an AI assistant will pick the restaurant, fill the cart and complete the payment in the same conversation. For now, iOS users in the US can only join a waitlist. The company also named the first location for DoorDash Air drone deliveries, in Northern California, but without a launch date. In November, it will expand doorstep pickup of returns and delivery to stores, for $7.99, to the entire US.

The Verge ↗

Magnet Forensics: GrayKey bypasses the iPhone's automatic restart after 72 hours, 404 Media reports

Magnet Forensics, the maker of GrayKey, a device police use to unlock phones, claims it can bypass the iPhone's automatic restart, according to a law enforcement training video obtained by 404 Media. The new GrayKey Preserve device and the Evidence Preservation Mode on existing hardware are said to keep the phone in a state that makes data easier to access even after the restart the iPhone performs on its own after 72 hours without being unlocked. The video was probably made in early 2025 and doesn't explain how the feature works. Neither Apple nor Magnet Forensics responded to the outlet's questions.

404 Media ↗ 9to5Mac ↗

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