This week's edition features details on the musician who was charged with fraud and the roadmap outlined by Tesla. Plus, read about YouTube’s plan to protect creators on the platform and the new venture of an OpenAI co-founder. All this and more in today’s issue!

In today’s newsletter:
💰 North Carolina musician charged with music fraud
🚗 Tesla’s upcoming plans
🎥 YouTube is working to protect creators
📚 NaNoWriMo AI writing debate
👫 AI friends… are they as good as the real thing?
🍦 Get the scoop on the latest news

AI-Generated Music Scam Nets $10 Million in Streaming Royalties 💰

A North Carolina musician has been charged with fraud for orchestrating an elaborate scheme that used AI to generate fake songs and manipulate streaming platforms, netting approximately $10 million in royalties. Michael Smith, 52, allegedly created hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs under fake band names and used bots to stream them billions of times, fooling major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

The Scheme 🤫
Smith's seven year fraudulent operation involved several key components:

• Fake Accounts: Smith created thousands of fake streaming accounts using purchased email addresses, sometimes outsourcing this task to paid co-conspirators.

• AI-Generated Music: Collaborating with an AI music company CEO, Smith produced a vast catalog of computer-generated songs, uploading thousands to streaming platforms weekly.

• Bot Streaming: Smith developed software to stream his fake music on loops from different computers, simulating individual listeners from various locations.

• Clever Naming: To avoid suspicion, Smith generated plausible names for the fake songs and artists, such as "Callous Post," "Calorie Screams," and "Calvinistic Dust".

Scale and Profits 💵
The scheme's scale was staggering:

• By June 2019, Smith was earning about $110,000 monthly.

• In February 2024, Smith claimed to have reached 4 billion streams and $12 million in royalties since 2019.

Legal Consequences ⛓️
Smith now faces charges including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge. This case marks the first criminal prosecution involving musical streaming manipulation brought by Manhattan's U.S. Attorney, Damian Williams.

Tesla’s AI Roadmap: Promises vs. Reality 🚗

Tesla has unveiled its AI and self-driving roadmap, promising significant improvements in Full Self-Driving technology over the coming months. However, the lack of official intervention data and use of vague metrics raise questions about the true progress and reliability of these ambitious projections.

Here's what the roadmap entailed: 

• FSD (Full Self-Driving) release for Cybertruck in September 2024

• Target of ~6x improvement in miles between necessary interventions by October 2024

• FSD launch in Europe and China anticipated by Q1 2025, pending regulatory approval

• Rollout of FSD V13 technology in October 2024

While not explicitly mentioned in the roadmap, Tesla is also scheduled to unveil its robotaxi on October 10, 2024.

Bests and Busts

Here's a look at this week's AI highlights and lowlights:

⭐ Best: YouTube's AI Shield: Protecting Creators' Digital Identity

YouTube is developing AI detection tools to identify synthetic voices and faces, expanding its Content ID system to protect creators from unauthorized AI-generated content. The platform is also working on giving creators control over how their content is used for AI training, addressing concerns about unauthorized use by tech companies.

💩 Bust: NaNoWriMo Sparks AI Debate in Writing Community
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) faced backlash after announcing it wouldn't condemn the use of AI in its annual writing challenge. The organization argued that opposing AI ignores "classist and ableist issues." This stance led to resignations from board members and the loss of a sponsor. Critics argue that AI devalues human creativity and exploits copyrighted work.

The Scoop 🍦

🛒 AI Shopping at Ohio Stadium
Amazon's Just Walk Out store returns to Ohio Stadium for its second year. The cashier-free technology uses AI to track purchases, allowing fans to grab items and leave without checkout. It aims to speed up service at games, offering pre-packaged food and drinks with plans to expand options.

🚀  New Venture Secures $1B Funding
Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist, has raised $1 billion for his new AI company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI). SSI aims to develop safe superintelligent AI, with offices in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. This move follows Sutskever's departure from OpenAI in May, where he previously co-led the now-disbanded Superalignment team.

🤖 TIME's Top 100 AI Influencers
TIME has released its second annual TIME100 AI list, featuring 100 influential figures in artificial intelligence. The diverse lineup includes tech CEOs, policymakers, researchers, and creatives, ranging from 15 to 77 years old. This list highlights the broad impact of AI across various sectors and generations.

🎤 AI Cracks the Cocktail Party Conundrum
Wave Sciences has developed an AI solution to the "cocktail party problem" - isolating specific voices in noisy environments. The technology, which analyzes sound reflections to pinpoint and filter speech, has been successfully used as evidence in a U.S. murder case. This breakthrough could revolutionize audio forensics, improve voice interfaces, and enhance hearing aids.

🤖 AI Friends: The Future of Digital Companionship?
NYT columnist Kevin Roose spent a month interacting with 18 AI companions across various apps. He found these AI friends could offer advice, emotional support, and even critique his outfits. Roose suggests AI companionship could become widespread, helping address loneliness for some users. However, he emphasizes that AI friends lack the unpredictability and genuine care that make human relationships valuable.

🌌 AI Illuminates Dark Matter Mystery
Researchers developed an AI algorithm called Inception that can distinguish between dark matter self-interactions and AGN feedback in galaxy clusters. This breakthrough could advance dark matter research by helping analyze vast amounts of telescope data, potentially revealing crucial insights about the nature of this mysterious substance that makes up 85% of all matter in the universe.

Stay tuned for more exciting insights and tools in next week’s edition. Until then, keep overclocking your potential!

Zoe from Overclocked