The No. 1 Country Song in America Is AI-Generated (www.newsweek.com)

An AI-created artist called Breaking Rust — whose Spotify profile launched in 2025 and now lists more than 2 million monthly listeners — has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart with “Walk My Walk.” Multiple Breaking Rust tracks have millions of streams (e.g., “Livin’ on Borrowed Time” >4M), and the project presents a consistent vocal persona, verified profile imagery and a Linktree bio, despite no known human backstory. Music technologist Jason Palamara says the record’s “stomp, clap” country veneer masks heavy tech production: compressed mixes, a distinctive digital shimmer in the vocals, and what he characterizes as agentic AI producing a reusable vocal “character” and vague lyrics. The milestone matters because it shows generative models can now create commercially successful, chart-topping music that competes directly with human artists — intensifying debates about copyright, authenticity and regulation spurred by high-profile industry pushback. Scholars and industry leaders warn AI tracks will increase platform noise and make discovery harder for emerging musicians, while others note the technology’s potential to democratize output at scale (Deezer reports up to ~30% AI uploads). Key technical implications: improved voice synthesis/agentic workflows that maintain consistent artist identities, persistent artifacts in timbre and compression, and an accelerating ecosystem where listener preference — not provenance — may decide AI’s long-term role.