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According to Billboard’s “Country Digital Song Sales” chart, the No. 1 song in the U.S. is “Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust—an artist that was created by artificial intelligence (AI). Newsweek has contacted Breaking Rust via social media message outside of regular working hours for comment. Why It Matters This is a new development in the music industry as it is the first time an AI-created song has reached the top of the charts. There have long been concerns about the use of generative AI in creative sectors. Discourse about this came into the fold a few years ago following protests in Hollywood from the writer and actor guilds, which took place shortly after the public release of ChatGPT, and concerns that came in tandem with the new technology and its implications. Any creative materials that have been made with the usage or assistance of AI are heavily scrutinized, be it the debut of the so-called AI actress Tilly Norwood or internet furor over Coca Cola using AI in their Christmas adverts. High-profile musicians, including Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, are among those leading the charge for AI regulations as multiple petitions have been launched to ban the usage of AI in certain areas. What To Know Not much is currently known about Breaking Rust, but the artist’s bio on Linktree reads: “Music for the fighters and the dreamers.” Breaking Rust also has a profile on Instagram, which boasts over 35,000 followers and is filled with images of a melancholy looking man, wearing a cowboy hat in various settings, including at a phone booth, walking on a road, and sitting in the rain. As of publication time, Breaking Rust has more than 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify where he is a verified artist. The “About” section for the artist is blank and the image used for Breaking Rust’s profile picture is a generic black and white image of a man wearing a cowboy hat, with stubble and a necktie. Multiple songs from the AI-generated artist have garnered over a million streams on Spotify. The song “Livin’ on Borrowed Time” has been streamed more than 4 million times, “Walk My Walk” has been streamed a little over 3 million times and “Whiskey don’t talk back” has been streamed over 1 million times. Breaking Rust began putting music on Spotify in 2025. What People Are Saying Journalist Joe Weisenthal wrote in an X post on Sunday: “The #1 country song in America is AI generated. The artist ‘Breaking Rust’ has 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.” X user @TrixxFEE wrote in a post last week: “Pretty much every week now there’s a new AI artist popping up on the Viral 50, this week it’s ‘Breaking Rust.'” What Happens Next? As the AI revolution continues to impact creative industries, it could be that more AI-generated artists continue to pop up in the charts, with pushback likely to be inevitable. A screenshot of the YouTube video for Breaking Rust’s song, “Livin’ on Borrowed Time.”
