Michael D. Smith holds the J. Erik Jonsson Chaired Professorship of Information Technology and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College where he is a co-director of the Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics. His research focuses on measuring the impact of new digital technologies on the entertainment industry. He has discussed this research in a variety of outlets including book chapters and articles for the World Trade Organization, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a contributor to a U.S. Copyright Office Report on the Economic Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Copyright Policy. He also co-authored the book Streaming, Sharing, Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment with Rahul Telang.

Professor Smith received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) and a Master of Science in Telecommunications Science from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in Management Science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Smith briefed journalists in February 2026: AI and Licensing: Courts, Contracts and the Tension over Content.