This week we start with Jason's article on how a Facebook group for Cybertruck owners is completely overrun with people flipping them off. Then Joseph explains how U.S. crypto traders are buying IDs from the tropical nation of Palau to skirt the law. Then in the subscribers-only section (with a content warning), we talk about Jason's story on a big Instagram bug that pushed really horrible stuff into ordinary peoples' feeds. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/nhgK-e3AeR0 SXSW event information Fa...
Mar 05, 2025•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week's episode with Joseph finding out someone basically ripped off his book with a potentially AI-generated summary. Emanuel also updates us on some of the impact his reporting on AI in libraries has had. After the break, Sam tells us all about a Y Combinator supported startup that is straight-up dehumanizing factory workers. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about an apparent act of protest from inside the U.S. government involving an AI video of Musk and Trump. YouTube ve...
Feb 26, 2025•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with Jason's story about anyone being able to push updates to DOGE.gov website. Then we talk about other stories with the DEI.gov and Waste.gov sites. After the break, Sam tells us all about some lawyers who get caught using AI in a case. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about a true crime documentary YouTube channel where the murders were all AI-generated. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/wqjeDFk9LMo Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website Researcher Captures...
Feb 19, 2025•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we discuss a new Microsoft study that finds using generative AI is "atrophying" people's cognition and critical thinking skills and the right's war on Wikipedia. Articles discussed: Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared” Wikipedia Prepares for 'Increase in Threats' to US Editors From Musk and His Allies You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 12, 2025•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast We dedicate the whole free section of this episode to Musk’s takeover of the federal government. We got audio from a meeting in which a Musk ally laid out their plans for AI across the government, and revealed who is now the head of HR for DOGE. In the subscribers only section, we talk about how your public library probably already has a bunch of AI slop. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fTgHpq4-psQ ‘Things Are Going to Get Intense:’ How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the Government Musk’s DOG...
Feb 05, 2025•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week with Emanuel's rundown on the DeepSeek situation, the Chinese-made AI that has rocked stock markets and the wider AI industry. After the break, Sam explains how metadata in U.S. government memos lists Project 2025 members as the memo authors. In the subscribers-only section, Jason and Sam explain how GitHub is showing the U.S. government's purging of information in real time. YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351BmM2SaXY DeepSeek Mania Shakes AI Industry to Its ...
Jan 29, 2025•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down...
Jan 27, 2025•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week with the TikTok ban: how we got here, what happened, and, most importantly, why it means we need more decentralized services. Jason runs us through it. After the break, Joseph breaks down a site called GeoSpy which is marketing geolocation technology to the cops. In the subscribers-only section, we all scroll through an archive of old Nokia (yes, Nokia) designs. Good stuff in there. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/DOXnpENi8Sg 02:27 Decentralized Social Media Is the Only Alte...
Jan 22, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We've got much more on what is happening inside Meta with the company's recent speech policy changes. Jason runs us through it. After the break, Joseph explains how thousands of apps have been hijacked to steal your location data, possibly without the app developers' knowledge. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about various stories intersecting with the LA fires, such as Amazon delivery drivers and AI images. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ItOENEWAy3s. ‘It’s Total Chaos Internally at ...
Jan 15, 2025•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're back! And holy moly what a start to the year. We just published a bunch of stories. First, Jason talks about blowback inside Meta to its new board member, and Meta's subsequent censoring of those views. We also chat about those mad Meta AI profiles. After the break, Sam explains why Pornhub is blocked in most of the U.S. south. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph talks about why the government is planning to name one of its most important (and at risk) witnesses. YouTube version: https...
Jan 08, 2025•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Here's a special year in review episode! We riff on the last year in AI, media, journalism, and more. We'll be back with a normal news show in the new year! YouTube version: https://youtu.be/t5RuHgk52MM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a re-upload that was previously only for paying subscribers! It gives a lot more context on the how and why we cover AI they way we do. Subscribe at 404media.co for more bonus content like this. Here's the original description of the episode: We got a lot of, let's say, feedback, with some of our recent stories on artificial intelligence. One was about people using Bing's AI to create images of cartoon characters flying a plane into a pair of skyscrapers. Another was about 4chan using th...
Dec 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Jason, as both a drones and aliens reporter, tells us what is most likely happening with the mysterious drones flying over New Jersey. After the break, Joseph explains how cops in Serbia are using Cellebrite phone unlocking tech as a doorway to installing malware on activists' and journalists' phones. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us all about an amazing art project using traffic cameras in New York City. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/T_JVUHbAzf4 WTF Is Going on With t...
Dec 18, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with Joseph's story about how the weapon found on the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO murderer was a particular 3D printed design. Then Jason tells us what he found about the alleged killer Luigi Mangione through his online accounts, and why, ultimately, this kind of journalism might not matter. After the break, Sam talks about how various healthcare companies removed pages about their leadership after the murder, and what we're seeing when it comes to social content moderation a...
Dec 11, 2024•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week with Sam's stories about multiple people building big datasets of Bluesky users' posts. People are not happy! After the break, Jason talks all about reverse-engineering Redbox machines, and a trip he took to see one being ripped up. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains two big moves the U.S. government is making against data brokers. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/i1NlQixGW2I Your Bluesky Posts Are Probably In A Bunch of Datasets Now The Redbox Removal Team FTC ...
Dec 04, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with Emanuel's couple of stories about Niantic, the company that makes Pokémon Go, and its plan to build an AI model based on data collected by its users. After the break, Jason and Emanuel talk about their big investigation into the rise of "AI pimping." In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains why he doesn't use a mobile phone and how he uses an iPad Mini instead. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/9NhJGqEqx-U Pokémon Go Players Have Unwittingly Trained AI to Navigate...
Nov 27, 2024•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week with Emanuel's story on how AI-powered ads on Buzzfeed are recommending people buy things like a hat worn by a person who died by suicide. After the break, Joseph talks about an unprecedented leak out of phone forensics tech Graykey. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about HarperCollins' AI deal and how MIT Press is exploring one too. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/CAw0VvCvavA AI-Powered Buzzfeed Ads Suggest You Buy Hat of Man Who Died by Suicide Leaked Document...
Nov 20, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is sponsored by DeleteMe. Friend of 404 Media Matthew Gault talks to Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security, about the ways scammers and criminals are using AI, and how it's changing social engineering attacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 15, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Joseph starts with his scoop on how Apple quietly introduced code that reboots iPhones, locking out cops. After the break, we all talk about the big Blue Sky migration. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how we plan to cover, and what to cover, in the new U.S. administration. YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNRjqqe29iE Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops The Big Blue Sky Migration Why the Work Still Matters Subscribe at 404...
Nov 13, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Election Day in the U.S. Jason tells us about EagleAI, a piece of software that could be used to purge voter rolls in the country. After the break, Sam breaks down Microsoft's mistake around gender-predicting AI, and an experiment to test when Instagram considers a nipple as female. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph goes long on his investigation into the infostealer industry. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/JDAW53zv29g Inside the Plan to Use AI to Purge Voter Rolls Microsoft Provided...
Nov 06, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast An Elon Musk-funded super PAC has expanded an advertising campaign in which it is impersonating Democrats and targeting registered Republicans with policies unpopular with conservatives they say Kamala Harris will pass if she wins the election. Plus, Sam takes us inside Northwell Health, New York's largest hospital system, which is pushing AI on its doctors. Articles discussed in this podcast: https://www.404media.co/elon-musk-funded-pac-supercharges-progress-2028-democrat-impersonation-ad-campa...
Oct 30, 2024•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special interview episode of the 404 Media podcast, I talked to Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner who ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2023 and is now a victim advocate for folks targeted by non-consensual intimate imagery online—after becoming one herself last year. Most people probably recognize Gibson from her candidacy and the news stories surrounding it. While she was running for office, images of her having sex with her then-husband started circulating on the...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with a massive story about location data. Privacy advocates gained access to a tool bought by multiple U.S. agencies called Locate X, which tracks smartphones around the world. We focused on how it can be used to track abortion clinic visitors. After the break we have a special guest: Becky Ferreira, author of our recently launched column The Abstract! Becky tells us all about her journey into science journalism and a couple of the studies she's covered. In the subscribers-onl...
Oct 23, 2024•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast We start this week's episode with the ongoing (and pretty confusing!) conflict between Wordpress.com and WP Engine. It might sound like drama, but it actually could have ramifications for the wider web. Sam talks us through it. After the break, Jason explains how he used AI to apply to more than a dozen jobs over breakfast, and how tons of other people are using these tools themselves. In the subscribers-only section, Jason talks about a presentation inside the National Archives which shows the ...
Oct 16, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with Joseph's piece about a couple of Harvard students who cobbled together a pair of Meta's smart glasses that automatically dox people just by looking at them. After break, Sam and Emanuel talk about two Hurricane Helene stories about data and AI. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph talks about a hacked dataset that shows the prompts used on an AI companion site. Heavy content warning for that section. YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3QcY6aGpQ Someone ...
Oct 09, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a trailer for the subscribers-only podcast for 404 Media's one year anniversary! We go long on the business, subscriber numbers, what people value, how to get our articles in front of people, and what we're looking to do next year! If you want to hear the rest, please become a subscriber at 404media.co. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 04, 2024•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over the past two weeks we've had a ton of stories where AI and other companies have opted users into data collection and processing by default. What the hell is going on??? They're all doing it at once! Jason starts us off with how Udemy created an 'opt-out window'. If you missed it, you're out of luck until next year. Then after the break, Sam and Joseph discuss similar stories with PayPal and LinkedIn. In the subscribers-only section, Sam talks about how a woman was essentially trapped in a d...
Oct 02, 2024•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast We have two related stories this week. First, Joseph, Emanuel, and Sam break down their experiences with Telegram, and the social network's massive policy shift. The company says it will now process valid legal requests from law enforcement for user data. After the break, Joseph tells us how the walls are closing in on one of the most disruptive hackers in recent memory. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains why Nintendo's lawsuit against Palworld is bad, and why Nintendo will probab...
Sep 25, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast We chime in on the developing story coming out of Lebanon about a wave of exploding pagers. Jason has some unusual expertise that is pretty relevant here. After the break, Jason breaks down why Larry Ellison's AI-powered surveillance dystopia is already here. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains how he figured out what is, and is not, happening with Snapchat's future AI selfie ads. Experts: Lebanon Pager Explosions Likely Not Lithium Batteries Alone Larry Ellison's AI-Powered Survei...
Sep 18, 2024•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast We've got a really varied one today. First, Sam talks about the new wave of sextortion emails which send a target their home address to scare them into paying. After the break, Jason talks about the rise of the right to repair movement, but for your body and prescription drugs. In the subscribers-only section, Jason breaks down a years old Reddit mystery that is finally solved, thanks to some facial recognition tech. Sextortion Scammers Try to Scare People by Sending Photos of Their Homes ‘Right...
Sep 11, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
