Tumblr and WordPress are set to sell posts to OpenAI and Midjourney. And cops are wearing body cameras in libraries. In this episode, Jason, Sam, and Emanuel try to explain what it means for OpenAI and Midjourney to scrape Tumblr's posts, broader chaos at the company, and whether AI is going to run out of things to ingest. Then we talk about the war on libraries, which is taking place all over the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choi...
Feb 28, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast New format alert! We are experimenting with publishing additional interview episodes! These will not replace the normal weekly show. Rather, we'll upload an interview with people we find interesting whenever we feel a good opportunity comes up. Subscribers as usual get early and ad-free access. This episode is with Byron Tau, an investigative journalist and author of the new book Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New American Surveillance State. Josep...
Feb 27, 2024•35 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast A ton of stuff to talk about this week. We start with Jason and Emanuel's dive into how a deepfake nudify app rocked a high school. We got a copy of the police report, and more than anything else it shows we're simply not ready for what deepfakes will mean for ordinary people. Then Joseph talks about uncovering a network of fake funeral livestream scams on Facebook. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about Jason and Sam's very serious investigation into whether a certain brand of vibrator ...
Feb 21, 2024•46 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast We've got a real variety this week. First, Emanuel talks about Paradox.ai, a tool that massive brands like McDonald's, CVS, and FedEx are using to screen job applicants. It uses a bit of AI, but really this is more of a labor story. Then Jason breaks down Stract, an open source search engine that is trying to do search better than the increasingly bad experience of Google. In the subscribers-only section, the group goes long on how a viral story about a botnet of toothbrushes turned out to not b...
Feb 14, 2024•38 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with Joseph's investigation into OnlyFake, an underground website that lets anyone generate convincing photos of fake IDs at the click of a mouse. Joseph successfully used one of these to bypass the identity verification process at a cryptocurrency exchange. This really will have massive implications for crime and cybersecurity more generally. After the break, we have a double feature with a story about AI audio porn and then a likely low tech response to the ongoing deepfake ...
Feb 07, 2024•48 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast (I went in and fixed the audio issue! Please make sure your podcast client has the latest version downloaded. Okay, back to working on an investigation now, thank you for bearing with us) This week's episode is a banger. First, we go long with Sam and Emanuel, the two journalists who have followed deepfakes and generative AI more closely than anyone. Their latest piece talks about what is going to happen next: a clampdown in the AI and social media industries that may be an overcorrection, with ...
Feb 01, 2024•51 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast We're doing something a little different this episode. For the whole free section of the podcast, we're talking all about the degradation of Google. That includes AI-generated articles making their way onto Google News, and how researchers found that, yes, Google search really is getting worse. This is a long, rich, and fun discussion. Then in the subscribers-only section, Joseph breaks down his latest investigation into a phone spying capability that is monitoring billions. Google (to their cre...
Jan 25, 2024•51 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Well, that was a pleasant surprise: Google has formally endorsed right to repair! Jason not only broke this news but then had a long conversation with Google about why it made the change (spoiler: it was the concerted effort of consumers, activists, and journalists). Jason explains why this change matters in the first part of the show. After the break, Sam takes us through a pretty unusual court case and what it means for online dating. Then in the subscribers-only section, Joseph talks about a ...
Jan 17, 2024•34 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast Jason decided to publish our first story minutes before recording, so here is some hot off the presses material. That piece was about scam ads on YouTube involving deepfaked celebrities. After the break, Sam discussed a very bizarre FOIA response from Texas. Then in the subscribers-only section, Jason tells the long and very entertaining saga of the Polish hackers who fixed a bunch of trains, and faced legal threats in response. Deepfaked Celebrity Ads Promoting Medicare Scams Run Rampant on You...
Jan 10, 2024•39 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast We are back for 2024! We hit the ground running this week with a story about charges against a man for allegedly orchestrating a massive, nationwide Airbnb scam. Then Sam speaks about how Pornhub is blocking access to visitors in North Carolina and Montana, who are now (predictably) using VPNs as a workaround. Then in the subscribers-only section we talk about the life and death of the encrypted app Wickr. RIP Wickr. Real Estate ‘Visionary’ Allegedly Behind Massive, Viral Airbnb Fraud Charge I A...
Jan 04, 2024•37 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast In this week's show, we start with a couple of articles about how companies might *actually* be listening to conversations through smart device microphones to target ads. Plenty of questions remain, but we discuss everything we know so far. After the break, Sam explains a new Stanford study which has resulted in one of AI's most important datasets being taken offline (check the article itself for a clarification on Google's connection to the story which we learned after recording). In the subscr...
Dec 21, 2023•46 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast A really bizarre mystery this week. We broke the news that a man somehow flew into LAX without a ticket or passport and DHS is totally stumped. Who knows how he got there? No one, apparently. Then Sam breaks down the latest Patreon ban hammer against a misunderstood community. In the subscriber's only section, Joseph explains a massive mistake by Verizon potentially put a person's physical safety at risk, and what this means for why he doesn't use a phone. Civitai and OctoML Introduce Radical Ne...
Dec 13, 2023•38 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast A content warning for the free section of this episode. Emanuel explains a massive investigation of his into how Civitai, the a16z funded AI platform, generated images that “could be categorized as child pornography,” according to internal Slack chats and more. This is a difficult, complicated, but important story. I'll leave it at that. Then in the subscriber's only section, we talk about Jason's investigation into pickleball turf wars. Remember to check out the video archive of our recent FOIA...
Dec 06, 2023•47 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast So much drama this episode but with an important message behind it all. For the first half, Sam and Jason break down their stories about Eduards Sizovs, a tech conference founder who listed a fake, "auto-generated" woman as a conference speaker. Sizovs is also behind a highly popular woman-in-tech account. There are layers here. After the break, Jason explains how Plex is leaking users' viewing habits to one another. Then in the subscribers-only section, Joseph runs us through how an established...
Nov 29, 2023•49 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Well that was a lot of drama in the world of OpenAI. Fear not, we have a unique angle on how the person in the running to be OpenAI's new CEO was a character in a Harry Potter fanfic that was written deliberately as a recruiting tool to the effective altruist movement. That's definitely a sentence. After the break Sam talks about how Twitter is pushing sex workers into a black hole, then in the subscribers-only section Joseph explains how he found that SIM swappers are gambling stolen Bitcoin at...
Nov 23, 2023•42 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast We recorded this immediately after publishing some breaking news: we discovered that venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is funding Civitai, an AI marketplace we've repeatedly shown is an engine for nonconsensual AI porn. Just this week Emanuel reported Civitai had introduced a "bounty" system, that financially rewards people for making AI-models of specific targets. We talk about both stories in the first section of the podcast. Then after the break of this episode of "The Emanuel M...
Nov 15, 2023•37 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast This week goes in all sorts of directions. First, Joseph runs through his in-depth article on Fusus, a surveillance company that took over one small American town with AI-powered cameras. Now, they're everywhere, both in the U.S. and increasingly abroad. After the break, Sam tells us how attendees of an NFT conference got more than they bargained for, and ended up getting (temporarily) blinded (literally). In the subscribers-only section, Joseph and Jason discuss their just published piece about...
Nov 08, 2023•36 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast We're shaking things up with a new format! As well as the two stories available to all listeners, we have a third discussion at the end which is only for paying subscribers. We explain why at the top of the show. As for this week's articles, first Emanuel explains how YouTube is making money off a livestream of an open air drug market. After the break, Jason and Emanuel discuss their two stories about Israel-Palestine and the lack of archiving efforts and freedom of information. In the subscribe...
Nov 01, 2023•46 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast For the first half of the show, we talk about a couple of stories around the Israel-Palestine conflict. First, Instagram "sincerely apologizes" to Sam for its auto-translations which added the word "terrorist" to sentences containing the word "Palestinian." Then, Joseph and Emanuel talk about their article about how verified Twitter accounts have taken the term "OSINT" and used it to spread their own garbage information. After the break, Joseph takes us through another story of his: a fascinatin...
Oct 25, 2023•41 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Content warning for the first half of the episode because it touches on violent themes. Emanuel takes us through how so-called AI detectors are, instead of clearing up the fog of misinformation around the Israel-Palestine conflict, may actually be making everything much worse. A crucial story for these ongoing events. Then after the break, we change gears and Jason explains a trademark dispute in the film photography community. Spoiler: everyone is mad. AI Images Detectors Are Being Used to Disc...
Oct 18, 2023•44 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is a fun one. First, Sam takes us through her story about generating images of SpongeBob and 9/11 with Bing's AI. Why? Because a bunch of people found a way to create similar images even though they shouldn't be possible under Microsoft's own policies. After the break, we turn into an economics podcast. Jason breaks down what exactly happened when a bunch of credit card maxers (people who try to gather as many credit card points as possible) over saturated the market for Travis Scot...
Oct 11, 2023•42 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast This week we start with a super interesting set of stories about how a small community has found a glitch in YouTube. It lets the group upload basically anything it wants to the platform with little fear of the clip being deleted. That includes explicit videos which were on YouTube for weeks at a time. Emanuel spoke to those responsible. After the break, Jason explains how he got emails showing that the LAPD wants a "partnership" with food delivery robots. The reason? These robots are constantly...
Oct 04, 2023•41 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Holy moly that's a big ol' episode. Jason is back and tells us how ticket scalping actually works on a technical level, and how Ticketmaster benefits from scalping. Sam then explains how AI chatbots with no limits are letting people explore their sexuality safely (please note a content warning for that one for discussions on sexual themes and violence). After the break, Joseph talks about a TikTok account that may be the next evolution in clout-chasing: an account that uses facial recognition te...
Sep 27, 2023•56 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's episode you won't hear Jason because he is out on location reporting from a right to repair conference in New Orleans! Before that, he was in Las Vegas reporting on the ongoing ransomware crisis impacting MGM casinos. But you will hear Joseph, Sam, and Emanuel discuss a tool that ICE has purchased which gives it access to data from a pregnancy tracking website. Then after the break, we talk about the latest update to an ongoing sex trafficking case Sam has been following for years...
Sep 20, 2023•39 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about something that sounds like a Harry Styles story, but it's actually an artificial intelligence one. We also play a few rounds of “Is That Audio Snippet an AI Generated Version of Harry Styles or Is It a Real Section of a Leaked Harry Styles Song?” After the break, Joseph runs us through a massive secret he revealed: the so-called “third country” that intercepted tens of millions of encrypted messages on behalf of the FBI. The ...
Sep 14, 2023•41 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about how Amazon is selling mushroom foraging books that appear to be AI-generated. Not great when foraging can be a matter of life or death. After the break, Joseph explains how he tracked someone through the New York subway using a privacy-leaking feature on an MTA website. ‘Life or Death:’ AI-Generated Mushroom Foraging Books Are All Over Amazon I Tracked an NYC Subway Rider's Movements with an MTA ‘Feature’ NYC Subway Will Disa...
Sep 06, 2023•40 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast On this week's episode Joseph, Jason, Emanuel and Sam first talk about how Instagram is profiting from a vast network of adverts for crime. Instagram even throttled our reach on the platform while continuing to rake in cash from these ads! After the break, we move onto two AI-related stories from Emanuel and Sam. Stuff gets weird. There is a content warning at the top of the show, but we're repeating it in the show notes for this section. Most of My Instagram Ads Are for Drugs, Stolen Credit Car...
Aug 29, 2023•48 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to 404 Media! On this special introductory episode, 404 Media co-founders Joseph Cox, Sam Cole, Emanuel Maiberg, and Jason Koebler explain what's in store for this new, journalist-founded media outlet. After the break, Joseph and Jason break down how violent criminals have managed to gain access to a supply chain of data that lets them dox nearly anyone in America. Most of the country likely has no idea their data is collected and sold this way, and certainly don't know that criminals no...
Aug 22, 2023•37 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast 
