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New from 404 Media: here's our report on the aircraft circling above the LA protests. Local, state, DHS, military all flew. Left: aircraft from air base. Right: a distinctive high altitude/hexagonal flight pattern, looks like a Predator drone (it flew to border after) www.404media.co/dhs-black-ha...

submitted 11 minutes ago • 1 comment

A DHS Customs and Border Protection Black Hawk flying over Downtown LA now during the anti-ICE protests

submitted 14 hours ago • 8 comments

Another flight of an aircraft with no call sign circling above anti-ICE protests. It took off from March Air Reserve Base, circled above Paramount, and is now circling above downtown LA (the National Guard is moving protesters away from the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown)

submitted 15 hours ago • 13 comments

A plane with no call sign is currently circling the area where the LA anti-ICE protests are taking place. It took off from March Air Reserve Base

submitted 1 day ago • 12 comments

Elon Musk claimed the art this man painstakingly created was generated by Grok. We spoke to Charles Brook, who takes photographs inside musical instruments. Someone took those, added people with Grok, and Musk blasted it to his followers without credit. www.404media.co/elon-musk-cl...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

In leaked audio we obtained, surveillance company Flock calls me an "activist reporter". I wrote about that here, and here is what the audio said: www.404media.co/behind-the-b...

submitted 2 days ago • 6 comments

This is the most illuminating article yet on how DOGE tech bro clowns actually think, how they approach problems, their completely amateur use of AI, and the damage they can cause. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

submitted 3 days ago • 3 comments

New from 404 Media: TSA is working on haptic tech to 'feel' your body in virtual reality. System detects the contours of a person, then transmits it to a TSA official with a haptic feedback glove who can 'feel' their body without touching them www.404media.co/tsa-working-...

submitted 4 days ago • 5 comments

New from 404 Media: Apple gave governments data related to thousands of push notifications. Governments request this data in attempt to identify person behind devices. Sometimes include unencrypted push notification content www.404media.co/apple-gave-g...

submitted 4 days ago • 6 comments

New from 404 Media: the IRS tax filing software Turbotax tried to kill just got opened source. Available on Github, people are forking it www.404media.co/directfile-o...

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

AI-generated Bible videos are going viral because Christian actually love them and make them. Here's why: www.404media.co/why-do-chris...

submitted 4 days ago • 84 comments

New from 404 Media: Ukraine's massive drone attack was powered by open source software. The developer of ArduPilot said “That's ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” in response to footage of the attack www.404media.co/ukraines-mas...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

We spoke to 15 teachers about how AI and ChatGPT is ruining their lives. "Honestly, if we ejected all the genAI tools into the sun, I would be quite pleased." www.404media.co/teachers-are...

submitted 6 days ago • 4 comments

New from 404 Media: even mods of a pro-AI subreddit are having to ban mentally unwell users who believe ChatGPT is letting them talk to God, etc. www.404media.co/pro-ai-subre...

submitted 7 days ago • 7 comments

Even the mods of a pro-AI subreddit tell me they are having to ban an uptick of unwell users who think ChatGPT is letting them talk to god, or turning them into a god, etc www.404media.co/pro-ai-subre...

submitted 7 days ago • 24 comments

Flock has decided not to use hacked data in its people search tool after our earlier reporting: www.404media.co/flock-decide...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

New from 404 Media: Flock says it will not use hacked data in its new people search tool for cops. This comes after internal pressure and our coverage based on leaked material revealing the plans www.404media.co/flock-decide...

submitted 9 days ago • 3 comments

Scoop: Texas police used Flock's license plate cameras to search nationwide for a woman who had a self-managed abortion. Claim it was "about her safety" www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-...

submitted 10 days ago • 933 comments

New from 404 Media: a cop in Texas performed a nationwide search of license plate reading cameras for a woman who got an abortion, according to multiple sets of data we've reviewed. Included cameras where abortion is legal, like Washington and Illinois www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-...

submitted 10 days ago • 54 comments

Here's a clip from the YouTube version of our podcast all about Flock, the AI-enabled cameras across the country that local cops are searching on behalf of ICE. It's the technical infrastructure for national surveillance. YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTr...

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

A new tool has scraped YouTube comments, lets harassers or anyone else search for a specific user, use AI to approximate where the person might be from based on their comments. Developer says it's for cops, but there are no checks. We signed up and used it www.404media.co/developer-bu...

submitted 11 days ago • 7 comments

The 404 Media Podcast is out! This week we talk all about Flock, the nationwide AI-enabled cameras in thousands of U.S. communities - how ICE is accessing this system - Flock's plans to use hacked data to identify people - subscribers-only: the future of Civitai www.404media.co/podcast-ices...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

New from 404 Media: inside the Discord community developing its own hair loss drugs. Members contribute data and research in exchange for crypto tokens. Some of them claim “the best hair loss researchers are basically anons on the internet.” www.404media.co/inside-the-d...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

This is a major major deal that undercuts the current nonconsensual porn generation ecosystem: www.404media.co/civitai-ban-...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

New: a16z-backed AI platform Civitai has banned AI models depicting likeness of real people. This is a major development considering making AIs of other people is what a ton of Civitai's users do. Comes after pressure from payment processor and 404 Media’s reporting www.404media.co/civitai-ban-...

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

SCOOP: ICE, HSI, and DHS are getting side-door access to the nationwide system of Flock license plate cameras by asking local police to perform lookups for them, new public records show. ICE does not have a contract to use this surveillance tool itself. www.404media.co/ice-taps-int...

submitted 13 days ago • 37 comments

New from 404 Media: ICE is tapping into a nationwide AI camera network, data we got shows. Flock's automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) in thousands of communities. Data shows "ICE", "immigration" as reasons for use. Local cops doing lookups for ICE, no warrant www.404media.co/ice-taps-int...

submitted 13 days ago • 16 comments

New from 404 Media: the CIA secretly ran a Star Wars fan website. Was part of the network of sites the CIA used to communicate with sources. Iran discovered the network, imprisoned people. Later dozens died in China after exposed www.404media.co/the-cia-secr...

submitted 13 days ago • 25 comments

AI prompts keep ending up in published works of fiction. I spoke with two of the authors and got wildly different answers about what's going on. A third author, and the one whose scandal sent me on this journey, has no online presence and seems to be a ghost.

submitted 16 days ago • 7 comments

New from 404 Media: authors are getting caught leaving AI prompts in their novels, telling the AI to follow someone else's style. We bought a copy to confirm. www.404media.co/authors-are-...

submitted 17 days ago • 32 comments

New from 404 Media: iconic hacking con HOPE has sold 50% fewer tickets this year, with event just a few months away. Organizers say it's due to U.S. immigration crackdown. A speaker already pulled out, said friends' devices seized at border. Will impact the event www.404media.co/hacker-confe...

submitted 17 days ago • 5 comments

Google Veo 3 is repeating the same dad joke over and over again, or talking in tongues www.404media.co/why-does-goo...

submitted 18 days ago • 2 comments

New from 404 Media: popular VR game Gorilla Tag just implemented age verification measures. Kids say they are using photos of G-Man, Trump, and the YouTuber Markiplier to bypass the face scanning tech www.404media.co/kids-say-the...

submitted 18 days ago • 2 comments

New: Researchers published a massive database of more than 2 billion Discord messages that they say they scraped using Discord’s public API. Released publicly so anyone can download www.404media.co/researchers-...

submitted 18 days ago • 2 comments

New from 404 Media: Trump just said his "Golden Dome" project would start soon. Scientists we've spoken to say it's pure fantasy. www.404media.co/scientists-e...

submitted 19 days ago • 5 comments

Turns out that AI-generated summer guide printed by the Chicago Sun-Times was made by magazine giant Hearst. We spoke to them. www.404media.co/viral-ai-gen...

submitted 19 days ago • 10 comments

I spoke to the person who AI-generated the Chicago Sun-Times reading list. Says he's very embarrassed. This was part of a generic package inserted into newspapers and other publications, so likely to run elsewhere. He didn't know it'd be in Chicago Sun-Times www.404media.co/chicago-sun-...

submitted 19 days ago • 161 comments

We spoke to the person who used AI to generate the Chicago Sun-Times' "Best of Summer" reading list. It contains real authors and fake books. “On me 100 percent and I'm completely embarrassed.” www.404media.co/chicago-sun-...

submitted 19 days ago • 6 comments

I will probably beat this drum for a long time: most people have no idea how bad the state of AI video generation is. It hasn't escaped containment the same way AI image generation did with Taylor Swift last year, and when it does people will freak out www.404media.co/configuratio...

submitted 19 days ago • 7 comments

New from 404 Media: Civitai, the AI model sharing site backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), is allowing users to AI generate nonconsensual porn of real people, despite the site’s policies against this type of content www.404media.co/configuratio...

submitted 19 days ago • 5 comments

So judging by the $256 million dollar sale of 23andMe, your genetic data is worth like $17 www.404media.co/23andme-sale...

submitted 20 days ago • 10 comments