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404 Media is a new independent media company founded by technology journalists Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, Samantha Cole, and Joseph Cox.
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Attorneys General To AI Chatbot Companies: You Will ‘Answer For It’ If You Harm Children
Forty-four attorneys general signed an open letter on Monday that says to companies developing AI chatbots: "If you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it.”
CBP Had Access to More than 80,000 Flock AI Cameras Nationwide
Flock said it has "paused all federal pilots" after police departments said they didn't realize they were sharing access with Customs and Border Patrol.
80s Nostalgia AI Slop Is Boomerfying the Masses for a Past That Never Existed
AI makes it easier than ever to slip into the comforting glow of nostalgia.
Citizen Is Using AI to Generate Crime Alerts With No Human Review. It’s Making a Lot of Mistakes
Three sources described how AI is writing alerts for Citizen and broadcasting them without prior human review. In one case AI mistranslated “motor vehicle accident” to “murder vehicle accident.”
Scientists Discovered Bats Group Hugging and It’s Adorable
Scientists filmed a bat family in their roost for months, capturing never-before-seen (and very cute) behaviors.
404 Media at Two Years: How We've Grown, and What's Next
We're reflecting on the impact our journalism had in year two, how we've grown with your support, and what we aspire to accomplish in year three.
Behind the Blog: Our Second Anniversary Party!
This week, we have some party pics and musical selections from last night.
A ‘Warp’ In Our Solar System Might Be an Undiscovered World: Planet Y
In addition to Planet Nine, the solar system may also contain a closer, smaller world that could be spotted soon, according to a new preprint study.
Real Footage Combined With AI Slop About DC Is Creating a Disinformation Mess on TikTok
What is going on in DC? Do not ask TikTok
Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the 'Antithesis of Wikipedia'
Wikipedia's founder said he used ChatGPT in the review process for an article and thought it could be helpful. Editors replied to point out it was full of mistakes.
Inside the Underground Trade of ‘Flipper Zero’ Tech to Break into Cars
“Kia Boys will be Flipper Boys by 2026,” one person in the reverse engineering community said.
Pentagon Asks Its Civilian Employees If They Want to Work for ICE
The Department of Defense asks its civilian workers to apply for a "volunteer force" to support ICE that may involve working under "austere conditions.
A National Guard Tactical Vehicle T-Boned a Civilian Car in D.C.
Emergency workers sent a civilian to the hospital after an Afghanistan War era military vehicle smashed into their car.
DC National Guard Is Being Trained to Carry Pistols Known to Fire at Random
The Sig Sauer P320 has a reputation for firing on its own. The National Guard is training to use them on the streets of D.C.
AI at the World’s Biggest Games Event Booked Random Meetings for Attendees
The Gamescom app spammed attendees with AI-generated meetings before organizers disabled it.
Podcast: The Inside Story of Tea
The inside story of how Tea undercut women's safety groups to get people to join its app; GPS trackers sold on TikTok; and Grok exposes its prompts.
Chinese Livestreaming 'Virtual Human' Salespeople Are Outselling Their Human Counterparts
Built using AI technology from Baidu and DeepSeek, these virtual livestreamers sell everything from wet wipes to printers and work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
How Tea’s Founder Convinced Millions of Women to Spill Their Secrets, Then Exposed Them to the World
A 404 Media investigation reveals how the man who started Tea, the ‘women dating safety’ app, tried to hire a female ‘face’ for the company and then hijack her grassroots...
TikTok Shop Sells Viral GPS Trackers Marketed to Stalkers
"If your girl says she’s just out with friends every night, you’d better slap one of these on her car."
Grok Exposes Underlying Prompts for Its AI Personas: ‘EVEN PUTTING THINGS IN YOUR ASS’
The website for Elon Musk's Grok is exposing prompts for its anime girl, therapist, and conspiracy theory AI personas.