FOIA
We Sued ICE to Get Its Spyware Contract. The Agency Is Redacting Essentially Everything
Paragon's software is capable of remotely breaking into phones and accessing messages from encrypted messaging apps. Our lawsuit aims to pry records about it from ICE.
News
Amazon Shuts Down Internal AI Leaderboard After Employees Cheated
Employees admitted to 404 Media they had cheated to climb the leaderboard's ranks.
Meta
Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked
The exploit shows the extreme risk of offloading technical support to AI.
FOIA
We Sued ICE to Get Its Spyware Contract. The Agency Is Redacting Essentially Everything
Paragon's software is capable of remotely breaking into phones and accessing messages from encrypted messaging apps. Our lawsuit aims to pry records about it from ICE.
News
AI Grifters Are Making Anti-Data Center Slop With AI
There are hundreds of anti-data center Facebook pages churning out AI-generated slopaganda.
The Abstract
‘Highly Plausible’ Aliens on Europa Are Earthlings’ Descendants, Study Says
A new study suggests that bacteria dispersed through space on dust grains could potentially arrive intact and alive on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Being New and Some Numbers
This week, we discuss going deeper and Google's search changes.
chatbots
New Study Reveals the Manipulative ‘Dark Patterns’ of AI Chatbots
A new study by the Center for Democracy & Technology shows how chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Replika and more can lead users down paths they didn't intend.
Flock
Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags
Regretful cities aren't sure how to cancel their surveillance contracts, so they are literally covering their cameras.
The Abstract
The Sun Is Undergoing a Mysterious Change and Nobody Knows Why
Astronomers discovered that magnetic activity in the Sun is being squeezed into a more tightly confined area under its surface, which has implications for space weather forecasts and heliophysics.
News
‘Cracked Oura’ Is an App For Using the Oura Ring Without the Monthly Subscription
On Thursday Oura announced the nearly $500 Ring 5. But what if you don't want to pay a monthly subscription to access your health data?
biometrics
Headway Therapy Patients Forced to Scan Their Faces to Keep Getting Care
A popular virtual therapy platform is telling providers and patients they'll have to do facial scanning soon, forcing some to choose between handing over their data and continuing care.
AI
‘Lobotomized’: Character.AI Is Showing What AI Enshittification Looks Like
Ads everywhere. Usage limits. Frustrating guardrails. Less model choice. Users of the Character.AI chatbot app are revolting after a series of changes they say have made the app worse.