Deepfakes
'I Want to Make You Immortal:' How One Woman Confronted Her Deepfakes Harasser
“After discovering this content, I’m not going to lie… there are times it made me not want to be around any more either,” she said. “I literally felt buried.”
Car Repair
Appliance and Tractor Companies Lobby Against Giving the Military the Right to Repair
The U.S. military deals with the same repair monopolies consumers do.
News
1 in 10 Minors Say Their Friends Use AI to Generate Nudes of Other Kids, Survey Finds
A new survey attempts to quantify just how common it is for minors to AI-generate nudes of other minors.
Telegram
How Telegram's Founder Pavel Durov Became a Culture War Martyr
Conservatives have spent months championing Telegram as an app that more closely aligns with their values than Signal.
Court Watch
FBI Uses January 6 Rioter’s Self-Published Amazon Book as Evidence Against Him
The Kindle book has been taken down by Amazon but the author's children's books remain up.
News
Here’s the Pitch Deck for ‘Active Listening’ Ad Targeting
404 Media previously reported Cox Media Group (CMG) was advertising a service that claimed to target ads based on what potential customers said near device microphones. Now, here is the pitch deck CMG sent to prospective companies. Google has kicked CMG off its Partner Program in response.
Podcast
Podcast: A Whirlwind Tour of DEF CON
Joseph went to DEF CON to talk to hackers on location. AI, hacking biology, and community all came up.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Skipping Meetings and Calming Nerves
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss running 404 Media for a whole year, public speaking, and meetings.
Announcements
What We Learned In Our First Year of 404 Media
In August 2023, we launched 404 Media with a novel idea: pay journalists to do journalism. Here we are, a year later.
News
US Feds Are Tapping a Half-Billion Encrypted Messaging Goldmine
European cops hacked the encrypted phone provider Sky in 2021. More and more cases in the U.S. are using that mass of collected messages.
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Used Revolving Barcodes to Control Ticket Resale Market and Surveil Customers, DOJ Alleges
"We now not only know the person that bought the ticket, but we’re going to know those three people that you are taking to the show, which we have not known historically."
Podcast
Podcast: How Taylor Swift Could Sue Trump for AI Images
We break down how Taylor Swift could sue Donald Trump for a fake, AI-generated endorsement of the presidential candidate; how the U.S. is tapping an intelligence goldmine of encrypted chats; and how we approach generating impact with our journalism.
copyright
Shein Is Suing Temu For Copyright Infringement
Shein, notorious for being accused of copyright infringement by small artists and big brands alike, is suing its competitor Temu for... copyright infringement.