News
The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring
404 Media has obtained the list of sites and services that ICE contractor ShadowDragon pulls data from. ShadowDragon sources data from all over the web and lets government analysts easily search it and draw connections between people.
News
Senator Hawley Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek
According to the language of the proposed bill, people who download AI models from China could face up to 20 years in jail, a million dollar fine, or both.
Github
‘Forbidden Words’: Github Reveals How Software Engineers Are Purging Federal Databases
A project called "Remove-DEI" shows the tweaks used to remove "forbidden words" from a database about childhood school readiness.
AI
AI Company Asks Job Applicants Not to Use AI in Job Applications
Anthropic, the developer of the conversational AI assistant Claude, doesn’t want prospective new hires using AI assistants in their applications, regardless of whether they’re in marketing or engineering.
FOIA
Air Force Documents on Gen AI Test Are Just Whole Pages of Redactions
The Air Force paid a company that is doing generative AI work for the government. The Air Force won't say what it did, though.
News
The CDC’s Website Is Being Actively Purged to Comply With Trump DEI Order
“CDC’s website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.“
News
Musk’s DOGE Brings in HR Consultant Focused on ‘Non-Woke’ DEI 'Aligned With Our Faith’
“It’s simply just a non-woke version, offering employers an alternative approach to diversity and inclusion.”
The Abstract
Who Made this Radioactive Saharan Dust Cloud?
Just how radioactive was that Saharan dust cloud that engulfed Europe in 2022?
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Boom, Bust, and Big Ideas
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 AI's boom or bust, trying Github's Copilot, and making time for good ideas.
News
Sellers of Anom, the FBI's Secret Backdoored Phone, Plead Guilty
The pleas mean that “Afgoo,” the person who provided the FBI with the backdoored encrypted phone company in the first place, likely won’t have to testify and have their identity revealed in court.
FOIA
Here's the Video for Our Fifth FOIA Forum: Federal Records
Here is the video archive for our FOIA Forum where we went deep on getting federal government records.
Meta
'Everything I Say Leaks,' Zuckerberg Says in Leaked Meeting Audio
"There are a bunch of things that I think are value-destroying for me to talk about, so I’m not going to talk about those."
Data.gov
Archivists Work to Identify and Save the Thousands of Datasets Disappearing From Data.gov
More than 2,000 datasets have disappeared from data.gov since Trump was inaugurated. But analyzing exactly what happened and where it went is going to take some time.