News
'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School
Leaked documents reveal the inner workings of Alpha School, which both the press and the Trump administration have applauded. The documents show Alpha School's AI is generating faulty lessons that sometimes do "more harm than good."
The Abstract
Astronomers Discovered Something Near the Dawn of Time That Shouldn’t Exist
“It is a massive surprise,” said one astronomer who measured the high temperatures of gas in galaxy cluster that existed 12 billion years ago.
News
HarperCollins Will Use AI to Translate Harlequin Romance Novels
The publisher is teaming with a company that claims its proprietary AI can ‘provide 2 to 3 times higher quality translations’ than other large language models.
ICE
Here is the Agreement Giving ICE Medicaid Patients' Data
On Tuesday, ICE was allowed to continue using Medicaid data in deportation cases.
DHS
Hilton Hotel That Refused DHS Reservations Backpedals
The hotel told 404 Media in a statement “We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated.”
grok
Grok's AI CSAM Shitshow
We are experiencing world events like the kidnapping of Maduro through the lens of the most depraved AI you can imagine.
Surveillance
The State of Anti-Surveillance Design
The most effective surveillance-evading gear might already be in your closet.
The Abstract
Scientists Discover One of the World’s Oldest Cremations
Hunter-gatherers cremated a small woman in Malawi 9,500 years ago, revealing a glimpse of their capabilities and practices.
The Abstract
Scientists Identify Remains of the Earliest Human Ancestor
After years of debate, scientists found a telltale sign that an ancient ape walked on two legs, making it the oldest known human relative.
News
Researchers Are Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters
The nonprofit research group Epoch AI is tracking the physical imprint of the technology that’s changing the world.
zine
The Weird Way the 404 Media Zine Was Built
Lessons on laying out the 404 Media zine using a relatively weird setup—on Linux, using Affinity, with the help of the Windows translation layer WINE.
Podcast
The Shifting World of OSINT (with Craig Silverman)
Joseph talks to Craig Silverman about how open source intelligence (OSINT) has changed over the years, and his new outlet Indicator.
Announcements
We Bought 404media.com
Don’t worry, we’re not changing our website. But we’re finally the owners of the real deal: a .com domain.