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404 Media is an independent media company founded by technology journalists Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, Samantha Cole, and Joseph Cox.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
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.”
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
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.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
AI makes it easier than ever to slip into the comforting glow of nostalgia.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
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.”
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
Scientists filmed a bat family in their roost for months, capturing never-before-seen (and very cute) behaviors.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
This week, we have some party pics and musical selections from last night.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
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.
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
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.
404 Media
• Rosie Thomas
What is going on in DC? Do not ask TikTok
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
“Kia Boys will be Flipper Boys by 2026,” one person in the reverse engineering community said.
404 Media
• Emanuel Maiberg
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.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
The Department of Defense asks its civilian workers to apply for a "volunteer force" to support ICE that may involve working under "austere conditions.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
Emergency workers sent a civilian to the hospital after an Afghanistan War era military vehicle smashed into their car.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
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.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
The Gamescom app spammed attendees with AI-generated meetings before organizers disabled it.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
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.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
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.
404 Media
• Emanuel Maiberg
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 community.
404 Media
• Rosie Thomas
"If your girl says she’s just out with friends every night, you’d better slap one of these on her car."
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
The website for Elon Musk's Grok is exposing prompts for its anime girl, therapist, and conspiracy theory AI personas.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
A critical piece of tech infrastructure that lets people talk to the government has been disabled.
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
A 500-year-old human hair in a rare khipu challenges the long-held idea that only elite men created these knotted records in the Inka empire.
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
Long before modern supply chains, ancient hominins were moving stone across long distances, potentially reshaping what we know about our evolutionary roots.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
This week, we discuss OSINT for chat groups, Russell Crowe films, and storage problems.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
Researchers say this 'robot metabolism' is an early step in giving AI biological style bodies.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
Tech companies spent $1.2 billion on political influence since 2024. It’s paid off.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
The texts were sent to a group called “Mass Text” and show ICE using DMV and license plate reader data in an attempt to find their target, copies of the messages obtained by 404 Media show.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
The cult classic 2005 film is selling for double the MSRP on the secondary market.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
The Department of Energy said it will close FOIA requests from last year unless the requester emails the agency to say they are still interested. Experts say it's an "attempt to close out as many FOIA requests as possible."
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
A DHS sizzle reel that used "Public Service Announcement" got hit with a copyright takedown request and has been deleted off of X.
