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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
• Joseph Cox
"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
YouTube told ASMR artists including Bunnii, Slight Sounds, Rose, and others that their content broke the platform's sex and nudity policy. Creators say these bans are unfair and potentially life-altering.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
The nature of dark matter and dark energy are among the biggest mysteries in science. Scientists think an extra “dark dimension” could explain both, and they are putting the idea to the test.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
How a company called Rosabella used AI content to market its supplements: "If you’re trying to sell health products to a 50-year-old, well, make your avatar 50 years old."
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
Following 404 Media's reporting on how LinkedIn is full of AI slop, the platform is giving users a chance to report it when they see it.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
"I have a right to speak. I'm here to speak. I have a right to clap, and if you want me out, you're going to have to drag me out."
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
What happened when Flock came to Matthew's town; the rise of no phone Luddite events; and the influencers just making up BS about Flock.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
A new AI data center can be up and running in a year. Building new energy infrastructure to power it could take a decade.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
The U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people,” he said.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
“They didn't understand it was satire in the beginning until the end,” Casa Grande, Arizona resident Jacob Petrosky told 404 Media. “They were not happy, they were very upset.”
404 Media
• Emanuel Maiberg
“I’m not going to apologize for using AI in the creation process.”
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
Apple’s Sensitive Content Warning is supposed to protect users from unwanted nude images. It accidentally blurred my friend’s dog video.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
The Wikimedia Foundation waited until immediately after its largest annual conference to say it wouldn't voluntarily recognize its workers' union.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
Police refused to release the arrest report, saying it could "could interfere with ongoing investigative efforts."
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
Joseph speaks to Mike Yeagley about how he bought the world's location data, and what that means for everyone's privacy and security.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
Claude users are creating public share links, but probably don't realize that means their chats are now ending up in Google searches where anyone can dig through them.
404 Media
• Emanuel Maiberg
Spotify doesn’t label AI music on its platform, so websites like SoullessMusic.com and SlopTracker.org do it instead.
404 Media
• Janus Rose
As tech backlash hits the mainstream, the ‘Summer of Ludd’ proves we don’t need social media to hang out and have a good time.
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
Scientists have predicted that human linguistic diversity flourished between 3,000 and 1,000 years ago, before declining with the rise of multinational states and colonial expansion.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
This week, we discuss astrology, Flock on the brain, The Odyssey, and more.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
A judge in Indiana warns a court reporter than it's their job to proofread their work, after catching errors likely made by AI transcription services.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
Flock's CEO Garrett Langley says people don't understand the capabilities of its ALPR system, but they do.
404 Media
• Samantha Cole
In an internal email shared with creators, CEO Jack Conte wrote that AI doesn’t replace human creativity — but it does affect how the company operates.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
Instagram influencers are creating fake cease-and-desist letters, making themselves go viral and muddying the waters about mass surveillance.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
From phone location data, to social media monitoring, to online undercover tools, a document obtained by 404 Media lays out the surveillance tech available across ICE agency wide.
404 Media
• Becky Ferreira
A team captured first-of-its-kind footage of orcas holding a sunfish carcass still and ramming it so hard that it burst into fragments, which may be a form of social play. “We could hear the sound,” said one researcher.
404 Media
• Joseph Cox
Join us for our latest FOIA Forum where we teach you how to pry records from the government.
404 Media
• Matthew Gault
My small town in South Carolina will soon have more Flock cameras than police officers.
404 Media
• Jason Koebler
"For the time being, if you or someone on your crew has availability to secure black plastic bags (or something else) over the cameras, that would be great."
