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The 404 Media Podcast

Author: 404 Media

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Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned digital media company exploring the way technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world. We bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds both online and IRL through investigative reporting, smart blogging, and breaking news. At 404 Media you’ll read, and hear, stories you can’t find anywhere else written by journalists who are leading experts on their beats. Subscribe to 404 Media at 404media.co to gain access to an ad-free version of this podcast, as well as a bonus podcast episodes. Subscribers are the bedrock of building a sustainable business for our journalism.

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108 Episodes
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We’re back! We start this week with Emanuel’s article about Anubis, an open source piece of software that is saving the internet from AI bot scrapers. After the break, Joseph tells us about the new facial recognition app ICE is using and which he revealed. In the subscribers-only section, we do a lightning round runthrough of a bunch of our recent stories about LLMs and how to trick them, or what they don’t understand. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lqJL1u8UhmE The Open-Source Software Saving the Internet From AI Bot Scrapers ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show AI Models And Parents Don’t Understand ‘Let Him Cook’ Fine-Tuning LLMs For ‘Good’ Behavior Makes Them More Likely To Say No Researchers Jailbreak AI by Flooding It With Bullshit Jargon Thumbnail credit: Mascot by CELPHASE. Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For this week’s podcast, I’m talking to our friend Casey Johnston, a tech journalist turned fitness journalist turned independent journalist. Casey studied physics, which led her to tech journalism; she did some of my favorite coverage of Internet culture as well as Apple’s horrendous butterfly laptop keyboards. We worked together at VICE, where Casey was an editor and where she wrote Ask a Swole Woman, an advice column about weightlifting. After she left VICE, Casey founded She’s a Beast, an independent site about weightlifting, but also about the science of diet culture, fitness influencers on the internet, the intersections of all those things, etc.  She just wrote A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting, a really great reported memoir about how our culture and the media often discourages people from lifting, and how this type of exercise can be really beneficial to your brain and your body. I found the book really inspiring and actually started lifting right after I read it. In this interview we talk about her book, about journalism, about independent media, and how doing things like lifting weights and touching grass helps us navigate the world. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/vV0esl4LLIU Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Emanuel and Joseph’s coverage of ‘FuckLAPD.com’, a website that uses facial recognition to instantly reveal a LAPD officer’s name and salary. The creator has relaunched their similar tool for identifying ICE employees too. After the break, Jason tells us about a massive AI ruling that opens the way for AI companies to scrape everyone’s art. In the subscribers-only section, our regular contributor Matthew describes all the AI slop in the Iran and Israel conflict, and why it matters. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/1eieXQIaALA ‘FuckLAPD.com’ Lets Anyone Use Facial Recognition to Instantly Identify Cops Judge Rules Training AI on Authors' Books Is Legal But Pirating Them Is Not The AI Slop Fight Between Iran and Israel Thumbnail credit: Photo by Sean Lee/Unsplash Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week we start with Joseph’s article about the U.S’s major airlines selling customers’ flight information to Customs and Border Protection and then telling the agency to not reveal where the data came from. After the break, Emanuel tells us how AI scraping bots are breaking open libraries, archives, and museums. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains the casual surveillance relationship between ICE and local cops, according to emails he got. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Auc7NPD2ig4 Our New FOIA Forum! 6/18, 1PM ET Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS AI Scraping Bots Are Breaking Open Libraries, Archives, and Museums Emails Reveal the Casual Surveillance Alliance Between ICE and Local Police Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Much of this episode is about the ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. We start with Joseph explaining how he monitored surveillance aircraft flying over the protests, including what turned out to be a Predator drone. After the break, Jason tells us about the burning Waymos. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about the owner of Girls Do Porn, a sex trafficking ring on Pornhub, pleading guilty (a content warning for that one). YouTube version: https://youtu.be/o8Pb9l9FPaA DHS Black Hawks and Military Aircraft Surveil the LA Protests DHS Flew Predator Drones Over LA Protests, Audio Shows Waymo Pauses Service in Downtown LA Neighborhood Where They're Getting Lit on Fire Girls Do Porn Ringleader Pleads Guilty, Faces Life In Prison Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Sam's dive into a looming piece of anti-porn legislation, prudish algorithms, and eggs. After the break, Matthew tells us about the open source software that powered Ukraine's drone attack against Russia. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains how even pro-AI subreddits are dealing with people having AI delusions. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/daEt3CptlRU The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians Ukraine's Massive Drone Attack Was Powered by Open Source Software Pro-AI Subreddit Bans 'Uptick' of Users Who Suffer from AI Delusions  Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week is a bumper episode all about Flock, the automatic license plate reading (ALPR) cameras across the U.S. First, Jason explains how we found that ICE essentially has backdoor access to the network through local cops. After the break, Joseph tells us all about Nova, the planned product that Flock is making which will make the technology even more invasive by using hacked data. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel details the massive changes AI platform Civitai has made, and why it's partly in response to our reporting. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/-PTrY9x8K9c ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows License Plate Reader Company Flock Is Building a Massive People Lookup Tool, Leak Shows Civitai Ban of Real People Content Deals Major Blow to the Nonconsensual AI Porn Ecosystem Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
AI Slop Summer

AI Slop Summer

2025-05-2145:22

We start this week with Jason's couple of stories about how the Chicago Sun-Times printed a summer guide that was basically all AI-generated. Jason spoke to the person behind it. After the break, a bunch of documents show that schools were simply not ready for AI. In the subscribers-only section, we chat all about Star Wars and those funny little guys. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/P2GzbKKeAFc Chicago Sun-Times Prints AI-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist Viral AI-Generated Summer Guide Printed by Chicago Sun-Times Was Made by Magazine Giant Hearst American Schools Were Deeply Unprepared for ChatGPT, Public Records Show Star Wars Shows the Future of AI Special Effects and It Sucks Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Jason and Matthew's story about an AI avatar that testified in court. It might be a sign of things to come. After the break, well, well, well, Meta is developing facial recognition for its smart glasses. In the subscribers-only section, Jason tells us all about AI in baseball. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Mq4gqNS0vRw 'I Loved That AI:' Judge Moved by AI-Generated Avatar of Man Killed in Road Rage Incident Well, Well, Well: Meta to Add Facial Recognition To Glasses After All The Simulation Says the Orioles Should Be Good Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week's episode with our massive story on TeleMessage, the Signal clone the Trump administration uses to archive messages which was hacked. We have more detail than anyone else on that story. After the break, Jason tells us about another hack, this time GlobalX Air, one of the airlines used by ICE for deportation flights. In the subscribers-only section, Sam and Emanuel tell us about the shut down of Mr. Deepfakes, and what the lasting legacy of the site will be. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/J__qWnFJZgA The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked Senator Demands Investigation into Trump Admin Signal Clone After 404 Media Investigation GlobalX, Airline for Trump’s Deportations, Hacked Mr. Deepfakes, the Biggest Deepfake Porn Site on the Internet, Says It’s Shutting Down for Good Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week we start with Sam's very in-depth story on Meta's AI chatbots, and how they're essentially posing as licensed therapists. After the break, Jason breaks down the wildly unethical AI-powered research that took place on Reddit. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains how the age of realtime deepfake fraud is here after he got a bunch of videos showing scammers do their thing. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/H5380M-hnJ4 Instagram's AI Chatbots Lie About Being Licensed Therapists Researchers Secretly Ran a Massive, Unauthorized AI Persuasion Experiment on Reddit Users Reddit Issuing 'Formal Legal Demands' Against Researchers Who Conducted Secret AI Experiment on Users The Age of Realtime Deepfake Fraud Is Here Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Emanuel and Jason's big story on Massive Blue, a company that is selling AI-powered undercover bots posing as protesters and children to the cops. After the break, Sam tells us about visiting the millennial saint. In the subscribers-only section, we talk business and the state of 404 Media. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/E98i9OFJbW4 Leaked: Palantir’s Plan to Help ICE Deport People ICE Plans Central Database of Health, Labor, Housing Agency Data to Find Targets This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops I Went to See ‘God’s Influencer,’ the Millennial Saint Carlo Acutis How 404 Media Is Navigating 'Economic Headwinds' Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jason, Sam, and Blood in the Machine's Brian Merchant discuss how AI slop has taken over the internet, how it is a brute-force attack against the algorithms that control what we see on social media, and what we can do to fight back against it. This panel was held at Speakeasy in Austin, Texas at SXSW on March 10, 2025. Thanks to our friends at Flipboard for giving us the space and to DeleteMe for sponsoring the event. Use code "404Media" for 20% off an annual plan of DeleteMe: https://www.404media.co/r/5d94373c?m=e247fe06-53d6-4c05-9484-be3684d4f655 Find Brian's work at Blood in the Machine: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ Become a paid subscriber for access to bonus content: https://404media.co/membership Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week we start with a couple of Jason and Joseph's stories about the tool ICE uses to lookup an incredible amount of information about people. After the break, Joseph explains how he tested an AI service that calls your parents in case you can't be bothered. In the subscribers-only section, our new regular contributor Matthew Gault tells us all about the hack of 4chan and how we got here. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/gFmvCvvaB4k Inside a Powerful Database ICE Uses to Identify and Deport People I Tested The AI That Calls Your Elderly Parents If You Can't Be Bothered 4chan Is Down Following What Looks to Be a Major Hack Spurred By Meme War Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Earlier this week we wrote an article called “A US-Made iPhone Is Pure Fantasy." The long and short of it is that Trump’s dream of moving all high tech manufacturing to the US is extremely difficult because global supply chains are so intricate, manufacturing expertise exists primarily in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and other countries, and the components that go into a phone are often made in other countries as well. But there is currently one smartphone that qualifies for a “Made in the USA” title from the FTC. It’s the Liberty Phone, which is made by a company called Purism. The phone is a version of Purism’s Librem 5. The Made-in-China Librem 5 costs $800, and the Liberty phone costs $2,000. It has 4 GB of memory, and reviewers say that its specs are pretty outdated. Not every single component in the Liberty Phone is made in the USA, but the company has been trying very hard to make it as American-made as possible. The fact that it exists at all is kind of a miracle, and the way that Purism is approaching manufacturing is really interesting, so I called Purism’s founder, Todd Weaver, to talk about smartphone supply chains, making tech products in the United States, and tariffs. Here’s our discussion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Joseph's story revealing how the FBI secretly ran a massive money laundering ring to catch drug traffickers and hackers. After the break, we run through a bunch of tariff stories and how it's going to impact everything from the Nintendo Switch to the iPhone. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains why he found the new book on Facebook particularly illuminating. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/XUAuEtirP8E ‘Elon Musk’ Was a Prolific Money Launderer for Hackers and Drug Traffickers. It Was Secretly the FBI Big Tech Backed Trump for Acceleration. They Got a Decel President Instead 'Sea of Idiocy:' Economists Say Trump Tariffs Will Raise Price of Switch 2 and Everything Else A 'US-Made iPhone' Is Pure Fantasy Framework Stops Selling Some of Its Laptops in the U.S. Due to Tariffs 'Careless People' Is the Book About Facebook I've Wanted for a Decade Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jason, Sam, and Emanuel talk about Miyazaki being turned into a meme, the guys suing OnlyFans after being surprised to learn they were not actually talking to models, and the depravity of "brainrot" AI. Articles discussed: Hayao Miyazaki, Who Said AI Is ‘Insult to Life Itself,” Reduced to AI-Generated Meme by OpenAI: https://www.404media.co/hayao-miyazaki-who-said-ai-is-insult-to-life-itself-reduced-to-ai-generated-meme-by-openai/ OnlyFans Sued After Two Guys Realized They Might Not Actually Be Talking to Models: https://www.404media.co/onlyfans-sued-after-two-guys-realized-they-might-not-actually-be-talking-to-models/ Subscribers Only: 'Brainrot' AI on Instagram Is Monetizing the Most Fucked Up Things You Can Imagine (and Lots You Can't): https://www.404media.co/brainrot-ai-on-instagram-is-monetizing-the-most-fucked-up-things-you-can-imagine-and-lots-you-cant/ Become a paid subscriber for access to bonus content: https://404media.co/membership Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week we start with the bankruptcy of commercial DNA company 23andMe, and what it means for its users' genetic data. Probably not good things! After the break, Joseph and Jason explain what 'Dogequest' is, and how people allegedly vandalizing Tesla locations have been caught. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us about some fake audio of JD Vance talking about Musk, and then we all chat about the crazy Signal group chat story. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/OLh0IDigwAM DNA of 15 Million People for Sale in 23andMe Bankruptcy Did the FBI Seize My Vagina Cultures? ‘Dogequest’ Site Claims to Dox Tesla Owners Across the U.S. How Three Alleged Tesla Vandals Got Caught Viral Audio of JD Vance Badmouthing Elon Musk Is Fake, Just the Tip of the AI Iceberg Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Joseph's story about the 200+ sites an ICE contractor called ShadowDragon is monitoring. A lot of surprising ones on there. After the break, Emanuel explains why NASA, Yale, and Stanford scientists are considering leaving the U.S. for France. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel breaks down the fascinating reason why Super Nintendos are getting faster as they age. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/LBUsFawJ6E0 The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring NASA, Yale, and Stanford Scientists Consider 'Scientific Exile,' French University Says Super Nintendo Hardware Is Running Faster as It Ages Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We start this week with Emanuel's great investigation into Chinese AI video models, and how they have far fewer safeguards than their American counterparts. A content warning for that section due to what the users are making. After the break, Joseph explains how police are using AI to summarize evidence seized from mobile phones. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about an AI-developed game that is making a ton of money. But your AI-generated game probably won't. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/_Sy_nw4gJVY Chinese AI Video Generators Unleash a Flood of New Nonconsensual Porn Alibaba Releases Advanced Open Video Model, Immediately Becomes AI Porn Machine Cellebrite Is Using AI to Summarize Chat Logs and Audio from Seized Mobile Phones This Game Created by AI 'Vibe Coding' Makes $50,000 a Month. Yours Probably Won’t Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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