The 404 Media Podcast

We start this week with Joseph’s story about how we obtained Haotian AI, a sought-after piece of realtime video deepfake software that lets you turn into anyone else during Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, or Zoom calls. After the break, Matthew tells us about some insane Yu-Gi-Oh trading card drama. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains how the hard drive shortage is impacting those archiving the internet. ‘HELLO BOSS’: Inside the Chinese Realtime Deepfake Software Powering Scams Around the World Man Finds $1 Million Worth of Yu-Gi-Oh Cards in a Dumpster The AI Hard Drive Shortage Is Making It More Expensive and Harder to Archive the Internet YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/O_d1VxuBdAU Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The logic behind Polymarket, Kalshi and sports betting apps can be traced back to the inner workings of the slot machine.  How did we get to a point where it’s legal for anyone to bet on anything? Be it the results of a baseball game or a land war in Europe, if you have access to a credit card and a computer you can try to predict the outcome of anything that’s happening in the world and win a little bit of money if you’re right. If we know that gambling can lead to high rates gambling addiction and financial ruin, why does it seem like our culture has suddenly embraced it? For years, anyone who has reported on our increasing addiction to technology has found their way to Natasha Natasha Dow Schüll’s book Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. The book is an ethnography of slot machines. It is based on many interviews with the people who make them and play them, a deep investigation of how they work, and how they fit into the larger context of casinos, Las Vegas, and gambling more broadly.  Since it was published more than a decade ago, the logic of slot machines has extended far beyond Las Vegas. Every notification on our phone, trading platforms like Robinhood, the crypto craze, and now prediction markets, can be understood through the lens of slot machine design and Schüll work. That’s why I was incredibly happy she agreed to come on the podcast this week to discuss our current gambling-obsessed culture.  https://www.natashadowschull.org YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/2kRAXeKhzNY Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Jason's story about Flock accessing cameras in a children's gymnastics room as a sale pitch demo. After the break, Emanuel tells us why Nature retracted a paper about the alleged benefits of ChatGPT in education. In the subscibers-only section, we talk all about the cancellation of RightsCon after pressure from the Chinese government. City Learns Flock Accessed Cameras in Children's Gymnastics Room as a Sales Pitch Demo, Renews Contract Anyway 'Nature' Retracts Paper on the Benefits of ChatGPT in Education OpenAI, Google, aÍnd Microsoft Back Bill to Fund ‘AI Literacy’ in Schools World’s Largest Digital Human Rights Conference Suddenly Canceled China Pressure Canceled World’s Largest Digital Human Rights Conference YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/hLR8MOOhRCo Subscribe at 404media.co Go to surfshark.com/404Media to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we talk to Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine, about a rash of people physically destroying AI and surveillance infrastructure. Brian puts this wave of attacks in the historical context of the Luddites, who are notoriously misunderstood and fought for worker protections against automation during the Industrial Revolution. Over the last few months, we have seen people in San Francisco and Los Angeles torch Waymos, bash delivery robots with baseball bats, destroy Flock cameras, and threaten AI data centers and the politicians championing them. This type of political violence doesn’t and cannot occur in a vacuum, it happens because people feel they are being taken advantage of and that their representatives aren’t listening to them. Given the current state of things, we can likely expect more of these sorts of attacks to occur. Blood In The Machine YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/1Z4k_vDovbY Go to ⁠surfshark.com/404Media⁠ to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jason explains the conspiracy theory circulating behind a trippy stock image that went viral after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner—was it sent here by a time traveler? (Spoiler: It was not.) Then Sam unpacks what’s happening at Arizona State University with a messy rollout of a new AI-powered tool that generates lessons by scraping professors’ lectures without their knowledge. In the second for subscribers at the Supporter level, Emanuel gets philosophical with a discussion about the question of machine consciousness and how it relates to a new paper from a Google-affiliated scientist. ⁠University Professors Disturbed to Find Their Lectures Chopped Up and Turned Into AI Slop⁠ ⁠Did a Time Traveling Superintelligent AI Try to Warn About White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting? An Investigation⁠ ⁠Google DeepMind Paper Argues LLMs Will Never Be Conscious⁠ YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/VOo0ZpIagP0 Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Joseph talks to Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a journalist at TechCrunch. Lorenzo has possibly the deepest understanding of one of the wildest cybersecurity stories in years: how an employee of Trenchant, a government malware vendor that is supposed to only sell to the ‘good’ guys, secretly sold a bunch of hacking tools to a Russian company. Those tools, it looks like, then ended up with the Russian government and possibly Chinese criminals too. It’s a really insane story about how powerful hacking tech can fall into the wrong hands. Inside the story of the US defense contractor who leaked hacking tools to Russia US military contractor likely built iPhone hacking tools used by Russian spies in Ukraine Youtube Version: https://youtu.be/MWxLqopMo5o Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Sam unpacks how social media algorithms manipulate our emotions around everything from engagement rings to wedding dresses to babies, and what it feels like getting lost in the #Weddingtok sauce, and Emanuel breaks down a satirical but functional AI tool that rips off open source software. There’s a long history in “clean room” software that’s really interesting. In the section for subscribers at the Supporter level, Jason walks us through “tokenmaxxing” and startups obsessed with spending as much money as possible on AI—and as little as possible on humans. Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm This AI Tool Rips Off Open Source Software Without Violating Copyright YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/-NEjEaOp1tI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Sam is joined by Maddy Myers, editor-in-chief of Mothership. She’s also a co-host of the video games podcast Triple Click.  Maddy launched Mothership with co-founder Zoë Hannah in January. It’s a queer and women-owned independent publication that focuses on gender and games. They discuss Maddy’s early days of games journalism via a (print!) alt-weekly in Boston and then at the Mary Sue, how she and Zoë decided it was time to quit Polygon and launch their own indie outlet, and the importance of owning your own work as a journalist. Subscribe to Mothership Why I’m launching a feminist video games website in 2026 - The GuardianMothership and a History of Women in Games Media - the Post Games podcast YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/sQUqYKXW3fE Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Joseph’s story on the inherent friction between secure chat apps like Signal and the phone they’re running on. Incoming message content can be stored in a phone’s internal notification database. After the break, Matthew tells us the latest about the data center pushback. Then in the subscribers’ only section, Emanuel tells us all about Marathon and its player numbers. (00:00) Intro (01:21) FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database (26:01) Maine Is Close to Passing a Moratorium on New Datacenters (33:21) Farmer Arrested for Speaking Too Long at Datacenter Town Hall Vows to Fight Subscriber's Story: I Wish I Didn’t Care About 'Marathon' Player Numbers, But I Do Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘The Ambivalent Intent’ and ‘The Shadow Gospel’ author Whitney Phillips on how online got so bad Why does the internet feel like it’s getting worse every single day, and why does it feel like the political landscape is getting worse in response? The answer might seem obvious, especially if you read 404 Media on a regular basis, where we’ve been documenting this decline, but it’s important to occasionally zoom out and ask the big questions.  That’s why this week on the podcast I’m joined by Whitney Phillips. Phillips is the author of several books about internet culture and ethics, including This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things and The Ambivalent Internet. She’s a professor of information politics and media ethics at the University of Oregon, and also one of my favorite people to talk to and listen to because she’s a genius when it comes to the kind of internet culture and platform dynamics we report on every day at 404 Media.  I wanted to talk to Whitney today because it’s been a few years since we talked in depth about the state of the internet and so much has changed in that time, sadly for the worst, and I really wanted some help in understanding the current state of things, as bad as they are. We also spent quite a bit of time talking about her upcoming book, The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U.S. Religion, Media, and Politics. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/gp_n6vDmFfc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Jason’s story about how wildlife cops are doing Flock lookups for ICE. It shows that ICE is gaining access to this sort of information through pretty unexpected ways. After the break, Emanuel tells us all about the AI ban at Wikipedia. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph breaks down a set of vulnerabilities in the ‘secure’ chat app TeleGuard.  Wildlife Conservation Police Are Searching Thousands of Flock Cameras for ICE  Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content  An AI Agent Was Banned From Creating Wikipedia Articles, Then Wrote Angry Blogs About Being Banned Subscriber's Story - A Secure Chat App’s Encryption Is So Bad It Is ‘Meaningless’ Youtube Version: https://youtu.be/YrHYwCb5aM8 Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Jason brings you an interview he did with The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s executive director Cindy Cohn, who recently announced she would be stepping down from the legendary digital rights nonprofit after decades of service. Cindy's new book “Privacy’s Defender,” is a memoir of her work to protect Americans’ privacy and fight government surveillance.Privacy’s Defender weaves Cindy’s life story through three incredibly important court cases. Rather than being a dry recounting of three complicated and technical cases, Cindy recounts her strategies in each case, the trials and tribulations she was going through during each period, and the stakes of each case. A quick backgrounder — the cases are Bernstein vs Department of Justice, decided in 1996, which established code and encryption as protected speech under the first amendment, a lasting decision that became critical in Apple’s lawsuit against the FBI in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting. It also follows EFF’s lawsuit against AT&T for building a secret backdoor in its internet data centers that gave data to the NSA for warrantless surveillance against American citizens, a case that was built in part around testimony and documents shared by Mark Klein, who showed schematics and design documents for secret surveillance rooms in AT&T’s offices. And finally it follows the Alphabet Cases, which were lawsuits against FBI gag orders for national security letters, which are secret demands for customer information that came with gag orders against internet companies that prevented them from disclosing the fact that the FBI approached them for information. Those cases concerned both Cloudflare and a telecom company called CREDO, and went on for many years. Our interview with Cindy shows that the fight for privacy happens in fits and spurts, and is rarely linear. Cindy's Book Privacy Defender: https://www.eff.org/Privacys-Defender Youtube Version: https://youtu.be/2OwH_XyfEhs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Matthew Gault joins us to discuss his article about Iran’s AI slop and LEGO-focused propaganda, and why the creators chose LEGO. After the break, Jason tells us all about the new automated system in baseball and the drama it’s causing. In the subscribers-only section, Sam walks us through perhaps one of the worst sex apps of all time. Iran Is Winning the AI Slop Propaganda War 'You Can't Defeat the Robots!': Baseball's AI Strike Zone Is Must-Watch Television Subscriber's Story - I Tried to Find the ‘Arousal Intelligence’ In An Animated, Augmented Reality Porn Star YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/_4buUas3tGs Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code 404MEDIA at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/404media Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Joseph talks to Dhruv Mehrotra, a journalist and technologist at Bloomberg. Before that, Dhruv was at WIRED, where you probably saw a ton of his interesting work. Dhruv sits in a very unusual space in journalism: he is able to both write technical tools to dig through data, or collect information, or really anything else, and is also able to just write a damn good story. That is a very unique blend. The pair chat about Dhruv’s entry into journalism, how computational journalism has changed over the years, and how Dhruv uses AI too. Jeffrey Epstein’s Island Visitors Exposed by Data Broker ‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls Epstein’s Inbox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Emanuel’s crazy story about WebinarTV, a company that is secretly recording Zoom meetings and turning them into AI-powered podcasts. It’s nuts. After the break, Joseph tells us about the eccentric billionaire who tried to become a cocaine kingpin. In the subscribers-only section, we lament the lose of the metaverse. 1:06 - This Company Is Secretly Turning Your Zoom Meetings into AI Podcasts 25:58 - An Adrenaline Junkie Millionaire’s Quest to Become a Cocaine Kingpin Sub's Story: RIP Metaverse, an $80 Billion Dumpster Fire Nobody Wanted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Sam talks to Emily Bender and Alex Hanna about the marketing ploys of “artificial intelligence,” why ridicule works to keep big tech’s claims in check, and what makes them hopeful for the future. They’re the authors of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want.Dr. Alex Hanna is a writer and sociologist of technology, labor, and politics. She’s the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a Lecturer in the School of Information at the University of California Berkeley. Dr. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington where she is also the Faculty Director of the Computational Linguistics Master of Science program and affiliate faculty in the School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Information School.They also host the The Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast which “deflates AI hype and draws attention to the real harms of the automation technologies we call ‘artificial intelligence’.”  Flood of AI-Generated Submissions ‘Final Straw’ for Small 22-Year-Old Publisher The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want Emily’s cartoon  Questioning the Normalization of Surveillance by the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown You Are Not a Parrot at NY Mag YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/UwBZiuH-1QY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Joseph’s series of articles about the DOGE depositions. He watched hours and hours of them, then a judge ordered them removed from YouTube. But, they’ve already been archived all over the web. After the break, Jason tells us about the AI data labelers who are fighting back. In the subscribers-only section, Jason breaks down what’s wrong with all the AI job loss research at the moment. 0:00 - Intro 0:51 - Google Street View's Unmappable City 3:40 - I Watched 6 Hours of DOGE Bro Testimony. Here's What They Had to Say For Themselves 13:24 - DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery 18:58 - The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet 28:32 - 'AI Is African Intelligence': The Workers Who Train AI Are Fighting Back SUB'S STORY - AI Job Loss Research Ignores How AI Is Utterly Destroying the Internet YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/xtMniLj_yzQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's only one city in America that isn't on Google's Street View. Documentary filmmaker Chris Parr set out to map it, using North Oak, Minnesota's byzantine rules and the help of a drone. His experience shows who gets privacy in America, and who doesn't. 'I Mapped Google’s ONLY SECRET CITY' YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/3iGvHBr0mJw Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Sam’s story discussing something that has come up a lot but no one has really answered: how do you speak to your friend or family member falling into AI psychosis? After the break, Joseph breaks down what happened when the FBI wanted data from ProtonMail. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us about the viral developers behind an app called Quittr, and how they exposed very sensitive data of hundreds of thousands of users. 1:21 - 'How to Talk to Someone Experiencing 'AI Psychosis' 27:33 - Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users 'How to Talk to Someone Experiencing 'AI Psychosis' Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester Viral 'Quittr' Porn Addiction App Exposed the Masturbation Habits of Hundreds of Thousands of Users YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/oRiJHLIYkkw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cecilia D’Anstasio on Roblox efforts to protect children from pedophiles.  Roblox is one of those games that is more popular than you can imagine, but unless you are of a certain age group and live in that world, you’ll rarely hear about it unless it makes the news for some terrible reason. More recently, for example, we wrote about the Tumbler Ridge shooter who created a mass shooting simulator in Roblox. But what is Roblox, how big is it exactly, and why does it seem like it's so frequently embroiled in controversy? This week we’re joined by Cecilia D’anstasio in an attempt to answer all of these questions.  This week we’re joined by Cecilia D’Anstasio. Cecilia reports about video games at Bloomberg, and has written many important articles about the business and controversies of one of the biggest games in the world, Roblox. A few weeks ago we had Patrick Klepek on to discuss Roblox from a parent’s perspective, but today we’re going to hear about it from the perspective of a great investigative reporter and for my money the most knowledgeable journalists about Roblox. 404 Media is a journalist-founded company and needs your support. To subscribe, go to 404media.co. As well as bonus content every single week, subscribers get access to additional episodes where we respond to their best comments. Subscribers also get early access to our interview series. Gain access to that content at 404media.co. Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.  Become a paid subscriber for early access to these interview episodes and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Roblox’s Pedophile Problem How Roblox Became a Playground for Virtual Fascists Roblox Game-Buying Frenzy Is Turning Teens Into Millionaires Roblox User Group Re-Creates Real-Life Mass Shooting Events Go to surfshark.com/404Media to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we discuss our coverage of the U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, specifically how Polymarket and Kalshi are letting people profit from death, and that Amazon data centers were on fire after missiles hit Dubai. Then Emanuel talks about how AI translations are adding 'hallucinations' to Wikipedia articles. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about a change with Amazon wishlists that may expose your address. 0:00 - Intro 1:32 - With Iran War, Kalshi and Polymarket Bet That the Depravity Economy Has No Bottom 29:07 - AI Translations Are Adding Hallucinations To Wikipedia Articles SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - Amazon Change Means Wishlists Might Expose Your Address YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/paHMe9kFf0w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph speaks to Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Quintin is one of the people behind Rayhunter, an easy to install tool that can detect nearby IMSI-catchers. This tech, sometimes known as Stingrays, poses as a fake cellphone tower to track a phone’s location, intercept calls and texts, and can sometimes even deliver malware. Rayhunter GitHub: https://github.com/EFForg/rayhunter YouTube: https://youtu.be/vEFPPaOn0ts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Jason’s follow up to Ring launching its ‘Search Party’ feature. It turns out, according to a leaked email he got, the feature is only starting with finding lost dogs. After the break, Emanuel explains why we’ve learned nothing about amplification when it comes to the recent looksmaxxing trend. In the subscribers-only section, Sam explains how Grok produced the real name of a sex worker who performs pseudonymously. 1:11 - Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs⁠ 30:26 - ⁠We Have Learned Nothing About Amplifying Morons⁠ ⁠Grok Exposed a Porn Performer’s Legal Name and Birthdate—Without Even Being Asked⁠ YouTube version: https://youtu.be/IEq8dlnLP8o Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s interview, Sam is joined by Harlo Holmes. Harlo is the Chief Security Programs Officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation. She’s a media scholar, software programmer, and activist. Harlo and Sam discuss the important work she does every day, and why it’s only becoming more crucial. They also get into how to fight back against privacy nihilism, digital security practices everyone can be implementing regardless of their threat model, and the recent arrests and raids of journalists in the U.S. Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you’re a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. 404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we start with Emanuel’s wild story about Alpha School, a very hyped AI-powered school. Emanuel got leaked documents and spoke to former employees. After the break, Sam tells us what happens when someone decides to make an AI nudify OnlyFans with your likeness. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph tells us about the agencies buying GeoSpy, an AI that can geolocate photos in seconds. 2:49 - Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire 5:47 - 'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School 40:01 - 'The Most Dejected I’ve Ever Felt:' Harassers Made Nude AI Images of Her, Then Started an OnlyFans YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fy-38hIhykQ Understood: Deepfake Porn Empire 'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School 'The Most Dejected I’ve Ever Felt:' Harassers Made Nude AI Images of Her, Then Started an OnlyFans Cops Are Buying ‘GeoSpy’, an AI That Geolocates Photos in Seconds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently traveled to Kenya for a journalism and AI conference. While I was there, I really wanted to meet with Michael Geoffrey Asia, the secretary general of the Data Labelers Association. Data Labeling is a huge job in Kenya. Data labelers are the people who train AI, and who also work on ensuring the outputs are accurate. In some cases, data labelers are themselves pretending to be AI, in order to train AI. Often, data labelers don’t know exactly what they’re working on, because the work usually goes through a platform, a subcontractor, or a combination of both. So basically they can be presented with a backend where they’re asked to perform tasks or answer questions; in some cases their answers may be presented in real time as AI. Data labeling is notoriously brutal and underpaid work. Workers sometimes earn as little as a few dollars a day, work under algorithmic management, and, because they’re sometimes trying to train AI what not to do or show, they are often shown graphic, violent, or sexual content for hours at a time. It’s kind of similar to content moderation jobs, and lots of people do both data labeling and content moderation, or switch back and forth between the industries. It’s such a big thing in Kenya that I mentioned it to the driver who took me to meet Michael for this interview, and she told me that she too was a data labeler, as are many of her friends. Michael has since become critical at the Data Labelers Association, a group that is fighting to organize people who do data labeling work and who is advocating for better working conditions, higher pay, and more protections for data labelers. I met Michael at a coworking space in Nairobi in a very tiny room, so I’m not on camera after this, but here’s my conversation with Michael. The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy by Michael Geoffrey Asia YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/QH654YPxvEE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with exciting news: we bought a Super Bowl ad! For… $2,550. We explain how. After the break, Jason tells us about Ring’s recently launched Search Party feature, and gives us a very timely reminder of what Ring really is and how we got here. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph breaks down Lockdown Mode and how it kept the FBI out of a Washington Post reporter’s phone. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:49 - Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad 27:29 - With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet: SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled YouTube version: https://youtu.be/0JK-VSrtlWw Watch 404 Media’s Super Bowl Ad With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Klepek on the reality of parenting in the age of Roblox and YouTube. I listened to hours of podcasts about how screen time affects kids of all ages and how parents should manage screen time but I still felt completely unprepared for this challenge when I had a kid.  I think the reason for that is that there’s a lot of reporting about how screens are impacting kids, and a lot of reporting about the research into this subject, but rarely did I encounter a conversation between parents that talks about how any of that information can be realistically applied in the real world.   This week on the podcast we’re joined by Patrick Klepek in order to have the kind of conversation I wish I heard before I became a parent, but I think there’s something here for everyone. Patrick is the cofounder of Remap, a website and one of my favorite podcasts about video games, and the writer behind Crossplay, a newsletter about the intersection of parenting and games. Patrick is also my former colleague at Vice, back when I worked at Motherboard and he at Waypoint. Patrick has been reporting about video games for most of his life, is a wonderful writer, and a parent. I find his perspective on many of these issues—screen time, parental controls, YouTube, Roblox—extremely useful and interesting, and I hope you do as well.  YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/LjK1Swsm1m4 Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.  Become a paid subscriber for early access to these interview episodes and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Sam and Emanuel’s article about the latest Epstein dump, and how it’s really a disaster in a lot of ways. After the break, Matthew runs us through Moltbot and its terrible security. After the break, Emanuel breaks down his two recent stories about a fundamental issue exposing a bunch of very sensitive data. 0:00 - Intro 2:19 - DOJ Released Unredacted Nude Images in Epstein Files 25:08 - Silicon Valley’s Favorite New AI Agent Has Serious Security Flaws 34:55 - Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site YouTube version: https://youtu.be/gDcOOP_Y9cU DOJ Released Unredacted Nude Images in Epstein Files Silicon Valley’s Favorite New AI Agent Has Serious Security Flaws Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site App for Quitting Porn Leaked Users' Masturbation Habits Massive AI Chat App Leaked Millions of Users Private Conversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Joseph talks to Samuel Bagg, assistant professor of political science at the University of South Carolina. Bagg recently wrote a fascinating essay, linked below, about how the problem with lots of things might be knowledge-based (people believing stuff that’s wrong or dangerous) but the solution is not more knowledge. It’s all about social identity. This is an incredibly interesting discussion, and definitely check out more of Bagg’s writing. The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy YouTube version:  https://youtu.be/lNKOqp-rZL8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Sam’s piece about ManyVids, and how some creators believe its CEO, and the person who controls their livelihood, may be experiencing ‘AI psychosis’. After the break, Jason gives us an update on some mysterious disappearing ICE footage. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about Flock and what police are being told to do: not describe what they’re using the AI cameras for. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:41 - Aliens and Angel Numbers: Creators Worry Porn Platform ManyVids Is Falling Into ‘AI Psychosis’; Amid Backlash, Massive Porn Platform ManyVids Doubles Down on Bizarre, AI-Generated Posts 32:12 - DHS Says Critical ICE Surveillance Footage From Abuse Case Was Actually Never Recorded, Doesn't Matter YouTube version: https://youtu.be/EFv0rD9F9es Aliens and Angel Numbers: Creators Worry Porn Platform ManyVids Is Falling Into ‘AI Psychosis’ DHS Says Critical ICE Surveillance Footage From Abuse Case Was Actually Never Recorded, Doesn't Matter Police Told to Be ‘as Vague as Permissible’ About Why They Use Flock Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Sam is in conversation with Kolina Koltai. Kolina is an investigator, senior researcher and trainer at Bellingcat. Her investigations focus on the people and systems behind AI companies and platforms that peddle non-consensual deepfake explicit imagery. They discuss how she found herself in this field, her recent investigation uncovering the man behind two deepfake porn sites, and how it feels to watch these sites go down after exposing the people running them. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/CbmUwwVGaf4 Stories discussed: Profiting From Exploitation: How We Found the Man Behind Two Deepfake Porn Sites Behind a Secretive Global Network of Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography Unmasking MrDeepFakes: Canadian Pharmacist Linked to World’s Most Notorious Deepfake Porn Site Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Joseph’s article about ELITE, a tool Palantir is working on for ICE. After the break, Emanuel tells us how AI influencers are making fake sex tape-style photos with celebrities, who can’t be best pleased about it. In the subscribers-only section, Matthew breaks down Comic-Con’s ban of AI art. 0:00 - Intro 2:16 - ‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid 22:45 - Instagram AI Influencers Are Defaming Celebrities With Sex Scandals Subscriber's Story: Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback YouTube version: https://youtu.be/b-QHWpqjD-E Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Wikimedia Foundation’s chief technology and product officer explains how she helps manage one of the most visited sites in the world in the age of generative AI.  Wikipedia is turning 25 this month, and it’s never been more important.  The online, collectively created encyclopedia has been a cornerstone of the internet decades, but as generative AI started flooding every platform with AI-generated slop over the last couple of years, Wikipedia’s governance model, editing process, and dedication to citing reliable sources has emerged as one of the most reliable and resilient models we have.  And yet, as successful as the model is, it’s almost never replicated.  This week on the podcast we’re joined by Selena Deckelmann, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia. That means Selena oversees the technical infrastructure and product strategy for one of the most visited sites in the world, and one the most comprehensive repositories of human knowledge ever assembled. Wikipedia is turning 25 this month, so I wanted to talk to Selena about how Wikipedia works and how it plans to continue to work in the age of generative AI.   YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/39LR9ouJR3c Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.  Wikipedia’s value in the age of generative AI The Editors Protecting Wikipedia from AI Hoaxes Wikipedia Pauses AI-Generated Summaries After Editor Backlash Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the 'Antithesis of Wikipedia' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Joseph’s article about Webloc, a tool ICE bought that can monitor phones in entire neighborhoods. After the break, Emanuel and Sam talk about their recent coverage of Grok. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains how police inadvertently unmasked millions of their surveillance targets through a Flock redaction error. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:50 - First Story 23:00 - Second Story YouTube version: https://youtu.be/rurJo6vPhUY Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods DHS Is Lying To You Inside the Telegram Channel Jailbreaking Grok Over and Over Again Masterful Gambit: Musk Attempts to Monetize Grok's Wave of Sexual Abuse Imagery Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jason is talking to YouTuber Benn Jordan, who has done some of our favorite reporting on Flock, the automated license plate reader surveillance company. A couple months ago, he found vulnerabilities in some of Flock’s license plate reader cameras. I have been following Benn’s work for a while, and soon after that video came out, he reached out to me to tell me he had learned that some of Flock’s Condor cameras were left live-streaming to the open internet. In this episode, we discuss how he discovered the issue and what happened next. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/tSd0nXolnIs Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Matthew’s story about an organization tracking the location of AI data centers around the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. After the break, Jason tells us all about what Grok got up to over the holiday break, and we ruminate on what the breakdown in the information ecosystem means. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how we bought 404media.com! Timestamps: 1:38 - Researchers Are Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters 25:58 - Grok's AI CSAM Shitshow Subscriber's Story: We Bought 404media.com YouTube version: https://youtu.be/zT9lEyHnZIk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down Pornhub’s choice to pull out of states in more than a third of the U.S., following regressive age verification laws. Pornhub Sees Surge of Interest in Tradwife Content, ‘Modesty,’ and Mindfulness Pornhub Is Now Blocked In Almost All of the U.S. South Age Verification Laws Drag Us Back to the Dark Ages of the Internet Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special interview episode with Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation. I'm sure you all know, and maybe even use, the Signal messaging app. Here we sat down with Whittaker to talk all about the state of Signal today, the threat of AI to end-to-end encryption, what backdoors actually look like, and much more. This is a wide-ranging discussion where one of the few journalists who has revealed new details about backdoors (Joseph) gets to speak to one of the most important people in the world of encryption (Whittaker). Definitely take a listen. Paid subscribers got access to this episode early by the way. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/kconAXZgsxg Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever Signal page on government data requests Microsoft Will Switch Off Recall by Default After Security Backlash Telegram CEO Pavel Durov interview Subscribe at 404media.co for early access and bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph speaks to Craig Silverman, one of the co-founders of Indicator. Indicator is a new, independent media company that Craig runs with Alexios Mantzarlis. For years Craig has covered the world of ad fraud and disinformation using all sorts of open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques. Definitely check out Indicator at Indicator.media. The site publishes its own investigations but also tips and tricks you can use yourself. Indicator’s site: https://indicator.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Jason’s story about Flock exposing a bunch of AI-powered cameras. These cameras zoom in on people as they walk by, sometimes so closely you can read what’s on their phone screen. After the break, we talk about some of our biggest stories this year. In the subscribers-only section, we give some of our personal recommendations of games, other reporting, or just a more chill life. Timestamps:0:00 - Intro00:54 -  Gift a 404 Media subscription2:27 - Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves26:34 -  Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website29:52 -  Mike Waltz Accidentally Reveals Obscure App the Government Is Using to Archive Signal Messages34:29 -  How Tea’s Founder Convinced Millions of Women to Spill Their Secrets, Then Exposed Them to the World44:59 -  Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/DrGVGphD2L0 Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marisa Kabas is the founder of The Handbasket, an independent newsletter and website that has been breaking stories left and right about government workers, the media business, and Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Jason and Marisa share notes Marisa about doing journalism without a big newsroom, how the media business has changed over the last decade, and why sources often prefer to talk to journalists who don’t work for mainstream media. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/e73spvZnc9s The Handbasket: https://www.thehandbasket.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph had to use a different mic this week, that will be fixed next time! We start this week talking about a very unusual case: someone is being charged for allegedly wiping a phone before CBP could search it. There are a lot of questions remaining, but a super interesting case. After the break, we talk about Matthew’s article on an Anthropic exec forcing AI onto a queer gamer Discord. In the subscribers-only section, we all chat about the Disney and OpenAI deal. Timestamps: 00:48 - Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It 23:02 - Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee Man Charged for Wiping Phone Before CBP Could Search It Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee Disney Invests $1 Billion in the AI Slopification of Its Brand YouTube version: https://youtu.be/tOpIpReZPoM Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humanity has talked about aliens throughout recorded history, and obsession that has changed science, faith, and media.  The past few years have been very exciting for those who want to believe. The U.S. government has released tantalizing videos and held several gripping hearings showing and discussing UFOs. People who always thought the government was hiding evidence of alien life from the general population saw it as proof that what they’ve said was happening all along. Skeptics have made compelling arguments for why all these revelations could be anything but aliens.  But this debate and humanity’s obsession with aliens goes as far back as recorded history. In her book, First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens, 404 Media’s science reporter and author of The Abstract newsletter Becky Ferreira delves deep into this history, what it teaches us about humans, and what the near and far future of the search for alien life looks like.  I had a great time reading Becky’s book and an even better time discussing it with her on the podcast. It’s a great conversation that unpacks why these stories get so much attention, and a perspective on aliens in the news and pop culture that’s rooted in history and science. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/QToByEeq2vU Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with news of our zine! We’re printing it very soon, and walk you through the process. Independent media is turning back to physical zines as a way to subvert algorithms. After the break, Emanuel tells us about some very weird Instagram changes. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains ICEBlock’s lawsuit against the U.S. government. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/lseEXc-ZzsQ Timestamps: 1:37 - 1st Story - ⁠404 Media Is Making a Zine⁠; buy the zine here 28:01 - 2nd Story - ⁠Instagram Is Generating Inaccurate SEO Bait for Your Posts⁠ SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - ICEBlock Creator Sues U.S. Government Over App’s Removal Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Sam is in conversation with Noelle Perdue. Noelle is a writer, producer, and internet porn historian whose works has been published in Wired, the Washington Post, Slate, and more, and you’re probably familiar with her work if you’ve been paying attention to the plot in your favorite pornographic films. She’s writing on Stubstack so look her up there! YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/9eqMXBwWtkA Noelle and Sam discuss everything from sexbots and AI porn to censorship, age verification legislation, and their favorite parody porn flicks.   Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player. Noelle Perdue on Substack Michigan Lawmakers Are Attempting to Ban Porn Entirely New Bill Would Make All Pornography a Federal Crime in the U.S. OpenAI Catches Up to AI Market Reality: People Are Horny ChatGPT’s Hail Mary: Chatbots You Can Fuck The Egg Yolk Principle: Human Sexuality Will Always Outsmart Prudish Algorithms and Hateful Politicians Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Joseph’s very weird story about Apple Podcasts. The app is opening by itself, playing random spirituality podcasts, and in one case directing listeners to a potentially malicious website. After the break, Matthew tells us how it sure looks like a map of Ukraine was manipulated in order to win a bet on Polymarket. In the subscribers-only section, Sam breaks down how half of the U.S. now requires a face or ID scan to watch porn. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/V4QCJh-imPM Timestamps:2:00 - Story 1 - Someone Is Trying to ‘Hack’ People Through Apple Podcasts24:40 - Story 2 - 'Unauthorized' Edit to Ukraine's Frontline Maps Point to Polymarket's War Betting SUBSCRIBER'S STORY - Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joseph speaks to Michael Bobbitt, a former FBI official who worked directly on Operation Trojan Shield. In this operation the FBI secretly ran its own encrypted phone company for organized crime, backdoored the phone, and collected tens of millions of messages. Michael and Joseph discuss how Michael handled intelligence sourced from the phones, how to navigate an operation that complex, and its fallout. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/bLeueG5V4QY Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever Podcast: Signal's President Meredith Whittaker on Backdoors and AI Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We start this week with Sam's piece about a massive leak of an AI chatbot, and how it showed that people were taking ordinary women’s yearbook photos and using them to make AI porn. After the break, Jason explains how a recent change on X exposed a bunch of grifters all around the world. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how our reporting contributed to the shut down of a warrantless surveillance program. YouTube version: https://youtu.be/UgOtR_bDft4 Timestamps: 1:23 - Intro: Please, please do our reader survey 3:57 - Story 1: Massive Leak Shows Erotic Chatbot Users Turned Women’s Yearbook Pictures Into AI Porn 34:42 - Story 2: America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle SUBSCRIBER'S STORY: Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to Government Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason talks to Chris Gilliard, the author of the upcoming book Luxury Surveillance. Gilliard has studied the rise of companies like Ring and Flock, as well as the dynamics that lead people to surveil themselves and each other. YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/4kBgnjn5cC0 Subscribe at 404media.co for bonus content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices