News
Iran Is Winning the AI Slop Propaganda War
“White House videos—AI or otherwise—are like group-chat in-jokes aimed at keeping cohesion.”
Podcast
Podcast: A Deepfake Nightmare + Vibrator Malware
How a deepfake nudify app rocked a high school; the spread of fake funeral livestream scams on Facebook; and a very serious investigation into whether a particular brand of vibrator is distributing malware.
News
Instacart’s AI Recipes Look Literally Impossible
Instacart is showing customers images of AI-generated food and recipes with ingredients that don’t seem to exist.
News
ChatGPT Started Speaking Complete Gibberish
OpenAI said that it has identified the issue and is monitoring the situation.
News
Helldivers 2 Is So Popular Players Are Squatting Servers
I admit it: I'm logging in at 9am to just to secure a spot for later in the evening.
News
Fake Funeral Live Stream Scams Are All Over Facebook
Scammers are copying genuine funeral service announcements, making their own Facebook accounts, then directing vulnerable victims to a fake livestream page. “It causes panic on the day where you shouldn't be thinking of that,” one impacted person said.
Security
Do Spencer’s Vibrators Have Malware on Them? An Investigation
We tested the vibrator that a Spencer's customer claims almost gave their computer malware.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Personality Tests, First Jobs, and ‘Profitability’
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about our first jobs, personality tests, and what it means to be "profitable."
China
Leaked Emails Show Hugo Awards Self-Censoring to Appease China
“...if the work focuses on China, taiwan, tibet, or other topics that may be an issue *in* China...that needs to be highlighted so that we can determine if it is safe to put it on the ballot," one email said.
News
‘What Was She Supposed to Report?:’ Police Report Shows How a High School Deepfake Nightmare Unfolded
An in-depth police report obtained by 404 Media shows how a school, and then the police, investigated a wave of AI-powered “nudify” apps in a high school.
News
University of Michigan Sells Recordings of Study Groups and Office Hours to Train AI
The data is being offered for tens of thousands of dollars to outside third-parties. It is unclear if the speakers provided informed consent.
FOIA
What Is the Governor of Iowa Hiding About a Satanic Temple Statue at the Capitol?
Kim Reynolds redacts 27 pages of public documents about the government's response to a Baphomet display at the Iowa Capitol.
Podcast
Podcast: An Open Source Search Engine to Replace Google
This week we chat about an annoying recruitment tool, a new open source search engine, and how a botnet of toothbrushes wasn't real.