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.”
News
Binance Code and Internal Passwords Exposed on GitHub for Months
A takedown request said the GitHub account was “hosting and distributing leaks of internal code which poses significant risk to BINANCE.”
News
How a Single ‘Pig Butchering’ Scam Netted $40 Million
Pig butchering scams—in which fraudsters continuously extract money from a target—are a multibillion dollar epidemic. Court records show that just one scam operation can make at least tens of millions of dollars.
News
Encrypted Phone ‘Sky’ Linked to Murder-for-Hire Plot in Maryland
Sky was an encrypted phone used by drug traffickers and other criminals. Now, those phones are linked to a murder-for-hire scheme on U.S. soil involving an arm of the Iranian state.
News
Microsoft Closes Loophole That Created AI Porn of Taylor Swift
Following 404 Media’s reporting, Microsoft has made changes to a tool people were using to make AI nudes of celebrities.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: AI-Generated Harm and Our Journalism Business
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 discuss AI-generated non-consensual images that went viral of Taylor Swift, why we need your email address, and the state of journalism.
Announcements
We Need Your Email Address
AI stealing our work. The collapse of social networks. The need to pay journalists to produce impactful journalism. Here is why we are asking for your email address to read 404 Media.
News
AI-Generated Taylor Swift Porn Went Viral on Twitter. Here's How It Got There
404 Media traced back the viral and abusive images of Taylor Swift to a specific Telegram community. That group sometimes uses Microsoft's AI tools.
Impact
YouTube Deletes 1,000 Videos of Celebrity AI Scam Ads
But plenty of deepfake scam videos are still on the platform.
Podcast
Podcast: Why Google Is Shit Now
This week we go long on Google News and AI, and why Google Search is worse now. We also discuss a phone spy tool that can monitor billions.
News
Founder of Neo-Nazi Group the Base Instructs Followers to Use 'Uncensored' AI
A large language model by the same company previously produced instructions on how to kill someone or carry out ethnic cleansing.
AI
Iceland Has Its Own AI George Carlin Moment, Considers Law Against Deepfaking the Dead
The national broadcaster has started a nationwide controversy after it reanimated a beloved Icelandic comedian for its New Year's Eve celebration.
Features
Inside a Global Phone Spy Tool Monitoring Billions
A wide-spanning investigation by 404 Media reveals more details about a secretive spy tool that can tracks billions of phone profiles through the advertising industry called Patternz. Google has taken action in response to 404 Media's inquiries.