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
Hackers Use Online Casinos to Gamble Mountains of Cash They Steal from Victims
Members of the wider digital underground, known as The Com, often funnel stolen Bitcoin into a variety of online casinos including Stake, material obtained by 404 Media shows.
Guardian
The Guardian Deletes Osama Bin Laden's 'Letter to America' Because It Went Viral on TikTok
“The transcript published on our website 20 years ago has been widely shared today on social media without its original context. Therefore we have decided to take it down."
FOIA
Feds Have No Idea How Many Times Cruise Driverless Cars Hit Pedestrians
'Not ideal:' NHTSA is learning about driverless car incidents from Reddit videos because its safety incident reporting form is deeply flawed, internal emails show.
Podcast
Podcast: Venture Capitalists a16z Fund Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn
In this week's episode, we talk a16z's investment into AI platform Civitai, our investigation into working conditions at Labcorp, and how the "brand safety" industry is destroying media.
repair
Rivian Pushes Software Update That Breaks Infotainment System
An over-the-air software update breaks the truck's infotainment system in a way that will require an in-shop repair.
News
Andreessen Horowitz Invests in Civitai, Which Profits From Nonconsensual AI Porn
A16z has invested in Civitai, which a 404 Media investigation has shown profits from the creation of nonconsensual AI-generated porn of real people.
scams
Why Does Wildlife Photographer Paul Nicklen Have Dozens of Catfish Scam Impersonators?
People are editing Paul Nicklen into hospital bed pictures, faking his passports, and scamming fans out of thousands of dollars through social media impersonation.
News
The $2,000 Phones that Let Anyone Make Robocalls
Videos collected by 404 Media over months give a peep inside the world of spoofing numbers, automated call scripts, and a specific seller of the phones.
News
Pornhub ‘Deeply Regrets’ Hosting Girls Do Porn Content
Pornhub’s parent company has reached an agreement with the US Attorney’s office after an FBI investigation.
News
Giant AI Platform Introduces ‘Bounties’ for Deepfakes of Real People
404 Media has found at least one instance of a bounty for a private person who has no significant public online presence.
News
‘Hello Sir/Ma’am’: Person Linked to Scam Asks FBI for His Seized Cryptocurrency Back
The FBI froze cryptocurrency stored in a Binance account the agency believes is linked to a scam targeting an elderly victim. The apparent owner would like it back.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: RIP Omegle, Refund Scams, and Tablet Thieves
This week, we discuss a groundbreaking investigation into Labcorp labor issues, the role of court records in our reporting, how "brand safety" has doomed the news industry, and the demise of a controversial website.