Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Pickleball Drama, Auto-Generated Women, and Really Big Drone Contracts
This week, we discuss uncovering government defense contracts, revealing fake "auto-generated" female speakers, and thoughts on FOIA.
Music
Has Anyone on the Internet Listened to Garth Brooks’ New Album Released Exclusively on CD Through Bass Pro Shops? An Investigation
The best-selling country music artist of all time released a new album called Time Traveler last week. It is possible to count by hand how many people have posted on the internet about it.
TikTok
TikTok Deletes 404 Media Video About The Guardian Deleting Bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’
TikTok is moderating reporting and news about extremism in the exact same way that it moderates actual extremism.
News
Users Can't Speak to Viral AI Girlfriend CarynAI Because CEO Is in Jail for Arson
“CarynAI being down has really caused an uproar within my community,” Caryn Marjorie said.
advertising
Elon Musk Is Making His Advertising Crisis a Problem for Sex Workers
Adult content creators are seeing an influx of "sensitive content" labels on Twitter, which could be tied to the site's newly implemented sensitivity settings for advertisers.
News
Will Instagram Remove This AI Nazi Taylor Swift Image After I Post This Article?
An AI-generated image of Taylor Swift in a Nazi uniform pushing an Jewish person into an oven has been shared by an account with more than 150,000 followers. Time for an experiment.
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.