The 404 Media Podcast

We start this week with Emanuel's story on how AI-powered ads on Buzzfeed are recommending people buy things like a hat worn by a person who died by suicide. After the break, Joseph talks about an unprecedented leak out of phone forensics tech Graykey. In the subscribers-only section, Sam tells us about HarperCollins' AI deal and how MIT Press is exploring one too.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/CAw0VvCvavA

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This episode is sponsored by DeleteMe. Friend of 404 Media Matthew Gault talks to Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security, about the ways scammers and criminals are using AI, and how it's changing social engineering attacks.

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This week Joseph starts with his scoop on how Apple quietly introduced code that reboots iPhones, locking out cops. After the break, we all talk about the big Blue Sky migration. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about how we plan to cover, and what to cover, in the new U.S. administration.

YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNRjqqe29iE

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On Election Day in the U.S. Jason tells us about EagleAI, a piece of software that could be used to purge voter rolls in the country. After the break, Sam breaks down Microsoft's mistake around gender-predicting AI, and an experiment to test when Instagram considers a nipple as female. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph goes long on his investigation into the infostealer industry.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/JDAW53zv29g

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An Elon Musk-funded super PAC has expanded an advertising campaign in which it is impersonating Democrats and targeting registered Republicans with policies unpopular with conservatives they say Kamala Harris will pass if she wins the election. Plus, Sam takes us inside Northwell Health, New York's largest hospital system, which is pushing AI on its doctors.

Articles discussed in this podcast:

https://www.404media.co/elon-musk-funded-pac-supercharges-progress-2028-democrat-impersonation-ad-campaign/

https://www.404media.co/northwell-health-ai-hub-tool-chatgpt-doctors/

https://www.404media.co/scientists-and-archivists-worry-epic-games-control-of-the-3d-model-market-will-destroy-cultural-heritage/

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In this special interview episode of the 404 Media podcast, I talked to Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner who ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2023 and is now a victim advocate for folks targeted by non-consensual intimate imagery online—after becoming one herself last year. 

Most people probably recognize Gibson from her candidacy and the news stories surrounding it. While she was running for office, images of her having sex with her then-husband started circulating on the internet without her consent. But I had the chance to get to know her a little deeper: We got into why she became a nurse, what inspired her to enter politics, and the moment she found out about the videos. The experience changed the trajectory of her life.

We talk about her shift to advocacy with her nonprofit, MyOwn Image, which has the mission of fighting technology-facilitated gendered violence. Gibson recently introduced model legislation for states that provides a framework for addressing image-based sexual abuse. 

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This week we start with a massive story about location data. Privacy advocates gained access to a tool bought by multiple U.S. agencies called Locate X, which tracks smartphones around the world. We focused on how it can be used to track abortion clinic visitors. After the break we have a special guest: Becky Ferreira, author of our recently launched column The Abstract! Becky tells us all about her journey into science journalism and a couple of the studies she's covered. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains how he found a Musk-funded PAC was targeting opposing Snapchat ads to Muslim and Jewish voters in the U.S.

YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGsobtws2MU

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We start this week's episode with the ongoing (and pretty confusing!) conflict between Wordpress.com and WP Engine. It might sound like drama, but it actually could have ramifications for the wider web. Sam talks us through it. After the break, Jason explains how he used AI to apply to more than a dozen jobs over breakfast, and how tons of other people are using these tools themselves. In the subscribers-only section, Jason talks about a presentation inside the National Archives which shows the agency's big push towards AI.

YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_E4yjTJZQ

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This week we start with Joseph's piece about a couple of Harvard students who cobbled together a pair of Meta's smart glasses that automatically dox people just by looking at them. After break, Sam and Emanuel talk about two Hurricane Helene stories about data and AI. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph talks about a hacked dataset that shows the prompts used on an AI companion site. Heavy content warning for that section.

YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3QcY6aGpQ

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This is a trailer for the subscribers-only podcast for 404 Media's one year anniversary! We go long on the business, subscriber numbers, what people value, how to get our articles in front of people, and what we're looking to do next year! If you want to hear the rest, please become a subscriber at 404media.co.

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