This week we start with the bankruptcy of commercial DNA company 23andMe, and what it means for its users' genetic data. Probably not good things! After the break, Joseph and Jason explain what 'Dogequest' is, and how people allegedly vandalizing Tesla locations have been caught. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel tells us about some fake audio of JD Vance talking about Musk, and then we all chat about the crazy Signal group chat story.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/OLh0IDigwAM

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We start this week with Joseph's story about the 200+ sites an ICE contractor called ShadowDragon is monitoring. A lot of surprising ones on there. After the break, Emanuel explains why NASA, Yale, and Stanford scientists are considering leaving the U.S. for France. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel breaks down the fascinating reason why Super Nintendos are getting faster as they age.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/LBUsFawJ6E0

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We start this week with Emanuel's great investigation into Chinese AI video models, and how they have far fewer safeguards than their American counterparts. A content warning for that section due to what the users are making. After the break, Joseph explains how police are using AI to summarize evidence seized from mobile phones. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about an AI-developed game that is making a ton of money. But your AI-generated game probably won't.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/_Sy_nw4gJVY

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This week we start with Jason's article on how a Facebook group for Cybertruck owners is completely overrun with people flipping them off. Then Joseph explains how U.S. crypto traders are buying IDs from the tropical nation of Palau to skirt the law. Then in the subscribers-only section (with a content warning), we talk about Jason's story on a big Instagram bug that pushed really horrible stuff into ordinary peoples' feeds.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/nhgK-e3AeR0

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We start this week's episode with Joseph finding out someone basically ripped off his book with a potentially AI-generated summary. Emanuel also updates us on some of the impact his reporting on AI in libraries has had. After the break, Sam tells us all about a Y Combinator supported startup that is straight-up dehumanizing factory workers. In the subscribers-only section, we talk about an apparent act of protest from inside the U.S. government involving an AI video of Musk and Trump.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/Smx3xHTEZiE

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This week we start with Jason's story about anyone being able to push updates to DOGE.gov website. Then we talk about other stories with the DEI.gov and Waste.gov sites. After the break, Sam tells us all about some lawyers who get caught using AI in a case. In the subscribers-only section, we chat about a true crime documentary YouTube channel where the murders were all AI-generated.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/wqjeDFk9LMo

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This week we discuss a new Microsoft study that finds using generative AI is "atrophying" people's cognition and critical thinking skills and the right's war on Wikipedia.

Articles discussed:

Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”

Wikipedia Prepares for 'Increase in Threats' to US Editors From Musk and His Allies

You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism

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We dedicate the whole free section of this episode to Musk’s takeover of the federal government. We got audio from a meeting in which a Musk ally laid out their plans for AI across the government, and revealed who is now the head of HR for DOGE. In the subscribers only section, we talk about how your public library probably already has a bunch of AI slop.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/fTgHpq4-psQ

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We start this week with Emanuel's rundown on the DeepSeek situation, the Chinese-made AI that has rocked stock markets and the wider AI industry. After the break, Sam explains how metadata in U.S. government memos lists Project 2025 members as the memo authors. In the subscribers-only section, Jason and Sam explain how GitHub is showing the U.S. government's purging of information in real time.

YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351BmM2SaXY

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On this special guest episode of the 404 Media Podcast, Sam talks to Alexzandra Kekesi, VP of Brand and Community at Pornhub. Kekesi started in her current role in August 2023, after working for Pornhub and its parent company for more than a decade. She joined us from Montreal, where Pornhub is headquartered. They discuss the stigma facing the adult industry, Luigi Mangione porn, the trad wife to feet pics pipeline, and algorithms that shut you down for showing side boob. Kekesi also breaks down Pornhub’s choice to pull out of states in more than a third of the U.S., following regressive age verification laws.

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