Jason Koebler / is on Nostr

journalist 404 Media (npub1psa…j5uh)

Signal: 1-202-505-1702 // email: jason@404media.co

Last Notes

2024-08-06 14:17:06

After months of digging and reporting, I have learned where Facebook's bizarre AI spam (like "Shrimp Jesus") comes from, who is making it, how it works, and how it is monetized.
Turns out Meta is directly paying people to spam FB with this stuff
https://www.404media.co/where-facebooks-ai-slop-comes-from/

2024-07-12 17:06:30

A blistering Goldman Sachs research report wonders if the massive investment in Generative AI will ever pay off, says stock gains are already baked in "outside of the most bullish AI scenario," and posits that Gen AI is likely a bubble: https://www.404media.co/goldman-sachs-ai-is-overhyped-wildly-expensive-and-unreliable/

2024-05-28 13:30:54

Google's own researchers now say AI is a top vector of disinfo, in a paper that severely and obviously undercounts the problem
https://www.404media.co/google-says-ai-now-leading-disinformation-vector-and-is-severely-undercounting-the-problem/

2024-05-23 13:23:11

Scoop: I obtained the contract Samsung requires independent shops to sign to buy phone repair parts from them.
It requires:
- "Daily" dumps of customer data
- The "immediate destruction" of any phones a shop comes across that has third-party parts
https://www.404media.co/samsung-requires-independent-repair-shops-to-share-customer-data-snitch-on-people-who-use-aftermarket-parts-leaked-contract-shows/

2024-05-17 13:51:11

Axon's AI is now writing police reports directly from bodycam footage. Says cops are actively using it. What could go wrong? This is what it looks like:
https://www.404media.co/here-is-what-axons-bodycam-report-writing-ai-looks-like-draft-one/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/456/750/862/556/780/original/6872048e9ac1ebb7.png
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2024-05-14 16:59:50

“Fictional and factual fembots reflect the same regressive male fantasies: sexual outlets and the promise of emotional validation and companionship. Underpinning this are masculine anxieties regarding women, and fear of technology escaping our control.”
https://www.404media.co/openais-gpt-4o-voice/

2024-05-12 13:42:25

Scoop: Solar storm is causing farmers' tractor GPS systems to go haywire. Many have shut down planting altogether during a critical period. A Deere dealer said accuracy is "extremely compromised"
https://www.404media.co/solar-storm-knocks-out-tractor-gps-systems-during-peak-planting-season/

2024-05-08 15:32:43

Hero scientists invent method to make cold brew coffee in 3 minutes instead of 24 hours, and also invent something called "cold espresso" which I simply must have right now:
https://www.404media.co/scientists-use-ultrasound-to-make-cold-brew-coffee-in-3-minutes-instead-of-24-hours/

2024-05-07 16:41:07

Ticket brokers are selling Billie Eilish's supposedly "untransferrable" tickets, designed to prevent scalping. I explain how they're doing it, and how untransferrable tickets are transferred all the time:
https://www.404media.co/billie-eilishs-untransferable-tickets-immediately-resold-by-ticket-resellers/

2024-04-29 15:14:25

The Russian government copy pasted Wikipedia to a new site, censored the articles, then banned the original Wikipedia. Head of new Russian government Wikipedia is the old admin of real Russian Wikipedia
https://www.404media.co/russia-clones-wikipedia-censors-it-bans-original/

2024-04-19 16:06:41

An employee asked me if he can WORK from HOME permanently. Here is what I told him:
https://www.404media.co/linkedin-work-from-home-meme/

2024-04-18 18:45:46

Humane AI Pin is Juicero. It is Ouya. It is Coolest Cooler. It is Magic Leap. It is N-Gage. We must honor tradition and relentlessly clown on it freely and unimpeded by boring tech bores wanting to silence free speech
https://www.404media.co/we-must-never-forget-how-dumb-the-humane-ai-pin-is/

2024-04-17 15:16:35

New: Facebook's AI chatbot told a parent in a group asking for advice from other parents that it has a gifted, disabled child who attends school in New York City
https://www.404media.co/facebooks-ai-told-parents-group-it-has-a-disabled-child/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/287/218/077/712/907/original/5b65e70af61b8942.jpeg

2024-04-17 13:19:02

A spy tool is scraping the messages of thousands of Discord servers and selling the data. This is letting people track users across servers, shows when they joined voice chats, which servers they're in, etc: https://www.404media.co/a-spy-site-is-scraping-discord-and-selling-users-messages/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/286/756/774/510/275/original/fa26f621a857a7ca.jpg

2024-04-05 17:39:43

New: Best Buy quietly did mass layoffs of Geek Squad employees this week, is apparently shifting more tech support online. The Geek Squad subreddit is full of people posting their badges, talking about "going sleeper"
https://www.404media.co/mass-layoffs-at-best-buy-geek-squad-former-employees-post-going-sleeper/
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