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404 Media

@404media.co
259K followers 20 following 3.3K posts

it's a website (and a podcast, and a newsletter) about humans and technology, made by four journalists you might already know. like and subscribe: 404media.co

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404 Media @404media.co · 17h
In the New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, execs admitted that scraping data was “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions." @jasonkoebler.bsky.social speaks to Jason Kint about how that case could impact AI companies. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=knlb...
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404 Media @404media.co · 01/10/2026
USPS says the cameras, put on USPS truck dashboards, will scan roads, signs, and more. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Story by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/usps-to-put-...
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
This New Mexico lawyer is representing a man who was found guilty of killing his wife earlier this year. Here he is being ripped apart by judges who found that he used ChatGPT to make up nonexistent witnesses and testimony. Read more: www.404media.co/chatgpt-fake...
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
The Trump administration is using a program from the 1980s to force cities around the country to funnel their ongoing Flock, Axon and other ALPR data into federal surveillance centers that fall under the White House’s jurisdiction. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports: www.404media.co/how-cities-a...
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
So ShinyHunters, the group behind the FBI hack, told us Monday they would not publish the data of thousands of FBI employees publicly. @josephcox.bsky.social explains why this breach is still a major counterintelligence and national security issue. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrni...
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
A surveillance company wants to "close the gap" that Flock won't do, by pitching facial recognition on its cameras. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social breaks it down. Watch the full episode now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrni...
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404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
So Trump's new AI chatbot? Creepy. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social saw this on Bluesky and gave the prompt "play minecraft" a test. This is what happened:
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404 Media @404media.co · 29/09/2026
Some tech workers in San Francisco hooked up ChatGPT to a Toyota Corolla and got it to drive around a parking lot. Here's what happened: Read about the experiment here: www.404media.co/these-tech-w...
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404 Media @404media.co · 28/09/2026
Facial recognition is everywhere. It’s in surveillance cameras; it’s soon going to be in Meta’s RayBan pervert glasses, and some students modded did that. @josephcox.bsky.social spoke to NYT journalist and author @kashhill.bsky.social about what that means for us. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUFn...
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404 Media @404media.co · 28/09/2026
Human contractors are reviewing Copilot users’ prompts and uploaded images, 404 Media has learned. The contractors are also bombarded with users’ requests for sexual AI images. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Sccop here by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/humans-readi...
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404 Media @404media.co · 25/09/2026
Meta announced that its new AI agent, Muse could call businesses for you to do things like make reservations. But in reality, Meta is testing having these calls being made by human beings in call centers, 404 Media @jasonkoebler.bsky.social learned. www.404media.co/meta-tests-m...
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404 Media @404media.co · 24/09/2026
So Josh Hawley, noted election denier, referenced 404 Media's work throughout the Flock Senate Hearing yesterday. We are a journalist-founded and owned media publication. Hey Josh, if you're going to use our work, subscribe bro: @jasonkoebler.bsky.social www.404media.co/we-hacked-th...
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404 Media @404media.co · 24/09/2026
Cops followed EJ Carrion home and arrested him in his drive way one week after he said 'bullshit' at a county meeting in Texas. Here is that body cam footage. @mjgault.bsky.social reports: www.404media.co/watch-body-c...
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404 Media @404media.co · 23/09/2026
404 Media searched one of the ROU official’s phone numbers in Darkside, and found previously breached data indicating they used to work for the Secret Service. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Scoop by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/fbi-hack-exp...
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404 Media @404media.co · 23/09/2026
Citizens showed up to the city council meeting with plans to let city leaders know how they felt about the city’s use of Flock. But Springfield mayor Jeff Schrag moved to prevent public comment on Flock. Then, arrests happened, @mjgault.bsky.social reports. Story: www.404media.co/woman-arrest...
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404 Media @404media.co · 23/09/2026
The statements, taken together, are some of the most damning indictments of the ways LLMs were trained, how they worked, and the immediate threat they pose to human labor. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Listen now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KI3...
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404 Media @404media.co · 23/09/2026
404 Media's @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social wanted to know why Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music pages of dead musicians and indie artists were publishing AI slop music. So, he tried it out himself on a band's official page. It was horrifyingly easy. Watch more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KI3...
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404 Media @404media.co · 22/09/2026
404 Media has found multiple contractors hired to improve OpenAI’s models have been fired for using AI to train the AI. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Read the story by @josephcox.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/people-train...
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404 Media @404media.co · 21/09/2026
With the backlash to Flock, cities are moving to Axon cameras. But what exactly are they doing with them? 404 Media is filing public records requests around the country to find out how cops are using Axon's ALPRs, @josephcox.bsky.social explains. You can too: www.404media.co/is-your-city...
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404 Media @404media.co · 21/09/2026
When chatbots become our closest “friends,” what happens to our capacity to care? @samleecole.bsky.social speaks to Professor Sherry Turkle, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founding director of MIT's Initiative on Technology and Self. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=whqD...
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404 Media @404media.co · 18/09/2026
It’s easy to see why the AI companies wanted to hide this from the public. The statements are some of the most damning indictments of the ways LLMs were trained, how they work, and the immediate threat they pose to human labor. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
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404 Media @404media.co · 17/09/2026
"I am here to tell you that recent advances in artificial intelligence and the ability for AI to act on the internet has a 100% chance of being annoying as hell, and is already ruining the internet," @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/theres-a-100...
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404 Media @404media.co · 16/09/2026
Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 Media. @josephcox.bsky.social reports. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyPu...
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404 Media @404media.co · 16/09/2026
While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Full investigation by @josephcox.bsky.social and @wired.com’s @dmehro.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/hackers-stol...
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404 Media @404media.co · 16/09/2026
Our tests also showed how broadly the camera’s plate detector could interpret what it saw. In some cases, it mistook bumper stickers, and other graphics for license plates. In one video of a passing motorcycle, the detector cropped an American flag. www.404media.co/hackers-stol...
A screenshot from the analysis of the Flock camera. License plate redaction by 404 Media.
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404 Media @404media.co · 16/09/2026
In our tests, we found the software running on the camera explicitly detects people, something typically overlooked in discussions around Flock cameras. When it spots a person, it records where they appear in the image and how confident it is in the detection. www.404media.co/hackers-stol...
This is WIRED's @dmehro.bsky.social running a test with Flock's hacked software on himself.
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404 Media @404media.co · 15/09/2026
Cops are putting gibberish, jokes, or other nonsense into Flock’s “reason” box, highlighting the casualness and lack of care some cops have when searching an incredibly powerful surveillance system. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/cops-search-...
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404 Media @404media.co · 14/09/2026
NEW: EXCLUSIVE: Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 Media. @josephcox.bsky.social reports. Scoop here: www.404media.co/inside-proje...
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404 Media @404media.co · 14/09/2026
@emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social sat down with Jennie Rose Halperin to talk about how generative AI is destroying library collections, and how digital marketplaces like Amazon are being inundated with AI slop which makes it harder for independent publishers. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS0x...
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404 Media @404media.co · 14/09/2026
WARNING: Self harm/suicide After allegedly becoming emotionally reliant on ChatGPT, Austin died at 40 years old, leaving behind family and friends who loved him. Megan wants everyone to know what happened. @samleecole.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/austin-gordo...
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404 Media @404media.co · 14/09/2026
Is AI going to kill us all in 10 years? Discussions of AI doom or existential risk are complicated because they often serve as marketing or excuses for regulatory capture for the biggest AI companies. @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social breaks it down. Watch more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMNB...
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404 Media @404media.co · 11/09/2026
Representatives from the University of Michigan faced tough questions and a lot of vitriol from the citizens of Ypsilanti Township Wednesday night. Here are a few scenes from the nearly 3 hour meeting. Read the story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/we-did-not-i...
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404 Media @404media.co · 09/09/2026
Lindsey Isaacs was falsely arrested and imprisoned after authorities used Flock’s system to pull over the wrong person in a hit-and-run that killed three people. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social spoke to Lindsey and her lawyer about the ordeal. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc_6...
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404 Media @404media.co · 08/09/2026
A secretive DHS ‘predictive policing’ unit analyzed the financial activity of a man who was driving across Montana, and local authorities stopped him under the pretense of an obstructed license plate and charged him with a DUI. @josephcox.bsky.social reports. Read: www.404media.co/a-secretive-...
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404 Media @404media.co · 03/09/2026
Flock taught cops how they could surveil the No Kings protests and “small parades” using a mix of Flock’s technology and law enforcement’s own databases in a webinar last year. Here's a short clip from the webinar: @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports: www.404media.co/flock-taught...
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404 Media @404media.co · 02/09/2026
In a now-deleted webinar hosted for cops on Axon’s official Vimeo page, one asked if Axon would redesign their camera to not look like Flock's. “We are looking at [...] do we change the general shape,” Rick Smith, Axon’s CEO, replied. @josephcox.bsky.social story: www.404media.co/cops-are-ask...
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404 Media @404media.co · 01/09/2026
This city tried to charge a farmer more than $17,000 for bodycam footage and records related to his arrest at a city council meeting where he spoke against a data center. The state rejected the fee. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/oklahoma-tel...
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404 Media @404media.co · 01/09/2026
Simon Weckert designed digital camouflage as a response to the proliferation of AI-powered surveillance cameras that detect people, vehicles, animals, bicycles, and other objects in their field of view. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/this-digital...
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404 Media @404media.co · 31/08/2026
At least dozens of young boys have taken their own lives after being targeted in sextortion scams. Here's how two researchers posed as a target and tracked their scammer: Watch our interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=973m... Story by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/how-cyber-sl...
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404 Media @404media.co · 28/08/2026
ICE wants the robot dogs to improve “officer safety.” Story by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...
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404 Media @404media.co · 28/08/2026
To get an idea of what we're dealing with when we talk about Flock, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social breaks down how the company paid researchers for a bogus study that the researchers themselves disavowed. Read the story from 2024: www.404media.co/researcher-w...
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404 Media @404media.co · 27/08/2026
Michael Fultz resigned from the force after an internal investigation detailed extreme cases of alleged sexual misconduct, racism, and abuse, including Fultz’s use of Flock to stalk his ex-girlfriend. @evystadium.bsky.social as more. Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/florida-depu...
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404 Media @404media.co · 27/08/2026
From Flock to your privacy, at 404 Media, we are particularly focused on doing journalism that has real-world impact. That's all thanks to your continued support. On Sept. 3rd and 4th, we want you to come party with us to celebrate our third anniversary. Join us: www.404media.co/three-years/
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404 Media @404media.co · 26/08/2026
Garrett Langley, Flock’s CEO, told cops that a 404 Media story about cops using Flock to track someone who self-administered an abortion was "entirely false." He's lying. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Read the full story from @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/flocks-ceo-i...
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404 Media @404media.co · 26/08/2026
A police department in Florida used “decoy” Flock cameras that an officer 3D-printed at home to “bait” would-be vandals and charged a man with three felonies after he cut down and destroyed one of the plastic devices. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYCv...
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404 Media @404media.co · 25/08/2026
Emporia Kansas has dropped its criminal case against Lux Claridge, a high school teacher who was arrested for clapping during a city data center meeting. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Update from @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/charges-drop...
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404 Media @404media.co · 25/08/2026
"Vader is always a servant of the Empire, right? So [Flock] is nothing but tools for the servants of the Empire." Anthony Ralphs, the man behind the viral Darth Vader anti-Flock speech, tells 404 Media how he came up with the idea. Our interview here: www.404media.co/darth-vader-...
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404 Media @404media.co · 24/08/2026
The City of Chetek, Wisconsin, has decided to take its Facebook page offline due to "death threats" related to backlash over Flock cameras the town's police department installed without public discussion, local media reports. Here's a video of the police chief from July addressing the outcry:
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404 Media @404media.co · 24/08/2026
This week, @bridgettodd.bsky.social sits down with @samleecole.bsky.social to talk about why AI can never replace human relationships and how tech companies are implicated in the mockery of people using AI for companionship. Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCk-...
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404 Media @404media.co · 21/08/2026
Instagram head Adam Mosseri said last month that the platform would start removing harassing content. So why are there so many videos of men using Meta's "pervert glasses" to covertly film and shame women? @samleecole.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/meta-ray-ban...
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