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Elise Thomas

@elisethomas.bsky.social
9.3K followers 1.7K following 1.3K posts

Senior OSINT Investigator at @cen4infores.bsky.social. Opinions, hot takes, mistakes all my own. www.clippings.me/elisethomas

PostsRepliesMedia
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 12h
If a company found out their human employee committed a crime while working on behalf of the company, they should report it to the police. That's an expectation, and in many cases a legal obligation, it's not something you get a gold star for. I don't see why we'd apply a lower standard to AI.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 12h
Kind of disconcerting to hear Altman say that he thinks OpenAI was going above and beyond by disclosing that his company's technology had hacked other organisations, and governments. That seems like the barest of bare minimums to me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OOH...
youtube.com
Sam Altman says OpenAI has more AI incidents to disclose
YouTube video by POLITICO
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A revolution against… the mostly white mostly men running the country?
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
He looks like a 73 year old man under harsh lighting. I don't see any reason to think the image has been modified.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The tweet that immediately came to mind:
We're a modest company with modest goals:
1: sell a quality product at a fair price
2: drain the world's oceans so we can find and kill god
6:19 PM • Oct 21, 2014 • Twitter for iPhone
9.8K Retweets
32.7K Likes
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I was chatting to a friend who is 23 and doing her undergrad degree. She was saying that she and all her peers are using AI for assignments, but they also all believe their tutors are using AI to mark them. AI is assessing AI. What even is the point at that stage? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
As more Australian universities use AI to mark students’ work, is it creating creating a ‘slop-cycle’?
Educational institutions find themselves suddenly confronted with a fork in the road
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
it is 2026 and "woman wears pants" is a headline www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/s...
nytimes.com
At State Dinner for China’s Leader, Melania Trump Wears the Pants
And possibly makes history while doing so.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I clicked on the Trending topic about the Meta Charm launch and yours was the top post
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
tbf he has built one of the world's largest fortunes and multiple mansions for his wife so I reckon Priscilla's doing okay
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If an individual did this, we'd treat it as a crime. We should treat this as a crime too, and hold OpenAI liable for what its models, under its supervision, did. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
OpenAI agent hacked Medicare portal, PM says
Anthony Albanese says he has spoken to the Open AI chief executive to express his concern about the incident and the length of time it took the tech company to inform the government of the breach.
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Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · 21/09/2026
Donald Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call on Sunday to halt Kyiv’s strikes on Russian refineries over concerns the attacks are exacerbating a global diesel shortage and pushing up prices. @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/adb8...
ft.com
Donald Trump presses Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop hitting Russian refineries
US president tells Ukrainian leader in phone call it’s all about ‘diesel, diesel, diesel’, according to officials
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If they’re going after the CEO of OpenAI I doubt they’re going to win that one. The power balance there is not in their favour. If they start going after smaller research institutions, then that’d be a worry.
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Our new @cen4infores.bsky.social investigation into A7, the massive Russian government-backed sanctions evasion network, is out now! This one identifies enablers supporting A7A5, A7's cryptocurrency in Kyrgyzstan, and tracks links to shady crypto exchanges and, curiously, the Kyrgyzstan government
info-res.org
Tsunami Payments: Tracing the ripples of A7A5 in Kyrgyzstan
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This kind of thing is why, as an OSINT investigator, working with journalists like @ericszeto.bsky.social and @ivanangelovski.bsky.social is so valuable. Here they are following the leads from our OneGate investigation all the way to a director's front door. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEmz...
youtube.com
Exposing a Canadian 'banking' company linked to money launderers
YouTube video by CBC News
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I think there's actually quite an easy and obvious way to solve the collective action problem of how to make the AI companies stop conducting risky research, and it's to make it very clear that they're legally liable for anything their models do. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Anthropic CEO seeks immediate slowdown on AI
Dario Amodei warned that recent advances have begun to outpace the industry’s ability to fully understand and control the technology.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Here's that decade old piece. Nothing has changed, except the problem is bigger and worse. medium.com/future-crunch/why-the-internet-of-things-matters-in-the-fight-against-domestic-violence-5abc01fed2c2
medium.com
Why the Internet of Things Matters in the Fight Against Domestic Violence
Technology ramps up the potential for surveillance in the most intimate spheres of our lives — and we have no idea who’s watching
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I wrote about the risk of this kind of thing happening more than ten years ago. This problem was 100% foreseeable, it WAS foreseen by many people, and nothing was done. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
How one woman’s Tesla was remotely controlled – and used to harass her – by an abusive ex-partner
Enrico Pucci was able to control his former partner’s electric car remotely, controlling its speed, temperature settings and lock
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This but for any research, any investigation, any anything. Most of my best finds in OSINT investigations were things I didn't know I should be looking for, which I found while looking for something else. Just do the work.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
And a fantastic piece here by CBC journalists @ericszeto.bsky.social and @ivanangelovski.bsky.social digging into this network on the Canadian side www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Canadian 'banking' company linked to sanctioned money-laundering network | CBC News
CBC’s visual investigations team and the Centre for Information Resilience reveals who is behind a Canadian 'revolutionary banking' company with ties to a sanctioned money-laundering network serving c...
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
On the surface The OneGate looks like a normal fintech startup: payment cards, multicurrency accounts, international payments. Using #OSINT, we've found evidence linking them to a massive transnational crime group which launders money for drug cartels and Russian oligarchs @cen4infores.bsky.social
info-res.org
The OneGate: TGR’s international digital payments network
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
After extensive legal battles, their children and beneficiaries would become the next billionaires and everything would keep right on trucking.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Interestingly Sydney has been confronting this question a lot lately www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
The 16-month battle to reveal the truth about Sydney Water’s poo balls
After debris balls closed Sydney beaches in October 2024, Guardian Australia reported they could be linked to sewage outfalls. Authorities were less keen to talk
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
True crime culture in general is ghoulish and gross
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Meduza — Новости [Unofficial] @meduza.io.web.brid.gy · 25/08/2026
meduza.io
Во Внуково прилетел военно-транспортный самолет ВВС США. Кого он привез, неизвестно
Утром 25 августа в московском аэропорту Внуково приземлился военно-транспортный самолет Военно-воздушных сил США Boeing C-17 Globemaster III с бортовым номером RCH4555, следует из данных сервиса Flightradar24.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
Grim signs the globe is about to run short of food
Just as the global economy was adjusting to higher fuel prices, a new inflationary wave is about to hit. This time, the shortages will involve food and the poorest nations will be the worst affected.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Leaving Their Fully Appointed Home—> Comfortable Flight in First Class or Private Plane —> Several Days' Holiday Somewhere Tropical in the Middle —> Comfortable Flight in First Class or Private Plane —> Arriving At Their Fully Appointed Home Which Hired Staff Have Prepared
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Charles Я. Davis @charliearchy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
NEW: The Trump administration is looking to set up a consortium for anti-immigrant "independent journalism" in Europe, with the State Department envisioning "substantial involvement" in the project. www.theredoubt.net/trump-admini...
theredoubt.net
Trump administration to support 'independent journalism' in Europe with anti-immigrant focus
For-profit entities are eligible to receive $1 million from the State Department, which envisions "substantial involvement" in the project.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Also absolutely no non-White House oil analysts seem to think 10 million barrels a day are getting out, or anything close to that
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edeath @edithcharles.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Rethinking this
I just saw a TV reporter pronouncing it as 'aloo akbar' which literally translates to 'potatoes are the greatest'
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Obviously you'd do it in a sensible way, like have the AEC support them to hold an official referendum (or we could let the Kiwis support them, if they feel the AEC is a conflict of interest), but then we should abide by whatever the outcome of that vote is.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This has been so little covered in the Australian media that I, a statistically abnormally high news consumer, was totally unaware of it. If they want to go, we should let them! www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
politico.com
Norfolk Island voted to leave Australia. Canberra shrugged.
Australia has an independence problem on its own Pacific island.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
But obviously that would cost money and not create the potential for surveillance-based marketing
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The solution to aggression towards staff is not mass surveillance, it’s having more than one lonesome and often poorly trained security guard per massive store 🙄 www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Alarm raised over ‘privacy dilemma’ of facial recognition technology at Coles and Woolworths
Supermarkets say they are exploring ways to keep people safe, but experts claim the tech is ‘normalising surveillance’
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Senator David Shoebridge @davidshoebridge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I asked why the NACC has apparently never looked into billions in sketchy secret Nauru contracts, the answer was simple: nobody could explain it.
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The Moscow Times @themoscowtimes.com · 17/08/2026
Andrei Klepach, who served as VEB.RF’s chief economist for 12 years, was reportedly fired after the bank’s leadership received a phone call “from above.”
themoscowtimes.com
VEB Chief Economist Fired After Warning Russia Cannot Win ‘War of Attrition’ – The Bell - The Moscow Times
The chief economist at Russia’s state development corporation VEB.RF has been fired after presenting a report earlier this year warning that Russia cannot win a prolonged war of attrition against Ukra...
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
It’s not crazy like a fox, it’s very clear transactionalism. South Korea didn’t want to join the war on Iran so he’s punishing them.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/defence...
thesaturdaypaper.com.au
US leases open AUKUS escape hatch
ANALYSIS: Hosting nuclear-armed US submarines will soon put Australia in breach of its international treaty obligations, opening the door for Labor to reset defence arrangements with America.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
“Not in politics, own a political party but purely as a hobby”
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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @occrp.org · 12/08/2026
Treasury Rolls Back Ownership Reporting Obligations for U.S. Companies www.occrp.org/en/news/trea...
occrp.org
Treasury Rolls Back Ownership Reporting Obligations for U.S. Companies
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Women with their own money, how cute
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852dude @852dude.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Bro. People are cool as fuck.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
He does understand they're walking out for a day or even just a few hours, right, not dropping out of school
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Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I talked to this person years ago about a job writing about the ultra wealthy and he told me I was a bad fit because I was obviously going to make jokes about them. I remember this, to be honest, because the hat was present then too www.nytimes.com/2026/08/12/b...
nytimes.com
Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received Secret $6 Million Payment (Gift Article)
Randall Lane, the magazine’s chief content officer, received the money from the founder of Shook Research, which has worked with Forbes on content about wealth advisers.
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
why is she levitating
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 11/08/2026
When Elon took over Twitter he told investors he'd triple ad revenue within 5 years. It's now been almost four years... and he's wiped out 2/3rds of the ad revenue (basically revealed in footnotes to SpaceX's earnings).
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
And with the constant threat of crippling legal bills should some rich person decide they don’t like what you’re writing
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
It is both hilarous and obviously awful that he waved off the journalists and presumably his least favourite staff members to be the decoy bsky.app/profile/aaro...
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Imagine being the people in the old Air Force One being waved off to fly home, in the knowledge that they really do think there’s a chance you could be shot down 😅
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Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/media/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Inside a meme factory: meet one of thousands of Indonesians trading political outrage clicks for Facebook cash
Exclusive: Adira says she doesn’t know much about her target countries or even know who their leaders are. Instead she’s chasing money from Meta, which pays for engagement
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