Co-founder and journalist at 404media.co I read every email
Substack introduced a feature to detect AI generated writing on its platform. That makes some people really really mad! www.404media.co/substackers-...
Substackers Say New AI Detection Tool Is a ‘Witch Hunt’“I’m not going to apologize for using AI in the creation process.”www.404media.coSpotify is seemingly allowing AI slop to take over its platform and doing nothing to label AI music. These sites are doing it for them www.404media.co/spotifys-ai-...
Spotify's AI Problem Is So Bad Random People Are Stepping In to Track the SlopSpotify doesn’t label AI music on its platform, so websites like SoullessMusic.com and SlopTracker.org do it instead.www.404media.coA lot of our best reporting about Flock is via city council meetings, which is the focus of our upcoming FOIA Forum. Sign up to learn how to dig into your own city council www.404media.co/our-new-foia...
Our New FOIA Forum! 7/30, 1PM ETJoin us for our latest FOIA Forum where we teach you how to pry records from the government.www.404media.cocompanies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-companies...
AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI SlopISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.”www.404media.coplease come to our party :] www.404media.co/three-years/
You're Invited: 404 Media's Third Anniversary Live Podcast and Party!We're celebrating with TWO NIGHTS of good times: A live taping of the podcast, and a party the following night! Paid 404 Media subscribers get free and discounted access. Details below.www.404media.cowe talked to employees at multiple companies that are pumping the brakes on AI because it's so expensive to use www.404media.co/companies-ar...
Companies Are Throttling Employees’ AI Use Because It’s Too ExpensiveSources and leaks from Amazon, Adobe, Atlassian, Citi, and more show what is really happening with AI right now: companies are trying to rein in AI use as costs spiral out of control.www.404media.coThese AI generated flowers might seem obviously fake but thousands of people are falling for it and buying these seeds on Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay www.404media.co/scammers-sel...
Scammers Sell Seeds for Exotic AI-Generated Flowers That Don’t ExistEbay, Amazon, and Etsy are unable to stop the flood of AI-generated seed scams.www.404media.coI used to be poor and stupid, but then I took Jason's class about blogging and now I'm rich!!! www.404media.co/how-i-bought...
How I Bought a Private Jet By Selling $10 Subscriptions to 404 MediaMy journey inside the world of LARPing, where hustlebros pretend to be rich for TikTok.www.404media.coA new software update is turning of the AC in Amazon delivery trucks just as the weather is getting dangerously hot www.404media.co/software-upd...
Software Update Automatically Turns off Amazon Delivery Drivers’ AC During Dangerous Summer HeatA new software update is turning off the AC in Amazon delivery vans after 10 minutes or 30 seconds under certain conditions.www.404media.coAmazon employees are posting memes on Slack about how their AI coding tool sucks www.404media.co/sloppenheime...
“Sloppenheimer:” Amazon Employees Mock the Company’s AI on SlackAmazon employees have a Slack channel for memes where the mock and commiserate about the company’s faulty AI coding product.www.404media.coa delight and an honor to have podcasting king @devindra.bsky.social on the pod!!! www.404media.co/its-so-not-o...
It’s So Not Over for Hollywood (with Devindra Hardawar)Emanuel talks to Devindra Hardawar about AI in Hollywood and the state of the movie industry.www.404media.coGoogle keeps bragging about how most of its code is AI generated. Internally, employees meme about how its AI sucks www.404media.co/google-emplo...
Google Employees Internally Share Memes About How Its AI SucksGoogle’s CEO says 75% of the company’s code is AI-generated. The people who write that code say the AI they’re using is overhyped.www.404media.cointernal company documents show that Microsoft plans on getting users "addicted" to AI agents. Not language Microsoft employees we talked to are thrilled about or believe in. www.404media.co/microsoft-wa...
Microsoft Wants to 'Make People Addicted' to its New AI Assistant, Internal Documents RevealPlanning documents for "Scout" say the plan is to "make people addicted" to the tool before adding new features.www.404media.coAmazon tokenmaxxing leaderboard seems to have backfired and shut down. www.404media.co/amazon-shuts...
Amazon Shuts Down Internal AI Leaderboard After Employees CheatedEmployees admitted to 404 Media they had cheated to climb the leaderboard's ranks.www.404media.coThis company wants to turn every school bus into a mobile license plate reader www.404media.co/buspatrol-pu...
‘BusPatrol’ Put AI Cameras in Tens of Thousands of School Buses. Now They Want to Give Cops AccessBusPatrol plans to scan the license plates of all vehicles the buses drive past, and then let law enforcement search that data. The plan would essentially turn school buses into roaming surveillance v...www.404media.cothe company that made this free deepfake tool raised $450 million 👍 www.404media.co/streamer-rea...
Streamer Realtime Deepfakes Himself into Mr. Beast, Says He Loves 'Touching Little Boys'The software, called Delulu, is marketed specifically to streamers and lets them easily transform into other people including George Floyd, Jeffrey Epstein, and other streamers.www.404media.coGoogle, Microsoft, and Meta brag about how most of their code is AI-generated now. The developers generating that code say it sucks and that it's making the stupid www.404media.co/software-dev...
Software Developers Say AI Is Rotting Their Brains“It's making me dumber for sure.”www.404media.coI'm such a huge fan of Natasha Schull's work and I had such a good time talking to her for the pod! www.404media.co/how-the-worl...
How the World Became a CasinoThe logic behind Polymarket, Kalshi and sports betting apps can be traced back to the inner workings of the slot machine.www.404media.co