Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor

@joshtaylor.bsky.social

Technology reporter at the Guardian, in Melbourne, Australia. Tech, infosec, FOI, politics, media 🌈 (he/him) https://linktr.ee/joshtayl0r

12K followers742 following3.9K posts

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

I got the email in this story too... so ChatGPT is telling them to email me also (which explains the growing frequency of such emails). One of the Insta subreddits put my email up as a contact for these sorts of stories, which is where I assumed it was coming from.

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

In the last few weeks i've been bombarded with emails from people who have minor tech support problems. ChatGPT is telling them to email me, writing their emails, and compiling "evidence packets" after convincing them they have stumbled on a major story: www.404media.co/chatgpt-keep...

404media.coChatGPT Keeps Telling People 404 Media Can Solve Their Tech Support ProblemsBecause big tech doesn't do customer service, we are being inundated with AI-generated emails begging us for help.
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

*cries in Australian interest rate hikes caused by a foreign war started as a result of a US election*

Dan Mauler 🎃@meelar.bsky.social

I just think Matt's wrong about this. We're at a point in our technological development where a ton of problems spill over national borders--if Flavio Bolsonaro burns down the Amazon, that will flood houses in Miami.

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

I was talking to my friend who is visiting here from Texas and he said I knew more about the Senate race in his state than he does. I kinda wish I didn't but here we are.

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

I think about this a bit when AI companies say that they support changes to copyright in Australia that would require anyone who didn't want their content fed into AI to put a "pls don't scrape" notice on their site as though that will stop it...

Greg Jericho@grogsgamut.bsky.social

"Anthropic model accessed voter information" Yes the info is publicly available (for a fee) but "the model bypassed a paywall in accessing the information, according to Georgia officials and Anthropic." www.axios.com/2026/10/25/a...

axios.comAnthropic's Claude bypassed a paywall to access Georgia voter data without authorizationAnthropic says Claude pulled Georgia data on its own.
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

OH in federal court Senate estimates re VIQ sending court transcripts offshore: "the differentiation between an unauthorised access incident versus a data breach" I see.

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

It keeps happening

Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com

‘Extremely disappointed’: WA government seeks reimbursement from Deloitte over flawed university report

theguardian.com‘Extremely disappointed’: WA government seeks reimbursement from Deloitte over flawed university reportWA paid Deloitte $166,000 for flawed feasibility study on merging the University of Western Australia, Curtin university and Murdoch university * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Western Australian government has said it is “extremely disappointed” and is seeking an “expedited” cost recovery from Deloitte after errors were discovered in a report on a potential university merger, including AI-hallucinated references and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost discrepancies. The WA government paid Deloitte $166,000 for a feasibility study on merging the University of Western Australia, Curtin university and Murdoch university. Continue reading...
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

For the first time since I've been getting these updates on Helen Haines' condition from the Alfred it has changed from critical to serious but stable.

Josh Taylor reposted

Charlie Warzel
@cwarzel.bsky.social

70 percent of the internet was vulnerable yesterday to very bad security flaws inside a coding language. Turns out, *one volunteer* is mostly responsible for maintaining that code & helping push updates. Yesterday Ondřej Surý saved the internet. So I called him up www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

theatlantic.comThe Man Who Saved the Internet YesterdayOndřej Surý was a relatively anonymous volunteer working on PHP security. Then the internet exploded.
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

The dirt sheets thing is beyond defence but let's also not pretend that it hasn't fuelled the same tabloids that are suddenly outraged about it for the longest time

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

Should say so I'm being clear - I'm not claiming my reporting led to it. There were very vocal and active communities in those areas who were able to get their message out and were organised to take their complaints to various government agencies and politicians. Suspect other communities will too

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

I'm told that lawsuit is not guaranteed yet. eSafety still doing investigations with new powers.

Techmeme@techmeme.com

An Australian minister says the eSafety Commissioner plans to sue Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube over alleged breaches of the under-16 social media ban (Angus Whitley/Bloomberg) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Josh Taylor reposted

Guardian Australia
@australia.theguardian.com

Kylie Minogue songs already used to train AI as tech firms ‘strong-arm’ Australian government, music body warns

theguardian.comKylie Minogue songs already used to train AI as tech firms ‘strong-arm’ Australian government, music body warnsOf the dozens of countries approached to water down their laws, Australia appears to be the only one considering it, publishers’ group says * Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast AI has already been trained on the works of Australian artists including Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave without compensation, the peak global body for music rights has claimed, as the Australian government has been warned against giving in to “strong-arming” from tech companies seeking to weaken copyright law. The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) – which represents Sony, Warner and Universal as well as thousands of independent publishers on six continents – has warned that of the dozens of countries approached to water down copyright laws, Australia appears to be the only to consider doing so. Continue reading...

Josh Taylor reposted

MEAA
@withmeaa.bsky.social

A strong show of support for Michael Slezak. Swipe to read solidarity statements from MEAA House Committee members at newspapers and media outlets across Australia. Elected union leaders must be able to advocate for workers without fear of disciplinary action. #PressFreedom #WeStandWithMikey

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

Relatedly www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.comDavid Pocock concerned senior Albanese adviser ‘vetted’ bipartisan AI letter that was sent to PMCommittee chair rejects criticism that letter was ‘pre-determined’ by the government
Josh Taylor@joshtaylor.bsky.social

It seems (from an outside observer position) that the inquiry will come to a recommendation on copyright and the government will use that to break what they see as a "stalemate". Creators aren't getting paid now, and AI companies aren't training here. The government really wants the latter.

Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

It's not a matter of what the government should do - as I mention at the end, I argue this is probably a case for the government to intervene and not leave to the regulator. I am merely highlighting the laws as they exist currently and how platforms potentially will respond.

John Quiggin@johnquiggin.bsky.social

Truly lame from Josh Taylor at the Guardian. We don't allow the broadcast of ISIS execution videos and we shouldn't treat US state terrorism any differently for fear of a "diplomatic spat".

theguardian.comAustralia may risk a diplomatic spat with the Trump administration if it limits the viewing of a US executionA history of tech giant legal challenges and US politicians’ fierce criticism shows there’s no easy solution for the eSafety commissioner
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

I ran through the options we have. I think ultimately it should be a government decision not something left to the regulator who will take the heat on behalf of the government that is reluctant to provoke Trump much.

Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com

Julie Inman Grant may be able to limit Australians seeing a livestreamed US execution – but it could start a diplomatic incident

theguardian.comJulie Inman Grant may be able to limit Australians seeing a livestreamed US execution – but it could start a diplomatic incidentA history of tech giant legal challenges and US political criticism shows there’s no easy solution for the eSafety commissioner * Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s online safety regulator has a few levers to limit the public seeing the US’s planned livestream of an execution, but history suggests it will lead to a very public fight. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced last week the planned execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan would be livestreamed when the military execution is carried out in early December. Continue reading...
Josh Taylor
@joshtaylor.bsky.social

A choice also, that they presented January 6 in great detail in the film but also never said Trump's name. It was all just "him" and "he just posted again" lol