Matthew Gault

404media.coIn Leaked Audio, Flock CEO Tells Cops Backlash to the Company Isn’t RealIn comments at a private police conference, Garrett Langley also said his wife advised him to never apologize.

20h

been seeing a lot of this kind of denial lately. An attempt to pretend something isn't happening when it obviously is

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.

21h

our inboxes are insane places right now

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.coPortal Texas Used to ‘Rubber Stamp’ Data Centers Down After 404 Media ReportingCommissioners in Texas said they’re making sure ‘all applications are reviewed by agency staff to determine if they are related to data centers.’

and 17 different permits have gone from "approved" to "suspended."

404media.co'It Ain't Right:' Texas Said It Would Halt Data Center Permits. The State is Pushing Ahead Anyway“The Caldwell Technology Park [...] the Stargate facility, and a bunch of other very large hyperscale facilities have gotten regulatory approvals [...] so it's not like a real pause."

the background on this is here:

Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social

Local activists and two non profits have been watching the permit process. They believe they’ve discovered evidence that the state’s environmental regulatory agency has continued to issue permits to data centers despite Governor Greg Abbott’s call for it to stop.

texastribune.orgData center backlash cracks rural Texas Republican wallRural Republicans have long undercut Democrats’ gains in cities and suburbs. Will enough defect to make a difference this fall?

they wanted to make god. Instead they made WWII era gremlins

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I was in high school when they passed the Patriot Act. A buddy came into gym class in a frenzy the next day, said he'd been up all night downloading and archiving things like the Anarchists Cookbook. "They're never gonna stop watching us now"

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404media.coAI Is Already 'Amplifying the Destruction' of WarThe people who write the Laws of Armed Conflict want to put guardrails on AI weapons systems. Will the world listen?

spoke with @laurentgisel.bsky.social about how the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross are thinking about regulating AI weapons. But is it already too late?

Ankit Panda@nktpnd.bsky.social

"At UN, India says decision to use nuclear weapons must stay with humans, not AI" www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/a...

tribuneindia.comAt UN, India says decision to use nuclear weapons must stay with humans, not AI - The TribuneIndia has reiterated its no-first-use nuclear policy and called for human control over decisions to use nuclear weapons, flagging concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear command an...

angryplanetpod.comWhy Wars Never EndThe world’s great military powers seem to have forgotten how to end wars.

this is in the air right now among the mil-nerds

Kori Schake 🎃@kschake.bsky.social

"A belief in military force as the sole ingredient for success has enabled a lazy and destructive foreign policy that ignores the will and motivations of both allies and adversaries. Such thinking also elevates tactics above strategy." Great piece by @jkdemp.bsky.social

foreignpolicy.comMyths of Battlefield Triumph Are Destroying the U.S. MilitaryBad strategy long predates Pete Hegseth and his obsession with “lethality.”

Matthew Gault reposted

Sam Cole

@samleecole.bsky.social

I've spent the last few weeks attempting to figure out what the hell is going on in WV, where a tiny grove of American chestnut trees is facing off against an AI data center. it's a complex and fascinating situation: www.404media.co/west-virgini...

404media.coThe Chestnut Grove Caught in the Middle of A Years-Long Data Center FightA small grove of historic American chestnut trees has become the site of resistance against an AI data center in West Virginia.

Matthew Gault reposted

Sam Cole

@samleecole.bsky.social

Replying to @samleecole.bsky.social

After this backlash, Nscale is saying they've never planned to "bulldoze" the trees, as viral social media posts claimed. But they and the governor's office do plan to move them, which experts say will almost definitely kill them within a few years. www.404media.co/west-virgini...

Matthew Gault reposted

ex-Lethality Jane

@lethalityjane.bsky.social

Say what you will about this movie (and much can be said) but I watched it back to back in the movie theater with The Rise of Skywalker and I had more fun at Cats.

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social

I continue to believe that everyone in that movie was in it because of blackmail. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oc...

theguardian.com‘Oh God, I can’t bear it’: Judi Dench says Cats film was ‘a waste of goodwill and talent’The actor’s forthcoming memoir Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? says the makers had honourable intentions but the elements ‘didn’t coalesce’

Matthew Gault reposted

Jaws Slayer 🎃

@jesawyer.bsky.social

KOTH Screens@kothscreens.bsky.social

Matthew Gault reposted

I loved Crystal Lake so much and now I don't have the will or desire to finish Carrie. Did not expect this but the difference is so stark.

Matthew Gault reposted

A group of Texans believe they’ve discovered evidence that the state’s environmental regulatory agency has continued to issue permits to data centers despite Governor Greg Abbott’s call for it to stop. @mjgault.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/it-aint-righ...

Abbott's office told me that, technically, nothing has been approved.

Matthew Gault reposted

404media.coHow a Massive Chinese Crime Ring Hacked Staples to Steal MillionsA sophisticated organized crime gang hacked into Staples, issued millions of dollars worth of gift cards, and went on a spending spree across the U.S.

A sophisticated organized crime gang hacked into Staples, issued millions of dollars worth of gift cards, and went on a spending spree across the U.S.

Matthew Gault reposted

thehandbasket.co'Tommy' from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist tiesThomas Teepell is the son of a former long-time Bobby Jindal staffer who's close to Sean Feucht.

Today on the pod, @mjgault.bsky.social is joined by @parismarx.com who gets into why data centers are worse than we think. Watch our full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er84...

Matthew Gault reposted

Marisa Kabas

@marisakabas.bsky.social

SCOOP: 'Tommy' from the now-viral exchange with Abdul El-Sayed is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Republican Senator Josh Hawley with close ties to Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht. He's the son of a former Bobby Jindal staffer whose consultant work was instrumental in getting Hawley elected.

Digger nation grows

Alex Wellerstein@wellerstein.bsky.social

OK, I saw "Digger" and here's my very hot take: it's not that bad? Or as bad as I thought it was going to be? Or maybe actually a little good? To explain why would utterly spoil it, but it is not the film I thought it was going to be from the trailers and advertisements.

Matthew Gault reposted

News that the Pentagon would livestream the killer’s execution turned him into a celebrity in Islamist and extremist circles. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. @mjgault.bsky.social story here: www.404media.co/nidal-hasans...

Matthew Gault reposted

404media.coNidal Hasan’s Public Execution Is Off, But Propagandists Are Still Using Him as a MartyrNews that the Pentagon would livestream the killer’s execution turned him into a celebrity in Islamist and extremist circles.

NEW: Trump has called off the livestream execution of Nidal Hasan, but experts tell @mjgault.bsky.social the damage is done. Pete Hegseth's announcement has already turned Hasan into a hero in extremist circles through memes and even an Al Qaeda affiliated newsletter. "You have fed the wolves."

@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

the livestream has been cancelled, but the original announcement was enough to turn Hasan into a meme-hero

Matthew Gault reposted

Jason Koebler

A video game reverse engineering community has shut down because many games can now be trivially reverse engineered and decompiled with AI: "The community aspect of decompilation has been broken." www.404media.co/video-game-r...

404media.coVideo Game Reverse Engineering Community Shuts Down Because AI Has Made It Too Easy"Historically, decompilation has been a brutally difficult, time consuming task." Now, AI is trivially doing it.

404media.coData Centers Are War Targets Now"Why have we gotten to the point where we have permitted militaries of various states to use civilian commercial data centers for their military purposes?"

reading the news about the strikes on Russian data centers this week I remembered Clive Humby's speech from 2006: "Data is the new oil."

Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centers, Iranian attacks on AWS infrastructure across ME. Ukraine striking FOUR Russian data centers. This is going to be a feature of war going forward -- drones hitting a soft target aimed at disrupting digital civilian infrastructure

part of the issue is that some data centers are dual-use. they're processing both civilian and military data.

Matthew Gault reposted

Men find yet another way to film and harass women without consent, this time, using a remote controlled robot to push against a "16-year-old girl's buttocks", and this is how the most well-resourced news agencies cover it: Read *our* piece here: www.404media.co/theres-nothi...

Matthew Gault reposted

Character.ai’s bankruptcy is the one of the first dominos to fall in the long-foreseen AI bubble. Read the story here: https://www.404media.co/character-ais-bankruptcy-documents-show-the-economics-of-ai-dont-work/

this was, perhaps, their one perfect game. The best example of the form. Now it's nice and sloppy

Rob Zacny@robzacny.bsky.social

This was still maybe the most beautiful game they ever made. Absolutely disgraceful. Specifically offensive to run THIS game through the slop filter.

@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

tokens are a finite resource???? excuse me, I'm just learning this??

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

Character is still losing $9 million a month AFTER - laying off employees - making its model worse on purpose to be cheaper - moving to open source models - adding usage limits - spamming ads in its product - adding new in-app paid products

Matthew Gault reposted

Jason Koebler

New: I pulled the Character ai bankruptcy documents. They show: - They were spending $14 million/month on compute alone at a time their revenue was around ~$1 million/month - Currently losing $9 million a month - They admitted they enshittified & that it didnt work www.404media.co/character-ai...

404media.coCharacter.ai's Bankruptcy Documents Show the Economics of AI Don't WorkCharacter.ai enshittified its product but was still burning tons of cash, its bankruptcy documents say.

Aftermath@aftermath.site

You best believe I’m fixin a plate for Boruto’s dad’s godfather, Ninku aftermath.site/naruto-ninku-a...

a new session will start soon and the YT thumbnail appears to be Harry Potter themed

Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social

over the weekend I promised people who attended the 404 Media anniversary party I'd link video of a woman in full joker makeup decrying the lack of decorum at public meetings in Texas

can we expect Malfoid to make an appearance?