Sam Cole

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.

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...

Sam Cole reposted

19m

a $2,000 foldable iphone :o) read more: www.404media.co/iphone-duo-c...

404media.coMarissa Mayer Can’t Keep Pretending 'Gender Doesn't Matter'The former CEO of Yahoo! and current founder of a chatbot app is going viral for using AI to list things she loves about her daughter. But what she has to say about women in tech in 2026 is worth talk...

everyone's talking about Marissa's AI chatbot app. I'm not here to talk about that www.404media.co/marissa-maye...

it's very silly to require a chatbot to narrow down three bland things you like about your own kid, yes. but with the career this woman has had, I don't know how she can look around in the year 2026 and keep saying "this is fine." from Sunday's NYT story:

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

Garrett thinks all the people mad at Flock are not real: www.404media.co/in-leaked-au...

Sam Cole reposted

Meredith Rose (from the grave) 👻

@mrose.ink

This is what I need denialists to understand: the AI evangelists' wildest fever dreams (sentience, the singularity, whatever-the-fuck) don't need to be real for the tech to be hugely consequential. A machine gun doesn't need to be superintelligent.

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

wrote about "Black October," the PHP vulnerability, and the AI-fueled dread and panic I'm seeing among almost all of the cybersecurity experts I've ever known. I think people w/ LLMs are brute forcing software the same way they brute forced social media w/ slop www.404media.co/php2shell-bl...

404media.coAI Is Changing Everything About Hacking. No One Knows What Happens Next'Black October:' The PHP vulnerabilities and a series of other hacks and bugs have cybersecurity experts freaking out and unsure what happens next.

if you put a 404 Media sticker on a door at a property being managed by Sotheby’s, please know that the front desk person is now emailing me asking how to get it off

girl I don't know. goo gone?

Sam Cole reposted

A small grove of historic American chestnut trees has become the site of resistance against an AI data center in West Virginia. @samleecole.bsky.social has more. Read now: www.404media.co/west-virgini...

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."

this follows @mjgault.bsky.social's scoop yesterday calling out the admin moving new permits through despite Abbott's "pause" www.404media.co/it-aint-righ...

Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social

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

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.’

Sam Cole reposted

404media.coCops Warned to Look for ‘Suspicious Behavior’ From People Opposing Flock at City Council MeetingsA surveillance document tells cops to expect "emotional confrontations" at Flock city council meetings.

New: The feds warned cops to expect "emotional confrontations" at Flock city council meetings which "may present public safety risks." Came immediately before a series of people were illegally arrested while speaking against Flock at city council meetings www.404media.co/cops-warned-...

404media.coSomeone Opened a CashApp In Her Name. She Faces Years in PrisonAmanda Smith is charged with computer fraud due to a scam CashApp account being in her name. But in a Kafkaesque situation, CashApp won't provide her any information because she can't prove she is the...

you know a story is going to bang when joe uses "kafkaesque" www.404media.co/amanda-smith...

View full thread

wvgazettemail.comState, data center developer scramble to save rare Mason County chestnut groveA plan is taking shape to save a grove of nearly 200 rare American chestnut trees that stand in the path of construction of a massive Monarch Compute Campus data center in Mason County, West Virginia,...

Hopefully the attention paid to the trees will extend to more digging by the community and local journalists, who have done incredibly thorough reporting on this. The Charleston Gazette-Mail has a great piece this morning: www.wvgazettemail.com/news/kanawha...

404media.coAn Incomplete List of Successful Anti-Data Center LegislationNo one wants to live next to a noisy computer warehouse and communities across the country are successfully fighting them.

Pushback works, as @mjgault.bsky.social has reported on this beat over and over again: www.404media.co/an-incomplet...

View full thread

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...

wsaz.comHomeowner’s yard floods again near Nscale data center siteA homeowner in Mason County says runoff from Nscale’s data center site has flooded their property again.

I think it's fascinating that trees are what's gotten headlines (including mine) about this project, when it's already become clear that the project isn't passing permitting for things as basic as stormwater control, as local outlets have reported: www.wsaz.com/2026/09/10/h...

View full thread

American chestnuts were a staple for 1,000s of years before imported blight fungus decimated them. The American Chestnut Foundation has been harvesting nuts from this orchard for more than a decade, with many remaining resistant enough to survive. A data center could be what finally takes them out.

(one could say the grove is a germplasm "data" center itself ... ha cha cha)

Nscale's Monarch Compute Campus is planned to take up 2,250 acres in Mason County, including the former Clements State Nursery, once owned by Mark Twain's grandparents. Construction is already flooding homes and threatens to displace retirees there, with Nscale trying to buy people out.

Sam Cole reposted

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.

Sam Cole 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...

platforms should add the option to notify people when you unfollow or block them. I want them to know

Sam Cole reposted

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.

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...

and as we know, you can be this bad at running a company, go bankrupt, and still not die :)

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

Sam Cole reposted

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.

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.coThe Creator of ‘Smutstep’ Wants You to ‘Let Your Freak Flag Fly’DARQ DAGR combined BookTok romantasy and dubstep to create something new and somewhat controversial. “It’s accepting and embracing what you're into within a safe and healthy space," he said. "I think ...

talked to the guy who coined the term "smutstep," a word I bet you're hearing for the first time right now. we talked about the content creation game, and not taking yourself too seriously while respecting your own craft and audience www.404media.co/smutstep-dub...

and yes of course he did the BookTok growl for us

Sam Cole reposted

Today, "The Social Reckoning" hits theaters. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social sat down with Frances Haugen, one of the real-life whistleblowers the movie based on about why she exposed how Facebook’s algorithm was pushing people toward hate groups. Watch our interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3I...

404media.co'It Is Done. Hail Satan:' City Immediately Regrets New Religious Liberty Law That Allows Prayer at City Council MeetingIowa city council debates proper time in meeting agenda to "undo the curse that was just put on our city."

when will the pope make a statement about leaf blowers

Sam Cole reposted

Matthew Gault

@mjgault.bsky.social

spoke to a man who kicked off a city council meeting in Iowa with an invocation to Satan. “I think we're seeing you know a big shift in our politics. I think we've seen a rise of Christian nationalism in this country [...] and I find that highly troubling."

Sam Cole reposted

Hell Gate *subscribe today!*

@hellgatenyc.com

🚨 Public Service Announcement 🚨 Subscribe to Hell Gate, support worker-owned local journalism, and get the best deal we've ever offered! hellgatenyc.com/hell-gates-b...

404media.co‘Jonathan’ Is the Oldest Land Animal on Earth. He Could Hold the Secrets to Defying DeathJonathan, a 194-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise, was born before the Civil War. Scientists have now sequenced his genome to reveal what’s behind his extreme longevity, so we can live longer too.

jonathan holds some secrets all right www.404media.co/oldest-livin...

404media.coHer AI-Generated Video Swayed the Judge. The Court Said it Carried 'Undue Emotional Weight'‘Chris’ sentiment does not change,’ said the sister who created an AI avatar of her slain brother Christopher Pelkey to speak in court.

going around today telling random people "the orioles fired the bird" like the town crier

Sam Cole reposted

Matthew Gault

@mjgault.bsky.social

spoke to Stacey Wales, the woman who made an AI-generated avatar of her brother to speak in court, for a long time this morning

Sam Cole reposted

@sanders.senate.gov, @aoc.bsky.social, and Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday, which would stop federal agencies from using ALPRs like Flock. Now, 404 Media needs your help. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Read now: www.404media.co/lawmakers-in...

youtu.be404 Media Live! The Three Year Anniversary ShowYouTube video by 404 Media

if you couldn't make it IRL to our live event last month, it's now available wherever you get podcasts and also, youtube! check it out: youtu.be/t_VjNAopjhI?...

please know that we did not do this lmao youtube auto-generates these

Sam Cole reposted

404media.coLawmakers Introduce Multiple Laws to Curb Flock After 404 Media CoverageSenator Bernie Sanders, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Ban Flock Act on Friday, which would stop federal agencies from using automatic license plate readers.

Replying to @404media.co

Sanders’ announcement says that one reason for the legislation is Flock has shared state information with federal officials. In May 2025, 404 Media revealed local cops were doing lookups in Flock for ICE. After that report, Flock made dramatic changes to its product.

today I'm thinking (proudly) of all the journalism indies that have gone out on their own in the last few years without half a million dollars worth of cushion

have started just directly telling the juveniles doing comms for ai agent platforms that they're being super annoying and then blocking them 🤷

404media.coInternet Infrastructure Services Empower Deepfake Abuse, New Study FindsCloudflare, Google, and Proton were among the "dominant" infrastructure providers to sites dedicated to hosting abusive content, the study found.

there's this impression, I think, that AI-generated abuse imagery is hiding and hard to find. in reality, it's being propped up by some of the biggest internet infrastructure companies in the world. very interesting new report: www.404media.co/deepfake-abu...

getting pepcom holiday expo emails makes me nostalgic for the time when I would go to literally anything if it promised free alcohol and snacks

Sam Cole reposted

404media.coHow Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance ProgramHow the federal government built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program.

New: Through a series of complex agreements with cities, the White House built a massive license plate camera database accessible to the feds. The program aggregates data across license plate companies (Flock, Axon, more) & is searchable by many agencies: www.404media.co/how-cities-a...

probably fine that all these new ai agent rollouts are so cutesy and childish. probably a sign of innocuous, normal shit

This post is unavailable.