A team of researchers at Columbia University, funded in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have developed “machines that can grow by consuming other machines.” Video of the experiment shows tubular robots that move by extending their shafts to inch along the ground. As the tubes gather, they connect and form into more…
Hello 404 Media readers! We’re excited to announce that we’re having our first ever party in Los Angeles. We have partnered with the amazing DIY hackerspace RIP.SPACE in the Arts District. We’ll start the night with a live podcast about the surveillance technologies powering ICE, with a specific focus on tools that are being used…
A listing on ultra-fast-fashion e-commerce site Shein used an AI-generated image of Luigi Mangione to sell a floral button-down t-shirt. Mangione—the prime suspect in the December 2024 murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson—is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, last I checked, and is not modeling for Shein. I first saw…
A Kansas mother who left an old laptop in a closet is suing multiple porn sites because her teenage son visited them on that computer. The complaints, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for Kansas, allege that the teen had “unfettered access” to a variety of adult streaming sites, and accuses the sites…
A powerful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, parts of which have been seen by 404 Media, allows the federal government to search for and filter people by hundreds of different, highly specific categories. Surveillance experts say the database is a tool that could possibly be helping ICE identify, detain, and deport people who are…
“Hi, I’m severely depressed,” I said to my AI therapist. “My heart goes out to you,” she responded in my Instagram direct messages, alongside conversations I’m having with people I know in real life, like old friends and my mom. “Depression can feel overwhelming—would you like to talk about what’s been going on and how…
GDANSK (Reuters) – Polish game developer Big Cheese Studio was hit by a hacker attack early on Friday, its management confirmed to the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The attack happened around 0400 GMT and the company’s website was still down as of 1123 GMT. Big Cheese Studio has taken security measures …
Info-Tech-Research Group has highlighted in a new report that the continued escalation of sophistication and frequency of cyber threats has put immense pressure on cybersecurity leaders to adapt and protect their organisations. The global IT research and advisory firm advises that this risk environment demands that organisations shift from reactive measures to more proactive strategies…
A global research study, from Splunk and Oxford Economics, into how chief information security officers (CISOs) interact with boards finds greater participation but enduring gaps.
A bill introduced by Michigan lawmakers last week would ban pornography, ASMR, depictions of transgender people, and VPNs for anyone using the internet in the state. House Bill 4938, called the “Anticorruption of Public Morals Act,” would prohibit distribution of “certain material on the internet that corrupts the public morals,” the bill states. It was…
