Jason Koebler
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Journalist @404mediaco, former EIC @motherboard
Signal: jason.404 // email: jason@404media.co
Articles by Jason Koebler
Hack Reveals Suno AI Music Generator Scraped YouTube, Deezer, and Genius
The AI music generation tool Suno scraped millions of songs and lyrics from YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius, as well as from the stock music libraries Pond5, Jamendo, Freesound, the International Music Score Library Project, and podcasts via RSS feeds, according to a hacker who breached the company and shared data about Suno’s training libraries with 404 Media.
LAPD Regularly Pulled Over Innocent People Because License Plate Readers Flagged Their Cars As Stolen
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced it will let its surveillance contract with automated license plate reader company (ALPR) Flock expire, becoming the largest police department in the country to drop its contract. Notably, the decision came after an audit of ALPR technology found that, in a two-month period, the LAPD had improperly "investigated" 161 people whose cars were flagged as stolen in the LAPD’s ALPR system but were not actually stolen.
These Are the Worst ChatGPT Flyers You've Sent Us
Earlier this week, I somewhat stupidly asked our readers to send me examples of "ChatGPT flyers," the AI-generated posters and advertisements that have taken over social media, bulletin boards, restaurant menus, store signage, business cards, and billboards around the world. I say stupidly, because I was flooded with so many terrible, brain-numbing signs for anything you could possibly imagine. I guess I got what I asked for. (Thank you, I love it).
Behind the Blog: The Promise of the Internet
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss mobile podcasting, participating in the meme, and vertigo. JASON: My last few articles have basically been first person behind the blog vibes about things I’m doing (Cannes, influencer LARPing), or things that annoy me (ChatGPT flyers), so I’m trying to think how much more people want to know about my Process or what’s going on in my brain.
LinkedIn and X are flooded with AI spam, browsing data suggests
Posted Friday, July 10, 2026 10:00 am A shocking amount of the content that users encounter on popular social media websites is likely AI generated, according to data from a company that detects AI writing. As much as 41 percent of longform written content seen by users on LinkedIn is likely to be fully AI-generated and roughly a third of longer posts on X are AI-generated; roughly one-in-ten longer Reddit and Substack posts are AI, according to the data.
Farmers Finally Get a John Deere Right to Repair Agreement That Doesn’t Screw Them Over
Wednesday, John Deere agreed to give farmers broader access to repair their tractors and farm equipment under an antitrust settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, one of the biggest wins in the long right to repair battle. The settlement is the latest and by far the most important development in several recent lawsuits against John Deere, and is finally an agreement that isn’t full of half measures and doesn’t have massive, obvious loopholes.
LinkedIn and X Are Flooded With AI Spam, Browsing Data Suggests
A shocking amount of the content that users encounter on popular social media websites is likely AI generated, according to data from a company that detects AI writing. As much as 41 percent of longform written content seen by users on LinkedIn is likely to be fully AI-generated and roughly a third of longer posts on X are AI-generated; roughly one-in-ten longer Reddit and Substack posts are AI, according to the data.
We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’
I am not sure, exactly, how many ChatGPT signs, flyers, or advertisements I had seen without noticing. But I do remember that once I began noticing them, I saw them everywhere. A few blocks from my house, on a display easel: “Break Free Surfing California: SURF LESSONS VENICE BEACH.” On Instagram, a going out of business closeout sale for a skateboard shop. On invites to parties from friends, Fourth of July barbecues being thrown by bars, concert posters.
We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’
1 hour ago Dwayne Johnson is back as Maui, and yet... When Moana was released in 2016, it was a gorgeous cinematic wonder, drawing inspiration from Polynesian mythology, offering moving and catchy songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina, and Opetaia Foaʻi, and reveling in the creative freedom animation …
'Knockoff' Browser Extension Hides Sketchy Brands on Amazon
A software developer made a Chrome and Firefox extension called Knockoff that automatically hides, grays out, or filters products from sketchy brands on Amazon, which highlights just how many shady brands are on the platform and how commonly they show up on searches for basic items.
LARPING: How Influencers Fake Being Rich
This week, we talk about Jason's dive into the world of LARPing, where hustlebros and influencers use fake YouTube, OnlyFans, and Stripe dashboards as "proof" that they're rich in order to sell low-quality get-rich-quick courses in pyramid schemes. We show how easy it is to pretend like you're rich, and how these strategies are used all over social media. Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or YouTube.
Footage Shows Cop Stalking Woman He Met on a TV Set After Surveilling Her With a License Plate Reader
A police officer speeds 70 MPH down a two-lane highway running over a bridge in the Florida Keys. He passes a dump truck in a no-passing zone, then immediately does it again, crossing over a double-yellow line to pass another truck. He passes a third vehicle, nearly causing a head-on collision with a white pickup truck that veers away from him in the oncoming traffic. The cop keeps driving, and sees the SUV he’s been in pursuit of. He flicks his sirens and lights on and pulls it over.
Footage Shows Cop Stalking Woman He Met on a TV Set After Surveilling Her With a License Plate Reader
Treasure Coast 2 hours ago Mel Fisher Days charity event returns to Sebastian in July AOL - Kaila Jones, Treasure Coast Newspapers • 2h Mel Fisher Days Charity Event returns to Sebastian in July celebrating the 41st anniversary of the discovery of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha.
Behind the Blog: With Blogs Like These, Who Needs a Private Jet
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss the Supreme Court, the private jet, and AI on the TV. JOSEPH: I used to cover court cases and judge’s opinions a lot more back at Motherboard. Sometimes it was in cases I broke news in, like that time the FBI secretly ran a dark web child abuse website.
How I Bought a Private Jet By Selling $10 Subscriptions to 404 Media
Sitting on a white leather recliner on my private jet, I needed to decide how many millions of dollars to give myself, a process that was less about thinking and more about how many times to hit random number keys on my keyboard. I watched 404 Media’s revenue graph go up and to the right. I clicked record on my camera, wanting to show my followers how hard I work, even when I’m getting shuttled off to exotic locations. “We’re here on the PJ, off to Ibiza. Got the passport, got the prosecco.
Inside Cannes, the Advertising Industry’s Biggest Party
I am standing just outside of the Yahoo Explorer’s Society, where the line for DJ Tiësto stretches well past Microsoft Gardens, out toward the Canva Creator Cabana and Influential Beach. Thankfully the line doesn’t cross with “Make Noise, Not Just Content” featuring Diplo at Salesforce Beach, or Mumford & Sons at Spotify Beach.
Behind the Blog: Salesforce Beach
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss talking aloud to computers, Cannes, and “Engineering Creativity: Guac Is Extra." JASON: This week I was in Cannes, France for the Cannes Lions advertising conference, which is a sentence you probably did not expect to be reading and is definitely not a sentence I expected to be writing.
Snap's AI Specs: LOL
I am staring at a painted portrait of King Charles, who is wearing a red suit. The comically oversized and heavy Snap Specs I am wearing have basically created a digital version of the real painting and overlaid it over the real thing. A narrator speaking through the glasses asks me to reach out and touch a butterfly perched on his right shoulder. Through the glasses, I see a digital version of my hand reach out. The butterfly takes off and floats toward my ghostly hand.
Behind the Blog: Landfillcore and Go Knicks
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss questionable analysis, mysterious parcels, and the Knicks (sorta).
It Is Trivially Easy to Use Reddit to Manipulate AI Search, Research Suggests
A tiny snippet of user-generated text as short as 13 words long is often enough to manipulate the AI agents that power tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI search, new research shows. The study suggests that it is trivially easy for brands to inject promotional content on sites like Reddit, Quora, and Wikipedia with the end goal of poisoning or manipulating the output of AI tools.
Disclosure Day's Delusion Is That People Would Think Alien Videos Are Not AI
*This article contains spoilers for Disclosure Day* Disclosure Day a perfectly entertaining, fun blockbuster movie built around the wildly flawed premise that the human race could be brought together by being shown blurry videos of aliens on primetime news programming—or that they would believe it at all. Its core delusional fantasy is not that aliens exist but that human beings would believe the disclosure of them as real, or be moved by their suffering.
It Is Trivially Easy to Use Reddit to Manipulate AI Search, Research Suggests
A tiny snippet of user-generated text as short as 13 words long is often enough to manipulate the AI agents that power tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI search, new research shows. The study suggests that it is trivially easy for brands to inject promotional content on sites like Reddit, Quora, and Wikipedia with the end goal of poisoning or manipulating the output of AI tools.
It Is Trivially Easy to Use Reddit to Manipulate AI Search, Research Suggests
14 hours ago The man who runs one of the world’s largest artificial-intelligence companies stood up to address Stanford’s graduating class and, for the most part, declined to talk about artificial intelligence. Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google and Alphabet, gave the address at the university’s 135th …
‘You Will Not Speak on Flock Tonight’: County Commissioner Refuses to Let Residents Opposing Flock Speak at Meeting
A County Commissioner in North Carolina refused to let dozens of residents speak opposing Flock surveillance at a public meeting this week, instead forcing the group to designate one single spokesperson. “How many people are here for public comment dealing with license plate readers AKA Flock?,” Michael Garrison, the chairman of the Madison County Board of Commissioners began the public meeting by saying. Nearly everyone in the audience’s hand went up. “Probably most everybody.
‘You Will Not Speak on Flock Tonight’: County Commissioner Refuses to Let Residents Opposing Flock Speak at Meeting
NDA Govt restored AP’s credibility among investors in last 2 years: CM Naidu The NDA Government has restored credibility of Andhra Pradesh among the investors in the last two years, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said. He …
Behind the Blog: World Cup Madness and Film Reviews
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss Trump fucking up the World Cup, some thoughts on ICE coverage, and movies.
Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People
For months during the summer of 2024, Jarmarus Brown, an Orange City, Florida police officer, ran his ex-girlfriend's license plate through the Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) system lookup database at least 69 times. He searched for the license plate belonging to her mom at least 24 times, and searched for the license plate belonging to her dad at least 15 times.
Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People
For months during the summer of 2024, Jarmarus Brown, an Orange City, Florida police officer, ran his ex-girlfriend's license plate through the Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) system lookup database at least 69 times. He searched for the license plate belonging to her mom at least 24 times, and searched for the license plate belonging to her dad at least 15 times.
Judge Learns Lawyers on Both Sides of Case Used AI, Cancels Trial, Kicks Everyone Off the Case
🖥️ 404 Media is an independent website whose work is written, reported, and owned by human journalists and whose intended audience is real people, not AI scrapers, bots, or a search algorithm. Sign up to support our work and for free access to this article. Learn why we require this here. Subscribe Join the newsletter to get the latest updates. Great! Check your inbox and click the link. Please enter a valid email address.
Judge Learns Lawyers on Both Sides of Case Used AI, Cancels Trial, Kicks Everyone Off the Case
2 hours ago The Fuse X1 is designed to bring large-format SLS printing to more engineering teams and production lines. Formlabs wants to make industrial 3D printing feel less like industrial 3D printing. The company has spent more than a decade building printers that make professional-grade prototyping cheaper …
Behind the Blog: Dangerous Memes
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss controversial memes, good times at Meta, and more. EMANUEL: My recent story about Google employees internally sharing memes about how they hate the company’s AI product took a bit more time than it should because I had to recreate all the memes you see in that article.
Satya Nadella ‘Not Sure’ Who Said Microsoft Wanted to Make Addictive AI, Is Looking for Guy Who Did This
On Tuesday, we published an article about an internal Microsoft strategy document that explained the company wanted to “make people addicted” to its new AI assistant, Scout. Thursday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told staff that he was “not sure what this document is or who is writing and leaking this nonsense,” according to a message obtained by The Information. The document we reported on was not some random document.
The LEGO YouTube Scandal Has Broken Containment, Can No Longer Be Ignored
This week, I have been buried under a series of story tips and reporting leads that I’m excited about, that I think are important, and that I am anxious to get into the world. But I woke up today and realized that I could simply no longer ignore a simmering drama that has been on my radar for weeks that is now breaking containment and demands attention: The YouTube LEGO drama, aka Bricks & Minifigs scandal.
I Must Attempt to Explain the LEGO Scandal Rocking YouTube, Entire State of Utah
travel news 4 hours ago I booked a $400 roomette on a 15-hour overnight Amtrak train. I made 4 mistakes I won't repeat on future rides. Business Insider - Joey Hadden • 4h Instead of flying from Denver to Salt Lake City in January 2025, I took an overnight Amtrak train. I spent the 15-hour journey in a private 23-square-foot space with two seats and two beds — otherwise known as a roomette accommodation. I was no stranger to the sleeper car environment.
Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor
The secondary market for decades old, low-tech John Deere tractors has been booming for years as farmers have sought reliable tractors that they can actually fix without having to deal with John Deere’s repair monopoly. A Canadian company has seen that demand and came up with a radical thought: What if they made a new, repairable, “no-tech” tractor to solve what has become a gigantic pain point for farmers?
Demand Is Booming for New No Tech, Repairable Tractor
Liberal View 1 day ago Pentagon Pete Quietly Sinks Key Promotions The Daily Beast - Laura Esposito • 1d The defense secretary’s latest purge has an unsurprising plot.
Companies Are Using Reddit to Manipulate ChatGPT and Google AI Search
The moderators of the biohacking subreddit say that peptide and hormone replacement therapy companies have been surreptitiously spamming Reddit in an attempt to get their posts scraped by AI chatbots. The strategy is an effort to systematically manipulate the answers provided by chatbots by manipulating the underlying source material that those chatbots will scrape—in this case, a popular Reddit community.
Companies Are Using Reddit to Manipulate ChatGPT and Google AI Search
5 hours ago Most people barely scratch the surface of ChatGPT. These habits help unlock its real potential. Most people end up using ChatGPT like a slightly smarter search engine. That used to be me when LLMs kicked off a few years back. I’d ask a question, get an answer, maybe ask a follow-up, and continue on …
Google Is Quietly Buying Code From Play Store Developers to Train AI
Google has quietly been offering to buy access to code written by developers who have released Android apps on the Play Store in order to help the company train its AI coding tools, 404 Media has learned. Google has emailed some app developers with an offer to “join a confidential content offer pilot,” that will allow developers to “generate additional revenue from your apps,” according to an email sent to the developer of an Android app that has millions of downloads.
Microsoft Wants to 'Make People Addicted' to its New AI Assistant, Internal Documents Reveal
An internal Microsoft strategy document says that the plan for its just-announced “Scout” personal assistant AI is to “make people addicted” to the tool before rolling out additional functionality, 404 Media has learned. “Three phases from addictive app to agentic platform,” the documentation. Microsoft has been piloting Scout as an internal tool for employees it was calling “ClawPilot,” since March.
Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked
Hackers say that they used Meta’s AI support chatbot to break into a host of high-profile Instagram profiles by asking the support bot to change the email address associated with the target account. The claims coincide with a series of high-profile Instagram account takeovers, including the Barack Obama White House account, the Chief Master Sergeant of Space Force’s account, and Sephora’s account.
Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked
Artificial Intelligence 3 hours ago Anthropic is finally giving the EU access to Mythos, ending weeks of standoff over the world’s most powerful cybersecurity AI TNW - Alina Maria Stan • 3h Anthropic has agreed to give the European Union’s cybersecurity agency, ENISA, access to Claude Mythos, the AI model that has autonomously discovered more than 10,000 high- and critical-severity zero-day vulnerabilities across every major operating system and web browser.
Behind the Blog: Being New and Some Numbers
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss going deeper, Google's search changes, and a rogue zine. SAM: Something I’ve been thinking about lately is the way a line of reporting or even an entire beat or set of beats can be in conversation with itself over time.
Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags
The city of Dayton, Ohio has covered its Flock automated license plate reader cameras with black trash bags in part because police there are unsure whether the cameras are still active and the city also doesn’t seem to know whether it is allowed to take the cameras down. The move comes after months of resident outrage, a scandal in which the city was sharing Flock camera data for immigration enforcement apparently on accident, and a $30,000 audit into how the cameras are being used.
Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags
World News 1 day ago Carney says Canada will buy European surveillance planes over two American options Associated Press - By ROB GILLIES • 1d TORONTO (AP) — Canada will buy early warning radar planes built by Sweden’s Saab and Canada’s Bombardier over two American options, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday.
‘Lobotomized’: Character.AI Is Showing What AI Enshittification Looks Like
Users of the chatbot app Character.ai have been melting down on Reddit and begging the company to stop messing with the app after a series of changes that users say has completely ruined the app. The feedback is so negative that I have never seen a community or user base so uniformly upset and so consistently aligned in its view. Character.ai is one of the most popular AI companion chatbot apps; it allows users to create virtual characters to chat with.
Behind the Blog: The Attention Wars
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss Spencer Pratt, bricking phones, and the FTC. JASON: I have watched mostly in horror as Spencer Pratt has taken over the internet and, it feels, the physical space around me as he attempts to run for mayor of Los Angeles on what is basically a MAGA platform.
After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban
After months of discussion and outrage from residents, the city council of the tiny town of Bandera, Texas voted 3-2 to immediately end its contract with the surveillance company Flock. In the aftermath of the vote, one of the dissenting council members crashed out and said he would be introducing measures to ban cell phones, the internet, cameras, and nearly all technology in the town of roughly 900 people.
Behind the Blog: New Music and a Crash Out
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss developers' AI woes, how the magic happens, and the Beach Boys. JOSEPH: Earlier in the week we published ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir. This took a little while because I spoke to four people who attended the conference. I spoke to one, I asked if they knew anyone else there.
Internet of Shit: AI Poop Analysis App Offered to Sell Me Database of Its Users' Poops
A few weeks ago, I came across a wild post on Reddit’s r/DHExchange, a subreddit for trading large datasets: “I hoarded a large database of something valuable, just not what’s [sic] you expect…150k stools images.” The post, made by a user called Ill_Car_7351, was advertising exactly what it sounds like: A database of poop images, collected from an AI poop analyzing app that he had launched several years ago.
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