Boo-sters

It’s So Not Over for Hollywood (with Devindra Hardawar)

Emanuel talks to Devindra Hardawar about AI in Hollywood and the state of the movie industry. Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code 404MEDIA at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/404media [https://incogni.com/404media] I didn’t plan it this way, but it’s a good coincidence that my interview with Devindra Hardawar is coming out on the week that the first Star Wars movie in years is being crushed at the box office by two low budget horror movies. Something is extremely off at Hollywood, or at least the old studio executives and streamers who control most of the money that funds movies.   This week we’re joined by Devindra Hardawar. Devindra is a senior editor at Engadget and a co-host of The Filmcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-filmcast/id281400220], a podcast about film I’ve been listening to for 15 years. We’ve covered the intersection of the movie industry and AI here and there on 404 Media, but Devindra lives at that intersection. He’s the perfect person to talk to about AI and film, but also the state of the industry more broadly, how to fit movies into your life in the age of the infinite scroll, how to introduce kids to film, and more.  YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/imCSQkhFkoM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Hackers Asked Meta AI To Let Them In. It Worked

Go to surfshark.com/404Media [http://surfshark.com/404Media] to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout! We start this week with Jason’s story about one of the wildest hacking stories in a while. Hackers simply asked Meta’s AI to change the email address on a target Instagram account, and the chatbot did so. Insane. After the break, Emanuel tells us about Amazon’s internal leaderboard for tracking AI usage and how it was cheated. In the subscribers-only section, we provided an update on our lawsuit against ICE. * Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked [https://www.404media.co/hackers-simply-asked-meta-ai-to-give-them-access-to-high-profile-instagram-accounts-it-worked/] * Amazon Shuts Down Internal AI Leaderboard After Employees Cheated [https://www.404media.co/amazon-shuts-down-internal-ai-leaderboard-after-employees-cheated/] * We Sued ICE to Get Its Spyware Contract. The Agency Is Redacting Essentially Everything [https://www.404media.co/we-sued-ice-to-get-its-spyware-contract-the-agency-is-redacting-essentially-everything/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

A Repairable, No-Tech Tractor

Go to https://surfshark.com/404Media to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee—or just use code 404MEDIA at checkout! Ursa Ag is an Alberta, Canada-based company that is selling a repairable, no tech tractor. It’s not often we have companies on this podcast, but listeners of the show will know we have been covering the right to repair movement for years. One of the things I’ve written about most is the frustration that farmers feel with agriculture giant John Deere, which has made their tractors very difficult to repair by loading it up with tech, lobbying against right to repair legislation, and making parts and diagnostic tools and repair guides hard to access. When we write about right to repair, people often say - why don’t people just vote with their dollars and buy something else? Well, all the major tractor companies have more or less done the same thing Deere has done - add software locks, sensors, and digital rights management to their tractors. There wasn’t any other alternative. Doug Wilson of Ursa Ag has built an alternative. Ursa Ag is selling a repairable dumb tractor specifically to provide an alternative in the market. We spoke with Doug about how one creates a tractor company, how it all works, and what the response has been. 00:00 Doug Wilson Introduction 00:02:05 Why IRSA Ag Exists 00:04:24 Modern Tractors & Repair Locks 00:07:40 Demand for Older Tractors 00:08:46 The $800K Tractor Story 00:09:37 Building a Repairable Tractor 00:12:56 Precision Ag vs Simplicity 00:20:45 Starting a Tractor Company 00:22:52 AI & Everyday Farm Work 00:27:21 Viral Response & Demand 00:28:52 Expansion Plans 00:31:56 Why Farmers Want Simpler Machines 00:34:11 Farm Consolidation 00:35:48 Tech Overload Beyond Farming 00:36:57 What’s Next YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/wYM4Ho-Ma9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How Deepfakes Destroyed a High School

Sponsor: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code 404MEDIA at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/404media [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWJIX0FFMmQ0NEJ1NkJyT0lYcEZmY2dKdkxDUXxBQ3Jtc0trQURBSVV2OEt3dV9pVms4RlMwaldld1JRM3E5YmFzZ2QyN1pHMDg5aVFDN2ZiV1VHLUlFekRocVZ5VnByZlhjOVM1RXcwQjY2SUhONzEtYWFYaWdINXpoR2hLN1BYdDA0V3BXaE8tYWZKZWZzbEhyUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fincogni.com%2F404media&v=5bWevtJjlkc] We start this week with Sam’s deeply reported story on how deepfakes rocked a high school, and how those kids were failed at each step. After the break, Joseph tells us about BusPatrol, a company that plans to turn school buses into roaming surveillance vehicles. In the subscribers-only section, Jason explains why a councilmember crashed out over Flock. * LA Made x 404 Media Presents: How AI is Threatening the Future of Media [https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/la-made-x-404-media-presents-how-ai-threatening-future-media] * How Deepfakes Tore a High School Apart [https://www.404media.co/radnor-high-school-pennsylvania-ai-deepfakes-child-sexual-abuse-material/] * ‘BusPatrol’ Put AI Cameras in Tens of Thousands of School Buses. Now They Want to Give Cops Access [https://www.404media.co/buspatrol-put-ai-cameras-in-tens-of-thousands-of-school-buses-now-they-want-to-give-cops-access/] * After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban [https://www.404media.co/after-town-bans-flock-councilmember-crashes-out-proposes-internet-and-phone-ban/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Millions of People Are Installing Malware on Their Partners’ Phones

This week Joseph speaks to Zack Whittaker, an editor at TechCrunch. Zack has been leading coverage into the spouseware or stalkerware industry. This is malware sold to ordinary people, which they then often install on their girlfriend’s or someone else’s phone. Zack talks about the crazy scope of this problem. * Behind the stalkerware network spilling the private phone data of hundreds of thousands [https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/22/stalkerware-network-spilling-data/] * Spyzie stalkerware is spying on thousands of Android and iPhone users [https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/spyzie-stalkerware-spying-on-thousands-of-android-and-iphone-users/] * Stalkerware tag on TechCrunch [https://techcrunch.com/tag/stalkerware/] * This Week In Security Newsletter [https://this.weekinsecurity.com] YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/BLb46310iLs Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]