Aarian Marshall
@aarianmarshall.bsky.social
Writing about stuff w/wheels (mostly) @wired.com
NEW: A glimpse at how AI image generators are used. Researchers set up a fake image editor on Hugging Face and within a week received 1,000 prompts. 73% of them were sexual and 83% of those were asking for people (women) to be “undressed”. Around 6% of the sexual requests also targeted minors
Hugging Face Has a Deepfake Nudes Problem
Researchers tested top image editing models on Hugging Face and found they could easily create explicit deepfakes—and 1,000 image editing prompts show how people use the software.
wired.com
A car alarm device, KARR, inside millions of cars has a security flaw that lets hackers unlock, track, even paralyze vehicles. There's a patch. The problem? Half of car owners who have the device installed didn't ask for it, and may not even know it's there. Thread👇 www.wired.com/story/a-devi...
A Device Hidden in Cars Across the US Leaves Them Vulnerable to Hacking and Paralysis. Patch It Now
Dealerships installed alarms in millions of vehicles—and left them in even if the buyer didn’t want them. Now researchers warn they can be hacked to unlock, track, and disable cars.
wired.com
Amazon and safety certification org UL settled a case with an ebike-maker this month over allegedly misleading safety claims Product safety experts say false safety certificates are a longtime issue. The US government might be getting more interested in solving it www.wired.com/story/an-ebi...
An Ebike Company Was Sued for Misleading Info on Safety. It Points to a Big Problem
Several Chinese businesses associated with the ebike brand Aipas settled a lawsuit with Amazon and the safety certification company UL in July.
wired.com
Our two investigations into Madison Square Garden are now unpaywalled and free for anyone to read.
WIRED@wired.com · 3w agoYesterday, WIRED learned that Madison Square Garden was suing us for our accurate reporting. We stand by our work. That’s why we’re removing the paywall from two of the MSG stories they don’t want you to read, making them free for everyone.
“We have some kinetic things we're exploring” www.wired.com/story/humano...
A Humanoid Company Backed by Eric Trump Is Preparing Its Robots for War
The CEO of Foundation Future Industries, which counts the president’s son as its chief strategy adviser, tells WIRED it’s exploring some “kinetic things.”
wired.com
Happening soon! 📚 For our very first WIRED Book Club livestream, “The Yahoo Boys” author Carlos Barragán will join WIRED Senior Writer Kate Knibbs to answer your questions about Nigeria's romance scammers. Our livestream starts at 12pm ET. Join us at the link!
Submit Your Questions: Inside The World of Online Romance Scams
'The Yahoo Boys' author Carlos Barragán will join Kate Knibbs to answer your questions about Nigeria's romance scammers.
wrd.cm
My privilege to share some lovely stories from the science community about what Sam Neill's timeless performance as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park meant to them—and why it will continue to inspire kids to chase their own discoveries for years to come.
Sam Neill Inspired a Generation of Scientists
The actor, who died at age 78 on Monday, embodied a passionate approach to research and positive masculinity in his role as paleontologist Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park.
wired.com
Bit of unexpected news: In a hearing in front of DC's City Council today, a Tesla rep said a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi is "an active product being built" in TX Tesla promises a lot of things, but always interesting to me when they do it in front of lawmakers!! www.wired.com/story/tesla-...
Tesla Says It’s Building a Wheelchair-Accessible Robotaxi
A Tesla representative at a DC hearing said the vehicle is “an active product being built.” But its timeline isn’t clear.
wired.com
Some weekend news: Uber is upping its lobbying game around AVs It pushed for legislation in NJ that would require robotaxis to operate on apps that also employ human drivers - locking out driverless-only platforms The AV politics wars are just getting under way www.wired.com/story/ubers-...
Uber’s Autonomous Vehicle Strategy: Slow Their Adoption
In at least two places, Uber has pushed a policy that could give it an advantage over developers of self-driving cars. The company says it’s fighting monopolies.
wired.com
Trailers containing millions of dollars worth of Tesla car and home batteries have allegedly been stolen straight from loading docks at the company’s Nevada facilities at least 11 times since last December, according to sheriff’s records obtained by WIRED. wrd.cm/4vwhead
Truckloads of Tesla Batteries Keep Getting Stolen Before They Even Leave the Factory
Nine major suspected cargo thefts happened at Tesla’s Nevada battery factory in January alone, according to sheriff’s records obtained by WIRED.
wrd.cm
During a meeting this week open to all employees at Instagram, Meta chief product officer Chris Cox addressed the “difficult” and “brutal” environment created by the “insanity of this company” in the past few months www.wired.com/story/mark-z...
‘Tell Him He’s a Piece of Shit’: Meta’s New AI Unit Is a Total Mess
Executives and employees alike are struggling with Meta’s chaotic AI strategy, according to sources and internal discussions reviewed by WIRED.
wired.com
NEW: WIRED analyzed Meta's AI app and found NameTag — a hidden facial recognition system designed to identify people via the wearer's smart glasses — has already shipped to over 50 million phones.
Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones
Code reviewed by WIRED uncovered an unreleased face-recognition system embedded in Meta’s smart glasses platform. It’s designed to identify people via biometric data stored on users’ phones.
wired.com
Zak Brown spent a decade racing before joining the business side of Formula One. He talks to WIRED about rebuilding a legendary brand, obsessive fans, and the pull of the driver’s seat. www.wired.com/story/the-bi...
McLaren CEO Zak Brown Still Gets FOMO About Racing Cars
Zak Brown spent a decade racing before joining the business side of Formula One. He talks to WIRED about rebuilding a legendary brand, obsessive fans, and the pull of the driver’s seat.
wired.com
After a weird experience with Norse Atlantic Airways a few weeks ago, I decided to file a FOIA request to the FTC Ends up, dozens have complained about Norse. It has no phone #, and its customer service relies on AI It’s a perfect situation for scammers: www.wired.com/story/norse-...
Norse Atlantic Airways Offers Dirt-Cheap Tickets. There’s a Catch
Dozens of people have complained to the Federal Trade Commission about Norse Atlantic Airways’ tech-first customer service operation. Some said they lost thousands of dollars.
wired.com
The State Department’s Office of Remigration is taking a concept celebrated by neo-Nazis and embedding it in U.S. policy. “Remigration, touted by neo-Nazis, and now our own government, is nothing more than an ethnic cleansing plan,” said @wendyvia.bsky.social. More from @davidgilbert.bsky.social:
The State Department Really Doesn’t Want to Talk About the Office of Remigration
The office was created a year ago and seemingly named for a far right European plan to expel minorities and immigrants from Western nations. It now works, a source says, with little to no oversight.
wired.com
Little bit of news this morning: Waymo is beginning to map Arlington + Alexandria in N Virginia, though state law doesn't allow driverless cars to operate there yet After Waymo has struggled to jumpstart AV services in MD and DC, this will be interesting to watch www.wired.com/story/waymo-...
Waymo Takes Its Self-Driving Cars to Virginia
The company is mapping Alexandria and, soon, Arlington—right across from the power center of Washington, DC.
wired.com
🎇New package! We know you are confused, angry, invigorated or maybe paralyzed by corporate America's embrace of AI. So we wrote a bunch of stories, made a bunch of videos, added quizzes and made a whole mandatory AI training www.wired.com/story/ai-or-...
Take This Mandatory AI Workplace Training Right Now—or Else
AI could make you redundant. Here’s what you need to know.
wired.com
Tesla reports that, in an least two incidents, its remote workers drove its autonomous cars into stationary objects 😬 This sounds v silly but actually raises important safety questions about the humans in the loop in self-driving operations www.wired.com/story/tesla-...
Tesla Reveals New Details About Robotaxi Crashes—and the Humans Involved
Remote operators (slowly) drove the automaker’s autonomous vehicles into a metal fence and a construction barricade, Tesla says.
wired.com
Meta employees in the US and UK are organizing against corporate software that tracks workers’ keystrokes and mouse activity. www.wired.com/story/meta-e...
An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta
Meta employees in the US and UK are organizing against corporate software that tracks workers’ keystrokes and mouse activity.
wired.com
NEW, from @peard33.bsky.social @zoeschiffer.bsky.social @stevenlevy.bsky.social and me: Morale at Meta is sinking, with layoffs pending, exorbitant spending on AI, a new initiative to track employee computer movements, mandatory role changes, courtroom losses, and more www.wired.com/story/meta-l...
Meta’s New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale
Next week, Meta is cutting about 10 percent of its staff. WIRED spoke with more than a dozen current and former employees about what it's like inside a company where "everyone is unhappy."
wired.com
Remember PCR tests from Covid? The CDC doesn't have one for the Andes virus. I learned that a lab in Nebraska built and validated an Andes-specific PCR test in literal days in anticipation of receiving the American cruise ship passengers. My story for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/race-t...
Inside the Race to Develop a Test for the Rare Andes Hantavirus
A University of Nebraska lab has developed a test that can detect the virus before symptoms become severe. Now, it's ready to start testing those returning to the US after a cruise outbreak.
wired.com
“An AI generator for posts would turn this into a clanker forum of AI's talking to each other..." Someone talking about their hatred of AI... on a cybercrime forum
Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums
It's not just you. Hackers and other cybercriminals are complaining about “AI shit” flooding platforms where they discuss cyberattacks and other illegal activity.
wired.com
New dynamic to watch: orgs and activists groups pushing for greater scrutiny of the SpaceX(AI) IPO via @peard33.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/activi...
Activists Are Taking On Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO
Activists, a leading labor union, and a big retirement fund are asking challenging questions about what’s expected to be the largest-ever stock market debut.
wired.com
Bit of news: As (fresh-faced?) adults report mid-ride age checks, Waymo says it's working on its "system and processes" to ID unaccompanied kids where they're not allowed to ride alone. Waymo has said it uses in-car cameras to check that riders aren't violating rules www.wired.com/story/waymo-...
Waymo Is Trying to Crack Down on Solo Kids in Driverless Cars
As adult riders report new age-verification checks, the self-driving car company says it’s continuing to “refine” its system in places where kids aren’t allowed to ride alone.
wired.com