Matthew Champion

@matthewchampion.bsky.social

@wired.com | matthew_champion@wired.com | Signal matthewchampion.10 | ex-VICE News and BuzzFeed News

NEW from me: Grok has continued to host sexualized and demeaning images of celebrities, a review of public posts from Grok Imagine has found. As well as this, people have been creating full nudity (against Grok’s terms) and sex scenes with the Musk-owned AI

Grok Is Still Hosting Sexualized Deepfakes of Famous Women

A WIRED investigation found dozens of “nudified” deepfake images and videos on Grok's website, including nonconsensual depictions of celebrities and at least one prominent US politician.

wired.com

- FAA grounds all flights in and out of El Paso for 10 days - airspace also closed over nearby area of New Mexico - no reason given why beyond unspecified "special security reasons" - seems to have caught everybody by surprise

Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials. Then he had to get out alive. This is his story. 🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...

He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive

A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story.

wired.com

these images, some of which look AI-generated, were presented by Jared Kushner as part of the "master plan" for Gaza at the unveiling of Trump's "Board of Peace" in Davos "and then we said, know what, 'let's just plan for catastrophic success,'" Kushner said

map of a redeveloped Gaza under the "Board of Peace" plan, showing residential and industrial areas, and coastal areas earmarked for tourism developmenta plan for "New Rafah" including what looks like an AI-generated imagea plan for "New Gaza" including what looks like AI-generated images

"They put foot shackles on me and brought me to the USC area, which I found out meant US citizens. My friend and I were in adjacent cells, and there were two-way mirrors, and I just yelled, 'I love you. It's OK.'" a dispatch from an occupied American city www.wired.com/story/how-ic...

‘I’m Witnessing a Lot of Emptiness’: How ICE Uprooted Normal Life in Minneapolis

WIRED talks to a postal worker, a teacher, two US citizens detained by federal agents, and six more Minnesota residents about life in an occupied American city.

wired.com

"While the president of this country is promising to make America great again as he strips it for parts, Chinese business and political leaders have quietly seized the moment." @wired.com's 23 ways you're already living in the Chinese century www.wired.com/china-issue/

23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century

The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.

wired.com

New with @regret.bsky.social: Grok’s creation of harmful “undress” images is relentless. Even today, after days of scrutiny, Grok was churning out ‘bikini’ and underwear images of women every few seconds. Researchers estimate that Grok has become the biggest creator of sexualized deepfake images

Grok Is Pushing AI ‘Undressing’ Mainstream

Paid tools that “strip” clothes from photos have been available on the darker corners of the internet for years. Elon Musk's X is now removing barriers to entry—and making the results public.

wired.com

New from me for @wired.com's newsletter this week: The Trump administration has been pushing immigrants to leave. But even those who are trying--either via the CBP Home app or through what's known as "voluntary departure"--are finding it difficult to do so. www.wired.com/story/trump-...

The Trump Administration Wants Immigrants to Self-Deport. It’s a Shit Show

The Trump administration has been virtually begging immigrants in the US to self-deport, even offering money. But some immigrants say it’s been nearly impossible.

wired.com

NEW: ICE has torn up its $180M cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program and is now guaranteeing private surveillance firms at least $7.5M each, with potential payouts reaching $281M per vendor. The change signals a shift from “pilot” to full-scale outsourcing of street-level investigative work.

ICE Offers Up to $280 Million to Immigrant-Tracking ‘Bounty Hunter’ Firms

Immigration and Customs Enforcement lifted a $180 million cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program while guaranteeing multimillion-dollar payouts for private surveillance firms.

wired.com

NEW EV PORSCHE MYSTERY: "I've asked three times for an answer. Porsche still won't say. Could it be the company hasn't yet signed up to a specific model? Who knows. But it’s very odd ... Porsche will have to come clean at some point." Read the full piece on @wired.com www.wired.com/story/porsch...

Porsche Reveals Everything About Its Cayenne Electric—Except for One Vital Thing

The automaker has taken the covers off its Cayenne Electric and Cayenne Turbo Electric, the most powerful production Porsches ever. But it won’t confirm a key AI feature of its first fully electric SU...

wired.com

One of my favorite parts of being WIRED’s Special Projects editor is working with the team that turns our journalism into films, docs, and TV series. Today, the world gets to see one of those projects with the release of ‘The Carman Family Deaths’ on Netflix. 🧵 www.netflix.com/watch/81664825

Watch The Carman Family Deaths | Netflix Official Site

A young man's dramatic rescue at sea spirals into accusations he murdered two members of his wealthy New England family in this true-crime documentary.

netflix.com