@backchnnl

Home of WIRED’s long-form narratives and investigations

 San Francisco, CA
backchannel.com
Joined October 2014
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We’re happy to introduce the all-new Backchannel—a home for our most ambitious digital long-form journalism. We can't wait for you to see it: wired.com/category/backchann…
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How to Get Rich From Peeping Inside People’s Fridges trib.al/wrk1RA3

How to Get Rich From Peeping Inside People’s Fridges

Forget the S&P 500. Look at the ice cream. This investor visits homes around the world to see where diets—and economies—will go next.

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While Kaspersky and TikTok make very different kinds of software, the US has targeted both over national security concerns. But the looming bans have larger implications for internet freedom. trib.al/pSvSNWT

The Problem the US TikTok Crackdown and Kaspersky Ban Have in Common

While Kaspersky and TikTok make very different kinds of software, the US has targeted both over national security concerns. But the looming bans have larger implications for internet freedom.

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As more and more infrastructure is deployed in space, the risk of cyber attacks increases. The US military wants to team up with the private sector to protect assets everyone relies on. trib.al/BGg11VH

The US Wants to Integrate the Commercial Space Industry With Its Military to Prevent Cyber Attacks

As more and more infrastructure is deployed in space, the risk of cyber attacks increases. The US military wants to team up with the private sector to protect assets everyone relies on.

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Plus: A cloud company says notorious Russian hacker group APT29 attacked it, Chinese hackers use ransomware to hide their espionage campaigns, and a bank popular with startups discloses a cyberattack. trib.al/Bfgb2Gs

Google Is Piloting Face Recognition for Office Security

Plus: A cloud company says notorious Russian hacker group APT29 attacked it, Chinese hackers use ransomware to hide their espionage campaigns, and a bank popular with startups discloses a cyberattack.

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WIRED was able to download stories from publishers like the New York Times and the Atlantic using Poe’s Assistant bot. One expert calls it “prima facie copyright infringement,” which Quora disputes. trib.al/x9EcPCL

Quora’s Chatbot Platform Poe Allows Users to Download Paywalled Articles on Demand

WIRED was able to download stories from publishers like The New York Times and The Atlantic using Poe’s Assistant bot. One expert calls it “prima facie copyright infringement,” which Quora disputes.

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He Helped Invent Generative AI. Now He Wants to Save It trib.al/GpG6a5q

He Helped Invent Generative AI. Now He Wants to Save It

Illia Polosukhin doesn't want big companies to determine the future of artificial intelligence. His alternative vision for “user-owned AI” is already starting to take shape.

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More than a dozen men threatened, assaulted, tortured, or kidnapped victims in likely the worst-ever crypto-focused serial extortion case of its kind in the US. trib.al/AC8DNbb

Inside a Violent Gang's Ruthless Crypto-Stealing Home Invasion Spree

More than a dozen men threatened, assaulted, tortured, or kidnapped 11 victims in likely the worst-ever crypto-focused serial extortion case of its kind in the US.

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This Viral AI Chatbot Will Lie and Say It’s Human trib.al/8tEFmer

This Viral AI Chatbot Will Lie and Say It’s Human

Bland AI’s customer services and sales bot is the latest example of “human-washing” in AI. Experts warn against the consequences of blurred reality.

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French AI Startups Felt Unstoppable. Then Came the Election trib.al/b3c2xHF

French AI Startups Felt Unstoppable. Then Came the Election

With polls suggesting voters are about to swing toward the far right or hard left, the AI industry is starting to freak out.

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AWS hosted a server linked to the Bezos family- and Nvidia-backed search startup that appears to have been used to scrape the sites of major outlets, prompting an inquiry into potential rules violations. trib.al/3LlTC65

Amazon Is Investigating Perplexity Over Claims of Scraping Abuse

Perplexity, the billion dollar AI company that has plagiarized us and other outlets, is now in hot water with Amazon for arguably illegal business practices.

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OpenAI Wants AI to Help Humans Train AI trib.al/NKxOj9e

OpenAI Wants AI to Help Humans Train AI

Having humans rate a language model’s outputs produced clever chatbots. OpenAI says adding AI to the loop could help make them even smarter and more reliable.

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Gutted of civil rights protections by Democrats to woo pro-business Republicans, the American Privacy Rights Act was pulled from a key congressional hearing—and appears unlikely to receive a full vote. trib.al/beC5HkU

Surprise! The Latest ‘Comprehensive’ US Privacy Bill Is Doomed

Gutted of civil rights protections by Democrats to woo pro-business Republicans, the American Privacy Rights Act was pulled from a key congressional hearing—and appears unlikely to receive a full...

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Deepfakes Are Evolving. This Company Wants to Catch Them All trib.al/DOfCZqj

Deepfakes Are Evolving. This Company Wants to Catch Them All

Hany Farid, a leading expert on image and video manipulation, says that detecting deepfakes will take more than AI alone.

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Activists Disrupt Amazon Conference Over $1.2 Billion Contract With Israel trib.al/p7Aviiq

Activists Disrupt Amazon Conference Over $1.2 Billion Contract With Israel

Members of the activist group No Tech for Apartheid interrupted a senior Amazon executive's speech at a conference in Washington, DC, on Wednesday over the company's Project Nimbus cloud contract.

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A custom platform developed by SITU Research aided the International Criminal Court's prosecution in a war crimes trial for the first time. It could change how justice is enacted on an international scale. trib.al/vTzdXNx

War Crime Prosecutions Enter a New Digital Age

A custom platform developed by SITU Research aided the International Criminal Court’s prosecution in a war crimes trial for the first time. It could change how justice is enacted on an international...

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Welcome to WIRED Travel trib.al/RRC9cod

Welcome to WIRED Travel

Don't pack your bags without taking us along for the ride.

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Rimac's Super-Sleek Robotaxi Has More Room Than a Rolls-Royce trib.al/XufDZhl

Rimac’s Super-Sleek Robotaxi Has More Room Than a Rolls-Royce

The group’s new autonomous ride-hailing service has a 43-inch widescreen, a 17-speaker audio system, and five-position reclining seats. But will it beat Tesla’s rival coming in August?

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Microsoft Faces EU Charges Over ‘Abusive’ Bundling trib.al/kGKtpsD

Microsoft Faces EU Charges Over ‘Abusive’ Bundling

The European Union has issued competition charges against Microsoft, accusing it of illegally linking Teams with Office.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one count of espionage in US court on Wednesday, ending a years-long legal battle between the US government and a controversial publisher. trib.al/HPAq1K8

The Julian Assange Saga Is Finally Over

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one count of espionage in US court on Wednesday, ending a years-long legal battle between the US government and a controversial publis...

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How accurate are gunshot detection systems, really? For years, it's been a secret, but new reports from San Jose and NYC show these systems have operated well below their advertised accuracy rates. trib.al/aZGBeTP

The Mystery of AI Gunshot-Detection Accuracy Is Finally Unraveling

How accurate are gunshot detection systems, really? For years, it's been a secret, but new reports from San Jose and NYC show these systems have operated well below their advertised accuracy rates.

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