Emanuel Maiberg

Why they matter

Directory member with public evidence across AI business.

AI signals
6
past 30d
Sources
1
distinct domains
Discussões
1
past 30d
Latest signal
22h ago
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Co-founder and journalist at 404media.co I read every email

Articles & links

companies are sourcing millions of printed books for AI labs that scan them for training data, then destroy them. printed books are more valuable because they're free of AI slop, and AI labs know destroying them is an "optics problem." www.404media.co/ai-companies...

AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI Slop 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • ISBNdb is brokering bulk purchases of printed books published before 2022, pitching them as training data structurally guaranteed to be free of AI-generated slop.
  • The service advertises strict NDAs on every engagement, conceding that 'AI company destroys two million books' is not a sympathetic headline.
  • Judge William Alsup already ruled that Anthropic's practice of buying, scanning, and destroying print books was 'clearly transformative' fair use.
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View on Bluesky · ♥ 824 ↻ 495 ↩ 41 · 14 from the directory shared this · 27d ago

We put a tracking device in a shipment of rare books acquired by an anonymous buyer. It ended up at an Amazon facility where the company scans books for training data and destroys them in the process: www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...

We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • 404 Media hid an Apple AirTag in a roughly 1,000-book order sold on Biblio and followed it to an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas.
  • The shipment terminated at Amazon's LAS8 site at 5801 Nicco Way, home to a team called VGT3 whose logo is a Tyrannosaurus rex clutching an open book.
  • Amazon told the outlet it 'purchases books through commercial channels'; the company classes its Nova family of models as 'frontier.'
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View on Bluesky · ♥ 1440 ↻ 856 ↩ 34 · 13 from the directory shared this · 22h ago

Substack introduced a feature to detect AI generated writing on its platform. That makes some people really really mad! www.404media.co/substackers-...

Substackers Say New AI Detection Tool Is a ‘Witch Hunt’ 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • Substack has integrated Pangram, an AI detector that scores any post for how much appears AI generated, with the feature exposed to readers.
  • Pangram CEO Max Spero puts the false positive rate at roughly one in 10,000, but critics note detectors misfire on non-native and neurodivergent writers.
  • Substack has added a voluntary 'How I make this' disclosure and lets creators disable detection on posts or report mistaken scans.
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View on Bluesky · ♥ 131 ↻ 27 ↩ 12 · 6 from the directory shared this · 20d ago

These AI generated flowers might seem obviously fake but thousands of people are falling for it and buying these seeds on Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay www.404media.co/scammers-sel...

Scammers Sell Seeds for Exotic AI-Generated Flowers That Don’t Exist 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • Sellers on eBay, Amazon and Etsy are listing seeds for plants that do not exist, advertised with AI-generated images of impossible flowers.
  • Before one eBay seller was banned, rainbow-colored rose seeds sold 37,271 times; fake teddy bear sunflower seeds sold 1,301 times.
  • eBay said it has policies and controls and uses AI-supported monitoring; Amazon and Etsy did not respond to 404 Media's request for comment.
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View on Bluesky · ♥ 178 ↻ 53 ↩ 10 · 7 from the directory shared this · 48d ago

Microsoft is introducing budget limits for AI spend and says it's not aiming for "tokenmaxxing." Keep in mind that Microsoft is selling AI tools to other companies, so it benefits from maximalist AI use. www.404media.co/microsoft-te...

Microsoft Tells Engineers ‘Tokenmaxxing Is Not What We Are Optimizing For’ 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • Microsoft is capping AI token consumption per division from July 2026 after engineers reportedly spent hundreds to a few thousand dollars a month on tokens.
  • EVP Jay Parikh told staff that 'tokenmaxxing is not what we are optimizing for' and to focus on impact per token instead.
  • OpenAI's GPT-5.6 becomes Microsoft's default internal model because it is cheaper, and Amazon, Adobe, Atlassian, and Citi are reportedly making similar moves.
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View on Bluesky · ♥ 111 ↻ 35 ↩ 5 · 5 from the directory shared this · 13d ago
Emanuel Maiberg reposted
404 Media @404media.co

Apple’s Sensitive Content Warning is supposed to protect users from unwanted nude images. It accidentally blurred my friend’s dog video.

Apple’s iMessage Scanning Flagged a Video of My Friend's Dog as Nudity 404media.co
AI Weekly's analysis
  • Apple's on-device Sensitive Content Warning, introduced in iOS 17, blurred a video of a dog on her back with paws in the air as suspected nudity.
  • Reporter Joseph Cox found similar Apple-forum complaints going back more than a year, including a dog photo in May 2025 and a trail camera deer image in October 2024.
  • Apple did not respond to 404 Media's request for comment; the scan runs locally and users can disable the feature in settings.
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