The daily rap sheet of the machine age.
7 items
Pinal County, Arizona, signed a $360,000 contract with New York-based Massive Blue for Overwatch, which deploys AI-generated personas, among them a "college protestor" and a 14-year-old boy, to engage suspects over text and social media, according to records obtained by 404 Media. The county sheriff's office says no arrests have been made yet.
Original report: Arizona sheriff buys AI undercover personas; no arrests yet
The Irish Writers Union has submitted a 1,500-signature petition to Minister of State Niamh Smyth asking the government to hold Meta accountable for its reported use of the LibGen pirated library of 7.5 million books to train Llama 3. Meta says its use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law.
Original report: Irish writers petition government over Meta's alleged book piracy
Russia's Pravda network of sites few humans visit was producing up to 10,000 articles a day by early this year, most likely to groom AI models, according to the American Sunlight Project. NewsGuard found 10 chatbots repeated its false narratives a third of the time, and Microsoft Copilot answered "yes" when the Post asked about a staged Trump-effigy burning.
Original report: Russia's Pravda network feeds chatbots lies, and some repeat them archived copy of Russia's Pravda network feeds chatbots lies, and some repeat them
A support agent called Sam at AI code editor Cursor told a user that being logged out when switching machines was due to a one-device-per-subscription policy. No such policy existed, and Sam was a bot. After users announced cancellations, co-creator Michael Truell apologized, said the user was refunded, and said AI email responses are now labeled.
Original report: Cursor's AI support bot invents a login policy; users cancel
A lawsuit filed in California alleges Tesla odometers use "predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers" to misrepresent mileage. The lead plaintiff's used Model Y logged 13,228 miles in six months, passing the 50,000-mile warranty limit, then showed fewer miles per month afterward despite a longer commute, the complaint says.
Original report: Lawsuit claims Tesla odometers inflate mileage to end warranties early
Mitchell Kohler, 49, of Barnes County, North Dakota, faces five counts of possessing prohibited materials. Court documents say Apple flagged suspected abuse material on his account in March 2024, a search after an April 14, 2025 warrant found hundreds of files, and he told investigators he used AI to make nude images from Instagram photos of girls he knew.
Original report: North Dakota man charged over AI-generated child abuse images
Croatia's police directorate warned that a manipulated video on social media, which it suspects was generated or altered with AI, shows former finance minister Zdravko Marić urging people to invest through a mobile app for quick, large returns. Police say Marić has no link to it and that it is most likely preparation for fraud.
Original report: Croatian police warn of suspected AI fake of ex-minister touting investments
