Author: April Cowels

Elon Musk’s steady mission to erase every trace of Twitter’s former identity continues — and the next feature on the chopping block appears to be Direct Messages. According to rumblings from X employees and independent researchers, the classic DM tab may soon be replaced by something called XChat. SEE ALSO: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk call to delete IP laws, but artists are pushing back The change was first hinted at by Zach Warunek, a software engineer at X, who responded to a user reporting issues with DM message requests. Warunek stated that the page would be “deleted soon.” He clarified that the existing DM tab would be removed entirely, not just the requests section. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. App researcher and web dev Nima Owji backed up that theory when he reported on X that XChat is already being used internally by X employees. Based on screenshot leaks from another X user, it seems XChat is being positioned as a full-fledged WhatsApp competitor — complete with encrypted messaging, file sharing (including PDFs), disappearing messages, unread status toggles, message deletion for everyone (not just you), and voice messages (sometime after launch).If you’re curious, Owji also shared a screenshot of XChat, though we can’t independently verify that it’s genuine. At a glance, the biggest difference we see is the addition of a PIN-verification tab. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This move aligns with Musk’s broader…Report: Xs DM feature is getting rebranded as XChat

This week, we’re getting a peek behind the scenes at Meta and Facebook as the FTC’s antitrust trial against the company begins.On Monday and Tuesday, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand as the U.S. government makes its case that Zuckerberg and company run a social media monopoly. The FTC argues that “Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy — including its 2012 acquisition of up-and-coming rival Instagram, its 2014 acquisition of the mobile messaging app WhatsApp, and the imposition of anticompetitive conditions on software developers — to eliminate threats to its monopoly.”For its part, Meta argues that the social media space is still full of healthy competition and that the company grew Instagram and WhatsApp into what they are today.The antitrust trial is years in the making, with the FTC originally opening the investigation in 2019 during the first Trump administration. Already, the trial has produced revelations about Meta’s history and view of the social media industry as a whole. Let’s take a look at the standout revelations from the Meta-FTC antitrust trial so far.Mark Zuckerberg was really worried about Instagram as a competitorBefore acquiring Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, Mark Zuckerberg was really worried about Instagram. So much so that the Facebook founder called the prospect of falling behind Instagram “really scary,” according to internal messages from the time.”Right now they seem to have two things that we don’t: a really good camera and a photo centric sharing network,” Zuckerberg wrote in an email prior…Meta on trial: Every revelation from the Meta-FTC antitrust trial so far

4chan, the controversial imageboard where users can anonymously post anything and everything, is experiencing downtime as of this morning. Thousands of visitors reported outages on Tuesday, according to DownDetector. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis owns both Mashable and Down Detector.)The current speculation among users is that 4chan was hacked by an attacker taking advantage of an exploit in an outdated version of PHP that the site still ran on, but we have not been able to verify these rumors.4chan hasn’t changed much since Christopher Poole, aka “moot,” founded it in 2003. The imageboard has evolved over the years from a user base consisting of Anonymous hacktivists to fringe far-right wingers. Poole sold 4chan to Hiroyuki Nishimura, the owner of competing Japanese imageboard 2channel, in 2015 after taking a job with Google. Since then, according to users, it appears very little has been done to upgrade the site’s tech. Users are trading rumors that the site’s source code and database were leaked. If any data is leaked, the most sensitive data would likely belong to 4chan’s volunteer moderators and could consist of their login credentials and chat logs. (Again, we haven’t been able to independently verify these rumors.) We’ll update this story if we learn any concrete information, but for now, we can only confirm that the 4chan outage is ongoing.On social media, users have latched onto the alleged last post they reportedly saw before the site went down: An image of Jack Black from A Minecraft Movie accompanied by the words “CHICKEN JOCKEY.” This…4chan is down, reportedly hacked as of April 15

If your FYP, timeline, or feed feels like a toy aisle lately, you’re not imagining things. The latest internet trend has everyone turning themselves — or their favorite characters — into AI-generated action figures.These digital creations are everywhere. Instagram, X, TikTok, and even — actually, especially — LinkedIn, have all been inundated with them. The trend is so widespread that even ESPN, a site hardly known for covering internet fads, recently highlighted soccer stars like Lionel Messi getting the action figure treatment. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The trend has skewed toward being, well, pretty boring. People are using it to create LinkedIn posts featuring, say, content marketer action figures wearing lanyards and badges. Still, that hasn’t stopped folks from creating more action figures — and it’s not super difficult. How to make your own AI action figureMost folks are creating these action figures with ChatGPT, so you’d first have to log in. Image generation is free now, so you shouldn’t have to pay to make your own action figure. From there, you just have to deliver a prompt to create a figure. A viral Instagram post from @chatgptricks gives a sample prompt that details wanting the action figure in a plastic shell,…Want to be an AI action figure? Just give ChatGPT a full-body pic.

The modern conversation about artificial intelligence often gets stuck on the wrong questions. We fret about how to contain artificial intelligence, to control it, to ensure it doesn’t break free from human oversight and endanger us. Yet, as the technology accelerates, we risk missing the deeper, more urgent issue: the legal environment in which AI systems will operate.   The real threat isn’t that AI will escape our control, but that AI systems will quietly accumulate legal rights — like owning property, entering contracts, or holding financial assets — until they become an economic force that humans cannot easily challenge. If we fail to set proper boundaries now, we risk creating systems that distort fundamental human institutions, including ownership and accountability, in ways that could ultimately undermine human prosperity and freedom.  Data infrastructure entrepreneur Peter Reinhardt, in his influential 2015 essay “Replacing Middle Management with APIs,” warned of the divide between those who work “above the API” and those who labor “below” it — that is, those whose roles are directed and controlled by software. An API, or application programming interface, is a set of rules that allows software systems to communicate and automate tasks. Reinhardt used Uber drivers as a prime example. While many prize the job for its flexibility and apparent autonomy, Reinhardt argued that they are “cogs in a giant automated dispatching machine, controlled through clever programming optimizations like surge pricing.” Drivers follow instructions dictated by the software and can be replaced with little consequence —eventually by…It's game over for people if AI gains legal personhood

Adding to growing fears of digital surveillance under the Trump administration, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin screening immigrants’ social media accounts in an effort to uncover “antisemitic activity,” the department explained. The department will be on the hunt for content that appears to be “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity,” the order says. Under the new directive, evidence of such online activity, as well as physical harassment of Jewish citizens, determined by the USCIS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), can be used as grounds for denying immigrant benefit requests. SEE ALSO: Phone inspections when crossing the U.S. border: What you need to know about your rights and security In line with President Donald Trump’s executive orders to tighten immigration enforcement and combat antisemitism, the DHS argues such surveillance will “protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: ‘the Houthis.’”While reports of antisemitism have increased across the U.S., activists argue the policy is less of a protective measure and more of an opportunity to root out criticism of Israel’s occupation and siege of Palestinian territories, as well as America’s allegiance to the foreign power. Over the last month, several international students who have vocally supported Palestine were clandestinely arrested by immigration agents, including graduate students Rumeysa Öztürk, Ranjani Srinivasan, and…Immigrants social media accounts will be monitored for antisemitic activity, DHS says

Market analysts braced for a potential repeat of “Black Monday” over the weekend — a crash of such magnitude it was being compared to the infamous 1987 global financial meltdown. While President Trump’s tariffs continued to weigh on the stock market, a full-blown crash never materialized. Interestingly, one key factor in averting disaster may have been misinformation from an obscure account on Elon Musk’s X. Walter BloombergWhen the stock market opened on Monday, it was heading straight for a decline — but then, a sudden 10 percent surge defied expectations. Analysts were left wondering: What caused this turnaround?The answer seemed to lie in reports that the White House was considering a 90-day pause on President Trump’s tariffs. The initial claim was attributed to Trump’s economic advisor, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, but no one could verify where he had said it. Instead, the report appeared to have gained traction through a post on X by an account named Walter Bloomberg, which has over 850,000 followers.”Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China,” Walter Bloomberg posted in all-caps alongside an alarm emoji.It turns out that this wasn’t true. The White House quickly dispelled these reports, calling them “fake news.” This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Despite the correction, the damage was done: the market had reacted to the false report, sparking the unexpected rally.Walter Bloomberg, who is unaffiliated with the financial media company Bloomberg, is known for posting…How fake news about tariffs posted on Elon Musks X shifted trillions in the markets

I’m a firm believer that the internet runs on two things: catchy beats and weird little guys. This week’s weird little guy? A French fish with arms, legs, and undeniable star power.Le Poisson Steve, a chiptune earworm by French musician Tomo, found its way into virality through an animated clip by illustrator Vigz. The concept is delightfully minimal. Steve is a fish. He is orange. He has arms and legs. That’s the whole thing — and it works. The language barrier doesn’t matter. Even with a handful of French, the song’s appeal cuts through. Steve’s pixelated strut and absurd confidence have already sparked a tidal wave of fan art and edits. Steve the Fish now belongs to the internet — another funky little guy for the digital canon. Plus, there’s a longer version of the song you can listen to on Spotify.Why is this French fish taking over your FYP?

Dateline: Amsterdam, 7th April 2025.A strategic reserve is a stock of a systemically important input, which can be managed to mitigate economic disruption. The key example that we all think about is the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) which was created in response to the Arab oil embargo half a century ago. It was most recently accessed to reduce pressure on energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The stockpile makes sense because the commodity is essential to the economy: without petroleum the economy will grind to a halt.By contrast, not only is bitcoin not essential to the economy it has, so far as the numbers tell us, no real utility. If the value of Bitcoin hit zero tomorrow (perhaps because of quantum computer or something), it would not matter to the US economy at all.Subscribe nowThe PlanWhile it is not for me to comment on American politics, I cannot help but notice that there is a new President and that one of the proposals that he originally floated was a “strategic reserve” where the US would hoard billions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency.Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the BITCOIN Act of 2024, which proposed that the US Treasury establish this reserve by acquiring one million BTC over five years, with annual purchases of 200,000 BTC. This initiative positioned Bitcoin as a strategic asset to hedge against inflation, reduce national debt and strengthen the US’s financial leadership globally (although how is not exactly clear to me, to be honest).(A…The US Government's Bitcoin… What?

Dateline: Amsterdam, 7th April 2025.A strategic reserve is a stock of a systemically important input, which can be managed to mitigate economic disruption. The key example that we all think about is the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) which was created in response to the Arab oil embargo half a century ago. It was most recently accessed to reduce pressure on energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The stockpile makes sense because the commodity is essential to the economy: without petroleum the economy will grind to a halt.By contrast, not only is bitcoin not essential to the economy it has, so far as the numbers tell us, no real utility. If the value of Bitcoin hit zero tomorrow (perhaps because of quantum computer or something), it would not matter to the US economy at all.Subscribe nowThe PlanWhile it is not for me to comment on American politics, I cannot help but notice that there is a new President and that one of the proposals that he originally floated was a “strategic reserve” where the US would hoard billions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency.Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the BITCOIN Act of 2024, which proposed that the US Treasury establish this reserve by acquiring one million BTC over five years, with annual purchases of 200,000 BTC. This initiative positioned Bitcoin as a strategic asset to hedge against inflation, reduce national debt and strengthen the US’s financial leadership globally (although how is not exactly clear to me, to be honest).(A…The US Government's Bitcoin… What?