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Maddy Varner

STORY ANGLES - Focuses on regulatory and legal implications: Stories often highlight government actions, investigations, or lawsuits, particularly involving agencies like DOJ, DHS, and regulatory bodies.

Reporter · US

Indexed articles, last 90 days
10
Latest publication
Sep 17, 2026
Outlet visibility, for Wired
Top 50K sites
Earliest in this view
Jul 6, 2026

Latest articles

  1. Article · Sep 17, 2026 · Maddy Varner

    The AI ‘Slowdown’ Is an Antitrust Mess (opens the original)

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    Following multiple reports of AI agent swarms hacking websites and coordinating via secret message boards, along with a dire message for humanity from an outgoing Anthropic engineer, leading AI companies have called for a coordinated AI development “slowdown.” Alongside various versions of this specific phrase—slowdown—they’ve also expressed concerns that doing so would run afoul of antitrust laws. Antitrust experts say that while the companies’ charged language isn’t necessarily d

  2. Article · Sep 9, 2026 · Maddy Varner

    You Can Now Destroy Flock Cameras for Cash in GTA V (opens the original)

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    People are not happy about Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers and the cops that allegedly misuse them. If you’re one of those ALPR-haters, you can now take out your rage in the video game Grand Theft Auto V by installing Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader, a mod built by artist Morry Kolman. The mod installs 235 Flock cameras around the fictional Los Santos, a riff on the real-life city of Los Angeles. Players can smash and shoot down the cameras and get paid $600 for each on

  3. Article · Sep 4, 2026 · Maddy Varner

    ICE Wants to Know Everyone Who Bought a Certain Green Beanie From REI in the Last 2 Years (opens the original)

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    Did you buy a beanie from REI recently? The Department of Homeland Security might be looking for you. New court filings allege that Homeland Security Investigations agents subpoenaed the outdoor retailer in March, requesting the transaction information for “all persons” in the greater Minneapolis–St. Paul area who had purchased a specific type of dark green beanie from the company since 2024. REI did not respond to questions about whether it had complied with the request and, if so, how many peo

  4. Article · Aug 29, 2026 · Maddy Varner

    The Cybersecurity Apocalypse Is Coming in ‘Months,’ AI Giants Warn (opens the original)

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    You may have noticed that Flock Safety’s automatic license plate reader cameras—and the cops who misuse them—are getting a lot of coverage lately. This week, WIRED found a particularly wild case: A cop in Alpharetta, Georgia, was accused of searching for the license plate of a coworker dozens of times after an affair between the two ended, according to internal documents obtained by WIRED. The same police department where the former lovers worked also shared the data captured from its Floc

  5. Article · Aug 14, 2026 · Maddy Varner

    FTC Strikes Deals to Ignore Unlawful Credit Discrimination (opens the original)

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced deals with two auto dealers, along with the former general manager of a third, promising not to enforce—or even help enforce—their court-ordered obligations to maintain fair lending programs and not engage in unlawful credit discrimination. The Northern District of Illinois, which presided over one case, says it was never given the opportunity to evaluate one of the new agreements, and Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes, whose office was a coplain

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