{"id":18124,"date":"2026-02-16T13:35:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/the-download-unraveling-a-death-threat-mystery-and-ai-voice-recreation-for-musicians\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T13:35:54","slug":"the-download-unraveling-a-death-threat-mystery-and-ai-voice-recreation-for-musicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/the-download-unraveling-a-death-threat-mystery-and-ai-voice-recreation-for-musicians\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: unraveling a death threat mystery, and AI voice recreation for musicians"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is today\u2019s edition of\u00a0The Download<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what\u2019s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hackers made death threats against this security researcher. Big mistake.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In April 2024, a mysterious someone using the online handles \u201cWaifu\u201d and \u201cJudische\u201d began posting death threats on Telegram and Discord channels aimed at a cybersecurity researcher named Allison Nixon.<\/p>\n

These anonymous personas targeted Nixon because she had become a formidable threat: As chief research officer at the cyber investigations firm Unit 221B, named after Sherlock Holmes\u2019s apartment, she had built a career tracking cybercriminals and helping get them arrested.<\/p>\n

Though she\u2019d done this work for more than a decade, Nixon couldn\u2019t understand why the person behind the accounts was suddenly threatening her. And although she had taken an interest in the Waifu persona in years past for crimes he boasted about committing, he hadn\u2019t been on her radar for a while when the threats began, because she was tracking other targets.<\/p>\n

Now Nixon resolved to unmask Waifu\/Judische and others responsible for the death threats\u2014and take them down for crimes they admitted to committing. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Kim Zetter<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is from the next print issue of MIT Technology Review<\/em> magazine, which is all about crime. If you haven\u2019t already, <\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a> to receive future issues once they land.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

ALS stole this musician\u2019s voice. AI let him sing again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are tears in the audience as Patrick Darling\u2019s song begins to play. It\u2019s a heartfelt song written for his great-grandfather, whom he never got the chance to meet. But this performance is emotional for another reason: It\u2019s Darling\u2019s first time on stage with his bandmates since he lost the ability to sing two years ago.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old musician was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was 29 years old. Like other types of motor neuron disease, it affects nerves that supply the body\u2019s muscles. People with ALS eventually lose the ability to control their muscles, including those that allow them to move, speak, and breathe.<\/p>\n

Darling\u2019s last stage performance was over two years ago. By that point, he had already lost the ability to stand and play his instruments and was struggling to sing or speak. But recently, he was able to re-create his lost voice using an AI tool trained on snippets of old audio recordings. Another AI tool has enabled him to use this \u201cvoice clone\u201d to compose new songs. Darling is able to make music again. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Jessica Hamzelou<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 The creator of OpenClaw is joining OpenAI<\/strong>
Sam Altman was sufficiently impressed by Peter Steinberger\u2019s ideas to get agents to interact with each other. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ The move demonstrates how seriously OpenAI is taking agents. <\/em>(FT<\/a> $)
+ Moltbook was peak AI theater. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 How North Korea is illegally funding its nuclear program
<\/strong>A defector explains precisely how he duped remote IT workers into funneling money into its missiles.(WSJ<\/a> $)
+ Nukes are a hot topic across Europe right now. <\/em>(The Atlantic<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

3 Radio host David Greene is convinced Google stole his voice<\/strong>
He\u2019s suing the company over similarities between his own distinctive vocalizations and the AI voice used in its NotebookLM app. (WP<\/a> $)
+ People are using Google study software to make AI podcasts. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 US automakers are worried by the prospect of a Chinese invasion<\/strong>
They fear Trump may greenlight Chinese carmakers to build plants in the US. (FT<\/a> $)
+ China figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to deal with their aging batteries. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5 Google downplays safety warnings on its AI-generated medical advice<\/strong>
It only displays extended warnings when a user clicks to \u2018Show more.\u2019 (The Guardian<\/a>)
+ Here\u2019s another reason why you should keep a close eye on AI Overviews. <\/em>(Wired<\/a> $)
+ AI companies have stopped warning you that their chatbots aren\u2019t doctors. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 How to make Lidar affordable for all cars
<\/strong>A compact device could prove the key. (IEEE Spectrum<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 Robot fight nights are all the rage in San Francisco
<\/strong>Step aside, Super Bowl! (Rest of World<\/a>)
+ Humanoid robots will take to the stage for Chinese New Year celebrations. <\/em>(Reuters<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 Influencers and TikTokers are feeding their babies butter
<\/strong>But there\u2019s no scientific evidence to back up some of their claims. (NY Mag<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

9 This couple can\u2019t speak the same language<\/strong>
Microsoft Translator has helped them to sustain a marriage. (NYT<\/a> $)
+ AI romance scams are on the rise. <\/em>(Vox<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 AI promises to make better, more immersive video games<\/strong>
But those are lofty goals that may never be achieved. (The Verge<\/a>)
+ Google DeepMind is using Gemini to train agents inside Goat Simulator 3. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now this is a baby version. But I think it\u2019s incredibly concerning for the future.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Scott Shambaugh, a software engineer who recently became the subject of a scathing blog post written by an AI bot accusing him of hypocrisy and prejudice, tells the Wall Street Journal<\/a> why this could be the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Why do so many people think the Fruit of the Loom logo had a cornucopia?<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Quick question: Does the Fruit of the Loom logo feature a cornucopia?<\/p>\n

Many of us have been wearing the company\u2019s T-shirts for decades, and yet the question of whether there is a woven brown horn of plenty on the logo is surprisingly contentious.<\/p>\n

According to a 2022 poll, 55% of Americans believe the logo does include a cornucopia, 25% are unsure, and only 21% are confident that it doesn\u2019t, even though this last group is correct.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a name for what\u2019s happening here: the \u201cMandela effect,\u201d or collective false memory, so called because a number of people misremember that Nelson Mandela died in prison. Yet while many find it easy to let their unconfirmable beliefs go, some spend years seeking answers\u2014and vindication. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Amelia Tait<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet \u2019em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ When dating apps and book lovers<\/a> collide, who knows what could happen.
+ It turns out humans have a secret third set of teeth<\/a>, which is completely wild.
+ We may never know the exact shape of the universe<\/a>. But why is that?
+ If your salad is missing a certain something, some crispy lentils<\/a> may be just the ticket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today\u2019s edition of\u00a0The Download,\u00a0our weekday newsletter that provides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}