The company that insists humans must maintain an accurate identity and profile to use their services, has been stuffing its own platform with peculiar fakes.
As users began to sniff out some of Meta’s AI accounts this week, the backlash grew, in part because of the way the AI accounts disingenuously described their racial and sexual identities.
In particular, there was “Liv,” the Meta AI account that has a bio describing itself as a “Proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller,” and told Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah that Liv had no Black creators — the bot said it was built by “10 white men, 1 white woman, and 1 Asian male,” according to a screenshot posted on Bluesky. Liv’s profile included a label that read “AI managed by Meta,” and all of Liv’s photos — snapshots of Liv’s “children” playing at the beach, a close-up of badly decorated Christmas cookies — contained a small watermark identifying them as AI-generated.
As media scrutiny ticked up Friday, Meta began taking down Liv and other bots’ posts, many of which dated back at least a year, citing a bug.
Meta has not actually released anything new, but the news cycle has led people to go find Meta’s already existing AI-generated profiles and to realize how utterly terrible they are.
Oh Facebook, why does anyone still use you for anything?
The recent passing of a highly decorated U.S. Army Special Forces soldier highlights the urgent need for better mental health support for our service members, especially during challenging times like the holiday season. The Green Beret, who served his country with distinction, tragically died in a Tesla near the Las Vegas Strip following a difficult personal crisis.
Livelsberger enlisted in the Army in 2006 and served on active duty until 2011. He then had stints in the National Guard and Army Reserve before returning to active duty in December 2012 as a special operations soldier, the Army said. During his Army career, Livelsberger deployed twice to Afghanistan and served in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. Among his awards: Five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire; a combat infantry badge; and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. […] A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns. …Livelsberger rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday, and the sheriff displayed a map showing that it was charged in the Colorado town of Monument near Colorado Springs on Monday. On New Year’s Eve, it was charged in Trinidad, Colo., and the towns of Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Gallup in New Mexico, along the Interstate 40 corridor. Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in the Arizona towns of Holbrook, Flagstaff and Kingman before video showed it on the Las Vegas Strip about 7:30 a.m.
As much as we should be talking about the more than 20 people in the last few months alone who died in a Tesla yet were almost completely ignored by this car company, their brash statements have been generating attention in this case for some of the most unfortunate reasons.
The incident has drawn attention not only for its circumstances but also due to deeply insensitive comments from Tesla’s CEO, who chose to publicly mock the highly decorated service member’s death rather than acknowledge the serious issues of mental health challenges facing our military community.
Such outrageously callous remarks about a soldier who dedicated his life to serving our country are particularly disturbing given Tesla’s CEO’s recent history of anti-military anti-American rhetoric. Just days before this tragedy, while Livelsberger was on leave from his station in Germany, Musk published controversial statements in German media praising the return to an extremist political party – remarks that drew unprecedented criticism from German officials for aggressively endangering democratic institutions that U.S. military personnel are stationed there to protect.
The South African-born [white nationalist Musk] wrote… “Only the [new Nazi Party] can save Germany.” […] The editor of the centre-right newspaper’s opinion section, Eva Marie Kogel, posted… she had submitted her resignation in protest at the decision to run the article. Politicians from across the political spectrum criticised Musk’s attempts to put his thumb on the scales of German democracy, with the health minister, Karl Lauterbach, of Scholz’s Social Democratic party (SPD) calling his intervention “undignified and highly problematic” and Merz saying it was “intrusive and presumptuous”. Merz told the Funke media group: “I cannot recall in the history of western democracies a comparable case of interference in the election campaign of a friendly country.”
The American soldier’s final journey, which took him through multiple states during New Year’s Eve – a particularly challenging time for many dealing with mental health issues – serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of supporting those among us going through crisis.
This map of the long eight-stop route taken in a truck filled with highly flammable/explosive materials into the desert, illustrates importance of recognizing warning signs and the need for proactive support especially during leave and holidays. Source: Google Maps
Mental health emergencies deserve understanding and compassion, not ridicule. Livelsberger allegedly was carrying all his identification with him and left a note insisting his “stunt” “was not a terrorist attack”, which all was known to Tesla senior staff… making investigation of his suicide a quick and simple matter that demands proper respect and consideration.
Source: Stars and Stripes
This tragedy should serve as a call to action for better mental health resources and crisis intervention, especially for our veterans and active duty personnel.
Matthew Livelsberger: awarded five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Source: U.S. Army
While there continue to be very valid discussions to be had about the lack of vehicle safety in a Tesla, the focus now should remain on the loss of a valued member of our military community and the broader issue of mental health support for service members.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, trained counselors are available 24/7 at 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Military service members and veterans have a Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 then pressing 1, or texting 838255.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, trained counselors are available 24/7 at 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Military service members and veterans have a Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 then pressing 1, or texting 838255.
Executive Summary: The Tesla Cybertruck has been plagued with six recalls in just its first year due to design defects. Another one just may have been accidentally revealed in a massive explosion from fuel stored in the truck bed with cover closed. Unpainted flat steel body panels at sharp angles, combined with the dry and cold winter air, and the unsafe storage of metal fuel cans allowing vapor collection around fireworks, may have generated the kind of high charge static electricity tinder that made a sudden combustion inevitable.
High Risk Factors
This Cybertruck combination presents a highly elevated static electricity risk:
Low humidity (20% typical desert morning)
Cold temperatures (-5°C)
Large metallic surface area with sharp angles causing charge concentration points
Known defects in Cybertruck electrical grounding
High-speed long distance travel
Environmental Conditions
Air Temperature: -5°C (cold morning)
Relative Humidity: 20% (typical desert morning)
Vehicle Speed: 75 mph (33.528 m/s)
Distance: 1,300,000 m (Colorado Springs to Las Vegas)
Cross-sectional Area: 5.7 m²
Air Breakdown Field Strength: 3 × 10⁶ V/m (at sea level)
Material Properties
Steel Permittivity: 8.85 × 10⁻¹² F/m
Air Permittivity: 8.86 × 10⁻¹² F/m
Steel Resistivity: 6.9 × 10⁻⁷ Ω⋅m
Results
Charge Accumulation Rate: 1.20e-1 C/s Maximum Realistic Voltage: 3.00e+4 V Discharge Probability: 80.0% Charge Ratio (Cybertruck/Normal Truck): 1.67x
Risk Assessment
The Cybertruck’s angular metallic design creates 1.67x more charge accumulation than standard trucks
Voltage buildup is limited by air breakdown at 3.0 MV/m
Discharge probability is 80.0% under these conditions
Circumstances
It’s illegal to transport fireworks and gas cans together in a truck bed (or trunk, or inside a car). The victim was active duty military with knowledge in flammable/explosive material handling such as fuel cans so this doesn’t seem accidental.
The truck bed cover being closed means vapor likely accumulated for a while on a long drive, creating a dangerously combustible moment, also probably not accidental.
The Cybertruck has known electrical design flaws related to improper grounding and potential fire hazards, such as potential arcs when being shifted into park or during mechanical transitions. It is unlikely this was factored by the victim.
Metal fuel cans in a metal truck have been a known danger of sudden vapor combustion for many years, quickly destroying cars, begging the question whether Tesla ignored known safety practices.
…the Petroleum Equipment Institute, a trade group, found that there were at least 170 static electricity fires at gas stations from 1992 to 2006. …the problem probably isn’t a big one. Unless, of course, it’s your car that has burst into flames. Since Mrs. Shager’s pickup was destroyed in November, at least two other serious fires at gas stations have been attributed to static electricity, including one that severely burned a woman.
Some of this math may help explain the mystery surrounding 17 long seconds after the Cybertruck robotically parked itself neatly and quietly in front of the Trump Hotel (instead of crashing into the lobby) and began to emit smoke from the bed.
…military ID, passport and credit cards were found in the vehicle, along with several firearms, and that the driver had shot himself in the head before the vehicle detonated. “I’m comfortable calling it a suicide,” [Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff] McMahill said at the briefing. […] …gasoline canisters, camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars were found in the back of the vehicle after the explosion, which occurred about 15 seconds after the vehicle pulled in front of the building. It’s still unclear how the explosives were ignited, McMahill said.
If suicide of a US Army soldier with explosives expertise — self-immolation as protest — is officially suspected then a lot of the analysis shifts.
It’s possible firing a gun intentionally ignited the bed full of explosive fuel vapor. Or it’s possible the Cybertruck itself sparked in an electrical or mechanical event causing an ignition, after his suicide and unintentionally. There are many possibilities still, as details are being released, but static electricity risk might be considered another design defect of the Cybertruck worth investigating.
Nissan arguably created the modern American electric car market with its global EV sales leader the LEAF. While it was selling strong in modest numbers through 2019, it pioneered many of the EV features we take for granted today. What it didn’t do was lie. When it said range, it meant actual range.
Then Tesla came along late assembling an inexpensive kit car concept that went extremely heavy on future promises of luxury and very light on honesty, reliability or quality. They also allegedly played games with credit and loans to prop up earnings, while unabashedly and artificially doubling claimed battery range or corrupting the dashboard indicators. Their FSD turned out to be a scam, to boot, with almost nobody given a free trial agreeing to pay outrageous upcharge fees. Thus the over-cooked sales formulas hiding bad engineering were bound to crash eventually as the market of suckers dried up (or tragically was killed by fraud). So after a few years of sudden explosive (literally) sales that unfairly interfered with Nissan’s better vehicles, here we are.
Tesla sales declined even as overall sales of electric vehicles in the first 11 months of the year rose 25 percent globally, according to Rho Motion, a research firm.
The stark difference between Tesla EV sales numbers falling and all other brands leaping upward in 2024 has been truly remarkable to watch.
Chart: Michael Thomas. Source: CA New Dealers Association
