Joseph Cox

And somebody running around selling Anom phones is not going to get on their good side.

I mean, I walked through the same rooms that the FBI was reading the Anom messages in. I've obtained screenshots of what the FBI interface looked like. So I feel like I can put myself in the head of some of these FBI agents because I've also read a ton of these messages as well, right? And the system itself is called Holler iBot. You log in.

I mean, I walked through the same rooms that the FBI was reading the Anom messages in. I've obtained screenshots of what the FBI interface looked like. So I feel like I can put myself in the head of some of these FBI agents because I've also read a ton of these messages as well, right? And the system itself is called Holler iBot. You log in.

Initially, it was just from the San Diego FBI field office, but then they made it remote as well for the European partners. And also because of COVID, people couldn't go to the office as much. You log in, and there's sort of a green and black interface. And you can click on an individual Anom user. And it will show sort of a constellation of all of their contacts.

Initially, it was just from the San Diego FBI field office, but then they made it remote as well for the European partners. And also because of COVID, people couldn't go to the office as much. You log in, and there's sort of a green and black interface. And you can click on an individual Anom user. And it will show sort of a constellation of all of their contacts.

There'll be a circle in the middle, and there'll be another circle of the person they spoke to, and then another circle which shows sort of the group chat. You can then zero in on those. It's almost like a Maltigo sort of interface. And then once you go to a specific user, you can see all of their messages. You can see all of their photos.

There'll be a circle in the middle, and there'll be another circle of the person they spoke to, and then another circle which shows sort of the group chat. You can then zero in on those. It's almost like a Maltigo sort of interface. And then once you go to a specific user, you can see all of their messages. You can see all of their photos.

And rather handily, there was also AI-powered summaries of what was being spoken about, powered at least in some way by... Amazon, the FBI used some Amazon capability there. So you can look on the right side of the screen and it's like, Jerry is talking about a cocaine deal or whatever it is. And sometimes it's that blunt, which was just always hilarious to me.

And rather handily, there was also AI-powered summaries of what was being spoken about, powered at least in some way by... Amazon, the FBI used some Amazon capability there. So you can look on the right side of the screen and it's like, Jerry is talking about a cocaine deal or whatever it is. And sometimes it's that blunt, which was just always hilarious to me.

But when it gets to the point where there are millions and then tens of millions of messages, the FBI had to turn to some of these AI capabilities because otherwise they're going to be swimming in data. And by the end, they were absolutely swimming in data.

But when it gets to the point where there are millions and then tens of millions of messages, the FBI had to turn to some of these AI capabilities because otherwise they're going to be swimming in data. And by the end, they were absolutely swimming in data.

There was a real danger that if they did not analyze every single message, well, what would happen if the one message about a death threat got through and then somebody died? That was a constant threat, and it really, really ramped up as Anom became especially more popular.

There was a real danger that if they did not analyze every single message, well, what would happen if the one message about a death threat got through and then somebody died? That was a constant threat, and it really, really ramped up as Anom became especially more popular.

HoloEyebot was developed by FBI computer scientists. It was made in-house as basically like the surveillance interface of a knob.

HoloEyebot was developed by FBI computer scientists. It was made in-house as basically like the surveillance interface of a knob.

Yeah, and I mean, if you think about it, imagine a normal wiretap in LA or something, and it's one guy talking to another guy on a normal phone, and they're talking about a drug deal. And if you're the FBI or whoever, you have to figure out who these people are. And that might be tricky. As you say, maybe they're using code names, maybe they're using pseudonyms.

Yeah, and I mean, if you think about it, imagine a normal wiretap in LA or something, and it's one guy talking to another guy on a normal phone, and they're talking about a drug deal. And if you're the FBI or whoever, you have to figure out who these people are. And that might be tricky. As you say, maybe they're using code names, maybe they're using pseudonyms.

And then you go about, and you maybe get phone location data, you figure out who they are, whatever. Now imagine doing that

And then you go about, and you maybe get phone location data, you figure out who they are, whatever. Now imagine doing that

for something like 12 000 people in 150 different countries it's like i almost can't picture the task in front of them and that's why they had to turn to these pretty sophisticated systems for figuring out not just what people are saying but who the hell these people even are and they would do that and then even put you know the stereotypical graphs on the wall in the fbi with uh