Kaveh Waddell

I cofounded Verso, an AI strategy consultancy for newsrooms and nonprofits.

We train organizations on generative AI, co-design AI strategies and ethical principles, and prototype custom AI tools to solve specific problems.

I built Verso with Patrick Swanson during my 2023–24 John S. Knight journalism fellowship and Human-Centered AI fellowship at Stanford University.

Previously, I was an investigative journalist at Consumer Reports’ Digital Lab, a staff writer at Axios and The Atlantic, and a freelance reporter in Beirut, Lebanon.

Say hello!

Here’s some of my reporting:

Photo of a large Amazon warehouse with residential houses in the foreground — photo: Alex Welsh

Amazon opens most of its warehouses in neighborhoods with a disproportionately high number of people of color and low-income residents, bringing safety hazards, quality of life issues like potholes, clogged roads and noise, and airborne pollutants. This data-driven project was co-published with The Guardian. Read the investigation.

Photo illustration in collage style with a keyhole, a photo of a person carrying boxes, and a tearout of an eviction notice — photo illustration: Ricardo Santos

Tenant screening reports can make it really hard to find a decent apartment if you have certain criminal records, or if you’ve had an eviction filed against you, even if you won your eviction case or it was withdrawn. Black and Latinx renters are disproportionately likely to have those poisonous records. Read the investigation.

Illustration with many speaking mouths arrayed across a white background with red boxes — illustration: Klawe Rzeczy

Automated captions on platforms like YouTube or Zoom often fall short, raising hurdles for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. Our in-depth testing found that they systematically perform worse for people whose first language isn’t English, even if they’re fluent. Read the investigation.

Illustration of two women placing coins in large hands near their cars. The woman with a mortarboard is paying one coin; the woman with a construction hat is paying three. — illustration: Laura Liedo

Several major auto insurers charge more to drivers with less education or lower-paying jobs. Sometimes it’s hundreds of dollars more a year, our experiment found. Systemic racism and economic inequality mean these disparities stand to hit drivers of color hardest. Read the investigation.

Photo illustration of a Facebook post advertising supplements, surrounded by marketing slogans like 'Ace your exams!' — photo illustration: Israel G. Vargas

Marketers regularly use Facebook to promote dangerous or illegal supplements. In some cases, we found, they target harmful ads directly at vulnerable populations, such as people searching for information about diabetes, or at young students interested in the STEM field. Read the investigation.

Illustration of two sillhouettes, one white and one black. The white sillhouette is next to a checkmark; the black sillhouette is next to a question mark. — illustration: David Senior

Some medical algorithms give doctors different results depending on whether or not a patient is Black. A group of docs and med students are pushing to remove race from one of these equations, which can help decide who is eligible for kidney transplants. This project was co-published with The Root. Read the investigation.

DISPATCHES FROM BEIRUT

Lebanon’s Facebook vigilantes are "turning suspects into criminals in one click" The Atlantic
A quiet campaign to map Lebanon’s mass graves before they’re destroyed The Atlantic
Beirut tries to get back on the bike CityLab

CULTURE

As kids, two Guinean brothers invented a new script for their native language. Now they’re trying to get it on every smartphone The Atlantic
How Seattle’s Iranians kept their culture while ingraining into the city The Atlantic

POLITICS & POLICY

Police can use a legal gray area to rob people of their belongings—without even charging them with a crime The Atlantic
After Trump’s Muslim ban, an army of attorneys descends on Dulles The Atlantic
How New York’s top advertisers tried to fight ISIS propaganda The Atlantic

TECHNOLOGY

A monumental tug-of-war over biased AI Axios
Human workers are being automated like machines Axios
Facing ALS, a systems engineer built a smart home to preserve his independence NY Mag
Will self-driving cars be able to navigate the roads where they’re most needed? Wired

PRIVACY

Unregulated people-search services offer up personal information for cheap or free, with few safeguards The Atlantic
In most states, your boss can track your location around the clock The Atlantic
People who most need digital privacy often can’t afford the smartphones that provide it The Atlantic

SURVEILLANCE

AI surveillance goes to school Axios
License-plate readers have helped police and lenders neighborhoods The Atlantic
How big data harms poor communities The Atlantic