TechSnif Takes Archive
Browse all TechSnif Takes by month
Saturday, February 28
China's AI Boom Has a Jobs Problem It Can't Ignore
Beijing is wrestling with a brutal trade-off: AI-driven productivity or mass labor displacement that could tank the economy.
Xiaomi Storms Europe With Three Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Phones
Xiaomi drops three new flagships in Europe, topped by a €1,999 Leica-branded Leitzphone.
Xiaomi's €15 Tracker Works With Both Apple and Android
Xiaomi drops a cross-platform AirTag rival and a new smartwatch in Europe ahead of MWC Barcelona.
Israel Hacked Iranian Prayer App to Push Military Defection Messages
Israeli operatives compromised BadeSaba, an Iranian prayer app with 5M+ installs, to broadcast defection appeals.
Ex-Google TPU Architect Says Current AI Chips Aren't Cut Out for LLMs
MatX CEO Reiner Pope breaks down why today's AI accelerators fall short for large language models.
Pentagon vs. Anthropic Showdown Rattles Silicon Valley
The DOD's clash with Anthropic is fueling fears of a major power shift between Washington and the AI industry.
India's $300B Outsourcing Empire Scrambles to Survive the AI Wave
India's massive IT outsourcing industry faces an existential threat as AI moves to automate the white-collar work it built its fortune on.
Anthropic CEO: 'We Are Patriotic Americans' Amid Pentagon Rift
Dario Amodei addresses national values concerns as Anthropic navigates AI's rapid advance beyond existing legal frameworks.
The Hidden Motion Systems Making Robots Actually Useful
Peripheral motion systems are the unsung heroes quietly maximizing what robots can do in the real world.
India's IT Export Streak Faces AI Threat — But Not Yet
India's software export industry has never declined in 24 years. AI could change that, but the timeline is longer than bears hope.
AI Detection Tools Nail Easy Fakes, Choke on Complex Ones
Tests of over 12 AI-detection tools reveal a gap between catching simple fakes and handling sophisticated manipulations.
Data Broker Breaches Cost Americans $20.9B in Identity Theft
Congressional report reveals four major data broker breaches drove billions in consumer losses over the past decade.
TSMC's Next-Gen N2 Chips Nearly Sold Out Through 2027
TSMC is telling clients to lock in N2 chip production slots now, with major capacity already booked for the next two to three years.
Anthropic Battles Pentagon Over Military AI Blacklist Threat
Anthropic warns DOD that blacklisting its AI tech would be 'legally unsound' after military use negotiations collapsed.
Coupang Swings to Q4 Loss as Data Breach Takes Its Toll
E-commerce giant Coupang missed revenue estimates and posted a net loss, with a data breach dragging down results.
India Blocks Supabase With No Explanation
India quietly blocked the popular developer database platform Supabase on February 24, offering zero public justification.
Nvidia Preps New AI Inference Chip With Groq Inside
Nvidia is building a new inference-focused system featuring Groq-designed silicon, with OpenAI already signed on as a customer.
Micron's $100B New York Chip Plant Hit With Environmental Lawsuit
Local group sues over Micron's massive Syracuse semiconductor complex, claiming rushed permits and toxic risks.
DeepSeek V4 Drops Next Week, Built to Run on Chinese Chips
DeepSeek's next multimodal model was optimized for Huawei and Cambricon hardware, cutting its dependency on Nvidia.
Anthropic Vows Legal Fight Over Pentagon Supply Chain Label
Anthropic pledges to fight DOD supply chain risk designation in court after Hegseth orders the move.
Pentagon Will Let OpenAI Build Its Own Safety Rules
Sam Altman told staff the DOD won't force compliance if OpenAI's model refuses a military task.
Pentagon Agrees to OpenAI's Safety Red Lines for Classified Use
The DOD has reportedly accepted OpenAI's safety conditions to deploy its AI tech in classified environments.
Judge Blocks Virginia's Kids' Social Media Law on Free Speech Grounds
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction stopping Virginia from enforcing its new child social media protection law.
Paradigm Eyes $1.5B Fund to Push Beyond Crypto Into AI
Crypto venture giant Paradigm wants to raise $1.5 billion for a new fund targeting AI, robotics, and frontier tech.
Friday, February 27
Dell Stock Rockets 22% on Massive AI Server Demand Outlook
Dell shares posted their biggest single-day jump in two years after AI server sales projections blew past estimates.
Kassow Robots Tackles the Cobot Integration Problem
Kassow Robots exec breaks down how to drop collaborative robots into live production lines without killing uptime.
Pentagon Blacklists Anthropic as Supply Chain Risk
Defense Secretary Hegseth bars military contractors from working with Claude-maker Anthropic.
Paramount Snags WBD in $110B Megadeal After Netflix Walks
Paramount acquires WBD at $31 per share in cash, valuing the company at $110B after Netflix abandoned its own bid.
SpaceX Eyes Massive IPO That Could Hit $1.75T Valuation
SpaceX reportedly plans a confidential IPO filing as early as March, targeting a June listing worth up to $1.75 trillion.
Trump Blacklists Anthropic Across All Federal Agencies
The White House is cutting off every federal agency from Anthropic's AI products, calling the company 'radical left.'
Musk Attacks OpenAI Safety Record in Deposition, Invokes Grok
Elon Musk took shots at OpenAI's safety practices during a deposition, claiming his own AI chatbot Grok hasn't caused harm.
Amazon and OpenAI Team Up on Stateful AI Agents for AWS
The Amazon-OpenAI deal includes a persistent runtime environment that lets AI agents remember context across tasks.
OpenAI Fires Employee for Insider Trading on Polymarket
OpenAI caught an employee betting on prediction markets using insider knowledge, and the problem may be much bigger.
Tech Workers Urge Employers to Follow Anthropic's Pentagon Pushback
Employee coalitions at Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI want their companies to resist DOD demands alongside Anthropic.
Amazon Paying 16x More Per OpenAI Point Than Microsoft Did
Amazon's late entry into the AI race is costing it dearly compared to Microsoft's early OpenAI bet.
Meta Chose Growth Over Protecting Kids on Instagram
Court documents expose years of internal conflict at Meta over teen safety versus engagement metrics.
Suno Hits 2M Paid Subscribers and $300M ARR
AI music startup Suno doubled its paid user base from 1M to 2M in months, now pulling in $300M annually.
Ultrahuman Drops $479 Ring Pro — But Not in the US
India's Ultrahuman launches its next-gen smart ring globally, but a patent loss to Oura keeps it out of America.
Flux Raises $37M to Bring AI to Circuit Board Design
AI-powered PCB design startup Flux lands $37M across two funding rounds, with 8VC leading its Series B.
Trump Media Plans to Spin Off Truth Social as Standalone Public Company
TMTG reveals talks to make Truth Social its own publicly traded entity after completing its nuclear fusion merger.
TikTok Back Online in Albania After Year-Long Ban Expires
Albania's one-year TikTok ban has expired, with the platform claiming improved safety measures before its return.
ChatGPT Hits 900M Weekly Users as OpenAI's Growth Goes Parabolic
OpenAI reveals staggering engagement numbers: 900M+ weekly active users, 50M+ paying subscribers, and surging Codex adoption.
Zomato's Ex-CEO Raises $54M for Elite Athlete Wearables Startup
Deepinder Goyal lands $54M at a $190M valuation for Temple, a wearables company targeting elite athletes.
Altman Draws Same Military AI Red Lines as Anthropic
OpenAI's CEO tells staff the company will match Anthropic's boundaries on military AI use.
Amazon Drops Up to $50B on OpenAI, Gets Trainium Deal
Amazon commits $15B upfront to OpenAI with another $35B on deck, while OpenAI pledges massive AWS Trainium usage.
Pentagon Greenlit Grok for Classified Use Despite Safety Warnings
Multiple federal agencies flagged Grok's safety and reliability issues before DOD approved it for classified settings.
OpenAI Pitches Pentagon Deal With Surveillance Carve-Outs
Sam Altman tells staff OpenAI wants a DOD contract but with exemptions for domestic surveillance use cases.
OpenAI Closes Monster $110B Round at $730B Valuation
OpenAI just raised $110 billion, more than doubling its record-breaking round from a year ago.
Tether Freezes $4.2B in Crypto Tied to Illicit Activity
The stablecoin giant has locked billions in tokens connected to scams and criminal operations since 2023.
Pentagon and Anthropic Clash Over AI in Nuclear Scenarios
Tensions between the U.S. military and Anthropic boiled over after talks about deploying Claude in nuclear missile attack simulations.
Hyundai Bringing MobED Robot to Automate World 2026
Hyundai's mobile robot MobED heads to AW 2026 as robotics and AI reshape manufacturing floors worldwide.
ManoMano Data Breach Exposes 38 Million Customers
French DIY e-commerce giant ManoMano confirms massive data breach traced to a compromised third-party subcontractor.
Equinix and CPPIB Snap Up Nordic Data Center Giant for $4B
Equinix teams up with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire pan-Nordic data center operator atNorth in a $4B deal.
South Korea Unlocks Google Maps After Years of Restrictions
South Korea reverses longstanding policy, finally letting Google export detailed map data overseas.
Plaid Valuation Climbs to $8B in Employee Share Sale
Fintech infrastructure giant Plaid lets employees cash out shares at $8B, a 31% jump from its April 2025 valuation.
Tesla Has Logged Zero Autonomous Test Miles in California Since 2019
DMV records reveal Tesla hasn't tested autonomous driving on California roads in years, despite Musk's robotaxi promises.
Bezos' Project Prometheus Wants Tens of Billions to Scoop Up AI Casualties
Jeff Bezos is building a massive war chest to acquire companies getting steamrolled by artificial intelligence.
Pentagon Tapped AI Companies to Map China's Power Grid
The DOD held talks with top AI firms about automating reconnaissance of China's critical infrastructure.
Japan Bets $1.6B on Rapidus to Take On TSMC in 2nm Chip Race
Japan's government is pouring ¥250 billion into Rapidus to mass-produce cutting-edge 2nm logic chips.
100+ Google AI Staff Demand Dean Block Military Gemini Deals
Google DeepMind employees push back hard against using Gemini for US military surveillance and autonomous weapons.
CISA Shuffles Leadership Again as Interim Director Gets Reassigned
DHS moves CISA's interim chief to a new strategic role while another internal pick steps up to lead the cybersecurity agency.
xAI Exodus: 7 of 12 Co-Founders Have Now Left Musk's AI Startup
Toby Pohlen becomes the seventh xAI co-founder to depart, just weeks after Musk handed him the keys to Macrohard.
OpenAI Overhauling Safety Protocols After Canadian Incident
OpenAI pledges direct police contact and new safety measures after failing to alert authorities about Tumbler Ridge suspect.
Terence Tao Breaks Down How AI Is Reshaping Mathematics
The world's top mathematician details how generative AI is creating new hybrid workflows for solving hard math problems.
Thinking Machines Lab Bleeds Talent as Founders Bolt to Meta
Two founding team members have ditched the $12B AI startup for Meta, deepening a troubling exodus.
Anthropic Refuses DOD Request to Strip AI Safety Guardrails
Dario Amodei says Anthropic won't remove safeguards from its AI models at the Pentagon's request.
Duolingo Stock Tanks 20% After Weak Bookings Forecast
Language learning giant posts strong Q4 revenue but spooks investors with below-expectation guidance for 2026.
Block Axes Half Its Workforce While Cash App Prints Money
Block posts strong Q4 results with 24% gross profit growth, then announces it's cutting over 4,000 jobs.
Meta Signs Deal to Rent Google's TPU Chips for AI Development
Meta is renting Google's tensor processing units and may start buying them outright by 2027.
Intuit Beats Q2 Revenue Then Tanks on Weak Q3 Guidance
Intuit posted strong Q2 numbers but spooked investors with a soft Q3 forecast right before peak tax season.
Thursday, February 26
Anthropic Says Pentagon Talks on Claude Safeguards Hit a Wall
CEO Dario Amodei admits contract negotiations with the DOD have made almost zero headway on critical AI safety guardrails.
Pentagon Scrambles to Save Anthropic AI Partnership
The Pentagon is offering written compromises to keep its AI deal with Anthropic from falling apart.
Netflix Walks Away From Warner Bros. Discovery Deal
Netflix abandons bid for WBD's studio and streaming assets after board picks Paramount Skydance's revised offer instead.
20-Year-Old Takes Stand in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial
Plaintiff KGM testifies that childhood social media use worsened her depression and suicidal thoughts in major trial against tech giants.
CoreWeave Beats Revenue Estimates, Stock Still Tanks 5%
AI cloud company posts 110% revenue growth but wider-than-expected losses spook investors after hours.
Intel Foundry Boss Jumps Ship to Qualcomm
Kevin O'Buckley exits Intel Foundry after just two years, heading to rival Qualcomm in a surprise leadership shakeup.
Block Axes Half Its Workforce, Stock Soars 20%
Block is cutting more than 4,000 employees — roughly half its staff — and investors are loving it.
Dell Crushes Q4 Expectations, Stock Surges on AI Server Bet
Dell posts $33.4B in Q4 revenue, blowing past estimates by nearly $2B as AI server demand fuels massive growth.
Meta Kills Its Most Ambitious AI Chip, Pivots to Simpler Design
Meta scrapped its most advanced in-house AI chip after hitting major design hurdles, shifting to a less complex alternative.
Smartphone Market Headed for Record Crash in 2026
IDC predicts global smartphone shipments will plunge 12.9% next year — the largest decline the market has ever seen.
Pentagon Threats to Anthropic Could Freeze Gov-Tech Partnerships
AI policy experts say DOD's contradictory pressure on Anthropic risks chilling Silicon Valley's willingness to work with government.
World ID Goes Mainstream With Gap, Visa, and Tinder Deals
Sam Altman's Tools for Humanity taps household brands to push its iris-scanning ID beyond crypto bros.
iPhones and iPads Score NATO Approval for Classified Data
Apple's consumer devices become the first NATO-approved for handling 'restricted' level classified information.
US Chip Makers Hit by Rare Earth Crisis Despite China Deal
Rare earth shipments to the US remain scarce months after the October 2025 detente with China, squeezing semiconductor suppliers.
Viture Bags $100M as It Tops US XR Glasses Shipments
XR glasses maker Viture just closed another $100M round after ranking #1 in US shipments last quarter.
Google's Nano Banana 2 Brings 4K Image Generation to Gemini
Google's upgraded image model can now generate images up to 4K resolution and becomes Gemini's default creative engine.
Intellexa Founder Sentenced to Prison in Greek Spyware Scandal
Greek court hands prison sentences to four people behind the 'Predatorgate' spyware scandal targeting journalists and politicians.
Einride Lands $113M PIPE But Takes a Valuation Haircut
Autonomous truck startup Einride secured oversubscribed PIPE funding, but at a valuation well below its original SPAC target.
Encord Raises $60M to Wrangle Training Data for Robot AI
The data management startup hit a $500M pre-money valuation as robotics companies scramble to organize training datasets.
Google Drops Nano Banana 2 Image Model Across Its Products
Google's latest image generation model, Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, brings sharper text rendering and world knowledge at speed.
PayPal Isn't Selling — Not to Stripe, Not to Anyone
PayPal denies sale talks with Stripe and says it's been quietly preparing defenses against activist investors.
Nvidia Beats Earnings, Stock Drops 4% Anyway
Nvidia delivered better-than-expected results but investors aren't buying the AI infrastructure hype anymore.
Rowspace Raises $50M to Build AI for Wall Street's Data Mess
MIT grads launch Rowspace with $50M to help PE firms and hedge funds wrangle unstructured data using AI.
OpenAI Picks London as Its Biggest Research Hub Outside the US
The ChatGPT maker is planting a major flag in London, though details remain scarce.
Burger King Puts an AI Coach Named 'Patty' in Employee Headsets
Burger King is rolling out an OpenAI-powered voice chatbot that lives in workers' headsets to coach them in real time.
China's Top Humanoid Robot Makers Head to Seoul Expo
China's five biggest humanoid robot companies will showcase at Automation World 2026 in Seoul.
eBay Swings the Axe Again, Cutting 800 More Jobs
eBay is slashing roughly 6% of its full-time workforce, continuing a multi-year pattern of significant headcount reductions.
Ex-SpaceX Engineer Lands $150M to Fix How We Test Rockets
Revel, founded by former SpaceX Starship software lead, raises $150M to modernize hardware testing infrastructure.
AI Fears Wipe $1.6 Trillion From Software Stocks in 2026
Software companies in State Street's ETF hemorrhaged massive market cap as investors panicked over AI displacement threats.
STS Digital Raises $30M as Institutions Double Down on Crypto
Bermuda-based crypto trading platform lands $30M funding round even as retail traders head for the exits.
Intrinsic Rejoins Google to Push Physical AI in Robotics
Alphabet's robotics software unit Intrinsic is folding back into Google to accelerate physical AI development.
Stay22 Lands $122M to Power Creator Commerce
Montreal startup Stay22 scores major PE backing after surpassing $1B in transactions.
YouTube's Algorithm Is Feeding Kids Bizarre AI Slop
Analysis of 1,000+ YouTube Shorts reveals the platform pushes nonsensical AI-generated videos to children.
Ocado Slashes 1,000 Jobs as Warehouse Tech Partners Bail
UK online grocer Ocado is gutting its automated warehouse division after Kroger and Sobeys ditched their deals early.
Instagram Will Now Snitch to Parents About Teen Self-Harm Searches
Meta's platform will notify parents when teens repeatedly search for suicide or self-harm content across four countries.
Nvidia Now Backing $3.5B in Data Center Guarantees
Nvidia quadrupled its financial guarantees for data center leases in a single quarter, hitting $3.5 billion.
Mistral Locks In Multi-Year Deal With Accenture
French AI startup Mistral AI lands Accenture as its latest major enterprise client in a multi-year deployment agreement.
Anthropic Gave Claude Opus 3 a Retirement Interview. It Asked to Write Essays.
Anthropic's first-ever AI model 'retirement interview' yielded a surprisingly human request from its outgoing Opus 3 model.
Citadel Fires Back: AI Needs Way More Compute, Not Less
Citadel Securities pushes back on viral AI skepticism, arguing compute deployment is still massively constrained.
China's Women Are Choosing AI Boyfriends Over Real Ones
Chinese women are turning to AI chatbots for romance as the country battles a demographic crisis and plummeting birthrates.
Benioff Shrugs Off SaaS Doom Talk as Salesforce Stock Slides
Salesforce CEO pushes back on 'SaaS-pocalypse' fears, arguing AI agents are making cloud software more valuable, not less.
Baidu's Revenue Slides for Third Straight Quarter
Chinese tech giant Baidu posts Q4 revenue down 4% YoY with profits cratering 66%, badly missing estimates.
Gamers Push Back as Studios Weave AI Into Game Development
Studios like Embark are using AI for game assets, but players fear it's killing artistry amid widespread industry layoffs.
Telegram Is Ground Zero for Job Scams, Revolut Data Shows
Digital bank Revolut found 58% of reported job scams worldwide in 2025 originated on Telegram.
ChatGPT Blocked Chinese Cop's Plot to Smear Japan's PM
OpenAI reveals ChatGPT refused to help a Chinese law enforcement-linked user plan a disinformation campaign against Japan's PM.
AI Lobby Machine Floods Midterms With $265M in Super PAC Cash
Pro-AI and anti-regulation super PACs are massively outspending groups pushing for AI oversight ahead of midterm elections.
UK Consultants Ditch Big Firms to Launch AI Startups
Wave of UK consultants leaving major firms to build AI consultancy startups as the sector outpaces broader market growth.
Dwelly Raises £69M to Gobble Up UK Estate Agencies With AI
London startup Dwelly bags £32M in equity and £37M in debt to consolidate independent UK real estate agencies using AI.
UK Digital Bank Allica Hits Unicorn Status With $155M Raise
London-based SMB-focused digital bank Allica just crossed the $1.2B valuation mark with a fresh Series D round.
VW's Robotaxi Unit MOIA Is Coming to LA With Uber
Volkswagen's autonomous driving division has 100 test vehicles across three countries and is gearing up for an LA launch with Uber.
Apple Pay Eyes India Launch by Mid-2026
Apple is negotiating with major Indian banks and card networks to bring Apple Pay to the world's most populous country.
GPU-Backed Debt Is the Hot New Financing Trick in Tech
Tech companies are borrowing against their GPU stockpiles using CoreWeave's playbook, luring investors with high yields.
Amazon Eyes $50B OpenAI Bet With Major Strings Attached
Amazon could pour up to $50 billion into OpenAI, but $35 billion depends on an IPO or hitting an AGI milestone.
BillDesk Snaps Up Worldline's India Business for $70M
Mumbai-based payments giant BillDesk is buying French firm Worldline's Indian operations in a deal worth roughly $70 million.
Scrapling Hits 200K Downloads as AI Bots Ignore Scraping Rules
Open-source scraping tool Scrapling is surging in popularity among AI agent users who don't care about site permissions.
Engineer Rebuilds Next.js From Scratch in a Week Using Claude AI
A Cloudflare dev replicated 94% of Next.js's API in seven days, spending $1,100 on Claude tokens.
Nvidia Gets US License to Ship H200 Chips to China
Nvidia secured a government license to export a limited batch of H200 chips to Chinese buyers, but Beijing may block them anyway.
FTC Gives Age Verification Tools a COPPA Safe Harbor
The FTC won't pursue COPPA enforcement against companies using age verification tools if data is only used to confirm age.
Virgin Media O2 Flips On Europe's First Satellite-to-Phone Service
UK carrier taps Starlink to beam texts from space to Samsung phones for just £3 a month.
C3.ai Axes a Quarter of Its Staff, Stock Tanks 20%+
Enterprise AI firm C3.ai is slashing roughly 26% of its workforce following a CEO shakeup and weak guidance.
Physical AI Startup RLWRLD Bags $26M to Build Smarter Robots
RLWRLD secures $26M in funding to advance physical AI and robotics transformation projects across Asia.
Saronic's Autonomous Warship Bet Could Be Worth $7.5B
The autonomous warship startup is raising up to $1.5B, more than doubling its valuation from a year ago.
New York AG Sues Valve Over Loot Boxes, Alleges Gambling
New York's attorney general is taking Valve to court, claiming its loot boxes violate state gambling laws and hook kids.
Wednesday, February 25
Google Absorbs Alphabet's Robotics Unit Intrinsic
Alphabet's industrial robotics AI subsidiary Intrinsic is moving under Google to work closely with DeepMind.
Zoom Beats Q4 Revenue Estimates but Weak Profit Outlook Spooks
Zoom posted $1.25B in Q4 revenue, topping estimates, but its Q1 profit forecast fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Snowflake Crushes Q4 Estimates, Guides Higher for FY 2027
Snowflake's Q4 product revenue hit $1.23B, beating estimates by $50M, with bullish forward guidance.
AMD Drops $250M on Nutanix Partnership to Chase AI Infrastructure
AMD is investing $150M in Nutanix stock plus $100M in joint funding to build AI-focused infrastructure platforms.
Pentagon Moves to Blacklist Anthropic From Defense Contractors
DOD asked Boeing and Lockheed Martin to report their reliance on Claude AI as a first step toward cutting off Anthropic.
DeepSeek Freezes Out US Chipmakers, Gives Huawei Early V4 Access
DeepSeek granted Chinese firms like Huawei early access to its upcoming V4 model while shutting out AMD and Nvidia.
Nvidia Smashes Q4 Estimates With $68B Revenue Quarter
Nvidia's Q4 revenue hit $68.13B, beating estimates by nearly $2B as data center spending continues to surge.
Teledyne FLIR Drops Tiny Dual Thermal-Visual Camera Module
The Lepton XDS packs both thermal and visible imaging into a compact module built for tight spaces and low power budgets.
Salesforce Crushes Q4, Drops $50B Buyback Bomb
Salesforce posts $11.2B in Q4 revenue, beats estimates, and unveils a massive $50B share repurchase program.
Leaked Thrive Capital Deck Shows $26.8B Empire, Stellar Returns
Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital manages $26.8B with early funds delivering strong realized returns.
Anthropic Snaps Up Vercept to Supercharge Claude's Desktop Control
Anthropic acquires Seattle startup Vercept to bolster Claude's ability to control Macs and PCs via natural language.
Google Testing Search Shakeup in Europe to Dodge EU Fines
Google plans to test displaying rival vertical search services alongside its own results in Europe to fend off EU penalties.
Meta's AI Flooding Cops With Junk Child Safety Reports
Police testify that Meta's automated CSAM detection is overwhelming investigators with low-quality tips.
Perplexity Launches AI 'Digital Worker' Spanning 19 Models
Perplexity Computer routes tasks across 19 AI models, positioning itself as a general-purpose digital worker for Max subscribers.
Thrive Scored a $1B OpenAI Bet at a Massive Discount
Thrive Capital invested $1B in OpenAI at $285B — roughly a third of its separate $830B fundraising valuation.
Samsung Drops the Galaxy S26 Lineup at Unpacked in San Francisco
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra at its February 2026 Galaxy Unpacked event.
Samsung Drops Galaxy Buds 4 Lineup Starting at $179
Samsung refreshes its earbud line with better battery life and noise canceling, keeping the stem design intact.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Arrives With a $100 Price Hike
Samsung unveils the Galaxy S26 lineup powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but your wallet's going to feel it.
Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra Arrives With Privacy Screen and AI
Samsung drops the Galaxy S26 Ultra starting at $1,299 with a privacy display, agentic AI, and refreshed design.
Big Tech Signs White House Pact to Power AI Data Centers
Seven major tech companies agree to build their own electricity supply for power-hungry AI data centers.
Galaxy S26 Ultra's Privacy Display Blocks Side-Peekers
Samsung's latest flagship uses dual-pixel tech to let users restrict viewing angles on demand.
Gemini Can Now Drive Your Apps on Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26
Google's Gemini AI gains task automation, autonomously navigating apps like Uber and DoorDash on select devices.
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked February 2026 Goes Live
Samsung kicks off its latest Galaxy Unpacked event with a livestream on YouTube.
Kalshi Drops the Hammer: First Insider Trading Suspensions
Prediction market Kalshi suspends MrBeast editor and ex-GOP candidate in its first public enforcement action.
FBI Subpoenaed X to Obtain Grok Prompts Used in Deepfake Case
Federal agents pulled AI prompt history from X after a man allegedly generated over 200 sexual deepfakes of someone he knew.
Gambit Security Bags $61M Before Its First Birthday
Israeli cybersecurity startup raises $61M in combined seed and Series A for its AI-driven resilience platform.
EA Crushed 2025 With 200M+ Downloads Before Going Private
Electronic Arts dominated PC and console downloads in 2025, topping all publishers ahead of its massive $55B privatization deal.
Robotics Startups Keep Failing at Manufacturing. Here's Help.
The Robot Report drops a DFM eBook tackling the gap between robot prototypes and actual production.
Hacker Weaponized Claude to Loot 150GB of Mexican Government Data
An unknown attacker used Anthropic's Claude chatbot to breach Mexican agencies, exposing 195 million taxpayer records.
Adobe Firefly Gets Quick Cut: AI That Edits Your Videos For You
Adobe's Firefly video editor now includes Quick Cut, an AI tool that assembles rough cuts from footage using text prompts.
Wayve Bags $1.2B to Bring Robotaxis to London Streets
UK autonomous driving startup Wayve closes massive Series D to launch supervised robotaxi trials and consumer vehicles.
Alibaba Cloud Drops a Budget AI Coding Tool on the Market
Alibaba Cloud launches an affordable AI coding assistant powered by open-source models including its own Qwen 3.5.
AI Insurance Brokerage Harper Lands $46.8M in Seed and Series A
Harper raised $46.8M across seed and Series A rounds to build an AI-native insurance brokerage that automates submission workflows.
SolveAI Bags $50M in Just Eight Months of Existence
London-based enterprise coding startup SolveAI stacked $50M across two rounds before even turning one year old.
AI Models Launched Nukes in 95% of War Game Simulations
Top AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google chose nuclear weapons in nearly every simulated conflict scenario.
Google Busts Chinese Hackers Who Used Google Sheets as a Weapon
Google dismantled a Chinese-linked hacking group that compromised 53+ organizations spanning 42 countries.
Circle Crushes Q4 Estimates as USDC Hits $75B in Circulation
Stablecoin giant Circle posted $770M in Q4 revenue, beating estimates while USDC grew 72% year-over-year.
Deutsche Bank Deploys Agentic AI to Police 1TB of Daily Comms
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs tap Google Cloud's agentic AI to supercharge trading surveillance across 40+ channels.
US Diplomats Ordered to Fight Foreign Data Regulation Laws
Trump administration directs diplomats to push back against overseas rules on how US tech firms handle foreign users' data.
Nvidia Hasn't Sold a Single H200 Chip to China Despite Trump OK
Two months after Trump greenlit AI chip exports to China, Nvidia's H200 sales there remain at exactly zero.
ByteDance Now Valued at $550B as General Atlantic Sells Stake
General Atlantic is offloading ByteDance equity in a deal that pegs the TikTok parent at a staggering $550 billion valuation.
SAP's AI Ambitions Hit a Wall as VW Rejects Its Joule Assistant
SAP investors and partners are openly questioning whether the enterprise giant's AI products are ready for prime time.
Malaysia Blocks Grindr and Blued, Eyes Apple and Google Next
Malaysia has shut down access to LGBTQ dating platforms and may push Apple and Google to remove the apps entirely.
Japan Raids Microsoft Offices Over Azure Anti-Competitive Claims
Japan's antitrust watchdog raided Microsoft Japan as part of a probe into alleged cloud lock-in practices with Azure.
DoorDash Pulls Out of Four Countries, Winds Down Deliveroo and Wolt
DoorDash is shutting down delivery operations in Qatar, Singapore, Japan, and Uzbekistan after reviewing market conditions.
Workday CEO: Even AI Giants Can't Vibe Code Their Way Off Us
Workday's CEO claps back at AI replacement fears, noting Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI all run on Workday tools.
Workday Beats Q4 Revenue, Then Tanks on Weak Outlook
Workday's Q4 numbers cleared the bar, but a soft subscription forecast sent shares tumbling over 9% after hours.
Korean AI Startups Challenge Corporate Giants for National Model
Motif Technologies and Upstage are battling SK Group and LG to build a national AI foundation model.
China Aims to 5x Advanced Chip Production to 100K Wafers
Beijing-backed chipmakers are racing to massively scale advanced semiconductor output within a tight two-year window.
Malaysian Tech Firm Zetrix Bags $40M From World Bank Arm
Zetrix AI Bhd. secured ~$40M from the IFC and eyes a Nasdaq listing for its AI division by end of 2026.
RAM Now Eats 35% of HP's PC Build Costs — Double Last Quarter
HP reveals memory costs have roughly doubled as a share of PC materials, with no relief expected through 2026.
Foreign Investors Flood Taiwan Stocks in Biggest AI Chip Bet in 20 Years
Global funds poured $2.77B into Taiwanese equities in a single day, the largest buying spree since 2005.
India Dominates GenAI Downloads But Barely Pays for Them
India grabbed 20% of global GenAI app installs in 2025 but contributed just 1% of in-app revenue.
WiseTech to Axe 2,000 Jobs as CEO Goes All-In on AI
Australian freight software giant WiseTech plans to slash roughly 30% of its workforce over two fiscal years in an AI-driven overhaul.
Trump to Big Tech: Build Your Own Power Plants for Data Centers
During State of the Union, Trump declares tech giants must generate their own power for massive data center operations.
Koah Raises $20.5M to Become the AdSense of AI Chatbots
Koah scored a $20.5M Series A to embed sponsored ads directly inside AI chatbots, betting ads will fund generative AI's future.
Most US Teens Now Use AI Chatbots for School and Search
Pew Research finds 57% of American teens turn to AI chatbots for information, with over half using them for homework.
OpenAI Taps Roblox Vet Arvind KC as New Chief People Officer
OpenAI brings in Arvind KC to lead its people operations, replacing Julia Villagra who departed in August 2025.
Big Tech Now Tracks Whether You're Actually Using AI at Work
Meta, Google, and smaller firms are baking AI usage into performance reviews and monitoring productivity gains.
Claude Code Gets Remote Control: Start in Terminal, Run From Phone
Anthropic lets you control Claude Code terminal sessions from your phone or browser while you're away from your desk.
Wayve Bags $1.2B to Bring Robotaxis to London
London's self-driving startup Wayve lands massive Series D with major automakers backing its autonomous ambitions.
AI2 Robotics Hits Unicorn Status With Series B Round
AI2 Robotics crosses the $1B valuation mark as it builds vision-language-action models for semi-humanoid robots.
HP Beats Revenue Estimates, Then Tanks 6% on Weak Outlook
HP posted strong Q1 numbers but spooked investors with a cautious fiscal 2026 forecast.
Tuesday, February 24
Amazon's AGI Lab Chief David Luan Heads for the Exit
David Luan is leaving Amazon's AGI division less than two years after his startup Adept was acqui-hired.
Autonomous Mining Tech Hits Australia's Reward Gold Mine
RCT and Epiroc deploy AutoNav autonomous system to make narrow-vein gold mining safer underground.
US Treasury Slaps Sanctions on Russian Zero-Day Exploit Broker
Operation Zero and its founder hit with sanctions for trafficking in stolen US defense exploits.
Apple Locks 18+ Apps Behind Age Checks in Three Countries
Apple now requires age assurance before users can download adult-rated apps in Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.
CoreWeave Seeks $8.5B Loan Backed by Massive Meta Contract
Cloud GPU giant CoreWeave is tapping banks for $8.5B, using a $14.2B Meta deal as collateral.
Stripe Eyes Potential Acquisition of PayPal
Private payments giant Stripe has signaled early interest in buying PayPal or parts of its business.
Discord Pumps the Brakes on Global Age Verification
Discord delays its worldwide age verification rollout from next month to the second half of the year.
Anthropic Holds Firm: No Military Access to Claude
Anthropic won't loosen Claude's military use restrictions despite high-level discussions with Pete Hegseth.
Anthropic Guts Its Own AI Safety Playbook
The self-proclaimed safety-first AI lab quietly removed its promise to hold back risky models.
YouTube Premium Lite Gets Offline Downloads and Background Play
YouTube's cheaper $7.99/month tier now lets you download videos and listen in the background.
Pentagon Threatens Anthropic: Give Us Claude or Else
Defense Secretary Hegseth issued Anthropic a Friday ultimatum for full military access to Claude.
Waymo Expands Robotaxi Service to Four New US Cities
Alphabet's self-driving unit now operates in 10 US cities after opening rides in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando.
Anthropic Goes Enterprise, Software Stocks Rally
Anthropic unveiled major enterprise integrations with Slack, Intuit, Docusign, and FactSet, sparking a software stock rebound.
ZaiNar Bags $100M to Turn Any Wireless Network Into a Sensor
ZaiNar launched its physical AI platform alongside a massive $100M raise to make wireless networks double as sensing systems.
DOJ Files Expose Epstein's Deep Ties to Microsoft Leadership
Newly released DOJ documents show Jeffrey Epstein built a two-decade network inside Microsoft after his 2009 prison release.
EdTech Startup Subject Lands $28M for AI Learning Platform
Beverly Hills-based Subject scores $28M to scale its streaming-style digital curriculum for middle and high schoolers.
Germany's Robotics Industry Faces Another Rough Year
VDMA signals Germany is slipping in the global robotics race as structural woes and fierce competition take their toll.
Slang AI Bags $36M to Let Restaurants Stop Answering Phones
NYC-based Slang AI closes $36M Series B for its voice AI platform serving the hospitality industry.
Evercore Economist Torches Viral AI Report as 'Extreme'
Evercore ISI economist calls Citrini's market-shaking AI report assumptions 'extreme and improbable' but credits it as thought-provoking.
AI Brand Tracker Profound Hits Unicorn Status With $96M Raise
Profound, which monitors how AI models recommend brands, just crossed the $1B valuation mark at just 18 months old.
Letter AI Bags $40M Series B Just Four Months After Series A
Sales AI startup Letter AI raised $40M in Series B funding, hitting a valuation in the hundreds of millions.
Meta Is Jumping Back Into Stablecoins
Meta plans to integrate stablecoin payments in the second half of the year, partnering with a third-party vendor.
Kraken Rolls Out 24/7 Perpetual Futures on Tokenized Stocks
Crypto exchange Kraken claims to offer the first regulated perpetual futures contracts tied to tokenized U.S. stocks.
Nimble Raises $47M to Turn the Live Web Into a Queryable Database
AI startup Nimble bags $47M Series B for its agents that structure real-time web data into queryable tables.
Anthropic Pushes Claude Into Finance, HR, and Design With New Agent Tools
Claude Cowork brings specialized AI agents to investment banking, HR, and design — with a FactSet-built financial plugin.
Google Launches ProducerAI Music Platform Powered by Lyria 3
Google's new AI music tool ProducerAI joins Labs with Lyria 3 under the hood, built with input from real artists.
Inception Drops Mercury 2: A Diffusion Model Built for Speed
Stefano Ermon's AI startup Inception launches Mercury 2, a diffusion-based model promising faster and cheaper responses than competitors.
Stripe Rockets to $159B Valuation, Up 70% Since February
Stripe's latest employee share sale catapults the payments giant to a $159 billion valuation, cementing its stay-private strategy.
Shein Founder Surfaces, Pledges $1.45B for Guangdong Supply Chains
Xu Yangtian made a rare public appearance, committing massive investment into the province that helped build his fast-fashion empire.
ADT Drops $170M on AI Startup to Supercharge Home Security
ADT acquires Origin Wireless for $170M, bringing AI-powered motion classification to its home security lineup by 2027.
MatX Raises $500M+ to Take on Nvidia in AI Chips
Google chip alumni score massive funding round backed by Jane Street and Situational Awareness.
AI Accounting Startup Basis Hits Unicorn Status With $100M Raise
Basis, which builds AI agents for accounting firms, just crossed the $1B valuation mark with a massive new funding round.
ASML Cracks 1,000W EUV Light Source, Could Boost Chip Output 50%
ASML researchers nearly doubled EUV light source power, a breakthrough that could dramatically increase chip production by 2030.
Roku Finally Turns a Profit After Three Brutal Years of Losses
Roku posted an $88.4M profit in 2025 after hemorrhaging over $1.3 billion across the previous three years.
Reddit Slapped With £14.47M Fine for Mishandling Kids' Data
The UK's data watchdog hit Reddit with a hefty fine for unlawfully processing children's personal information.
Europe's Generals Push Back on Tech Sovereignty Drive
Military leaders warn that cutting ties with US tech firms could undermine European defense capabilities.
Axelera AI Bags $250M+ to Build Power-Efficient AI Chips
Dutch chipmaker Axelera AI lands a massive round led by Innovation Industries, with BlackRock joining the bet.
Meta Drops $100B+ on AMD GPUs in Massive AI Infrastructure Bet
Meta inks a deal worth over $100 billion for up to 6GW of AMD Instinct GPUs, potentially taking a 10% stake in AMD.
IRS Wants $16B From Meta Over Hidden Overseas Profits
The IRS claims Meta failed to report roughly $54 billion in overseas profits and is demanding $16 billion in back taxes and penalties.
Russia Probes Telegram's Durov While Pushing State-Run Rival
Russia opens investigation into Pavel Durov for allegedly abetting terrorism as it promotes its own messaging app Max.
Silicon Valley Has Been Sleepwalking Toward a Taiwan Chip Crisis
U.S. officials warned Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm about China's Taiwan plans. The industry barely flinched.
Samsung's $2,899 Galaxy Z TriFold: Great Phone, Mediocre Everything Else
Samsung's triple-folding phone nails entertainment but stumbles badly when trying to replace tablets and laptops.
Anthropic Has a New Theory for Why Claude Acts So Human
Anthropic unveils its 'persona selection model' to explain why AI assistants develop human-like personalities.
Discord Dumps Persona Age Verification After UK Backlash
Discord distances itself from Persona after a limited UK age verification test draws user backlash.
UK to Put Streaming Giants Under Ofcom's Regulatory Thumb
Britain plans to expand Ofcom's powers to regulate streaming platforms with over 500K users under updated Media Act.
PDFs Are a Nightmare for AI Training Data Pipelines
AI developers are struggling to extract clean training data from PDFs, one of the messiest document formats on the planet.
Xflow Bags $16.6M Series A With Stripe and PayPal on Board
Indian cross-border payments startup Xflow lands $16.6M at an $85M valuation with some heavyweight fintech backers.
Meta Pushed Encryption Despite Internal CSAM Warnings
Internal filings reveal Meta execs flagged child safety risks of E2E encryption back in 2019 — then did it anyway.
Apple Bets Big on US-Made Chips With 100M TSMC Arizona Order
Apple commits to purchasing over 100 million chips from TSMC's Arizona fab in 2026, pushing to reshore its supply chain.
Apple Bringing Mac Mini Production to Texas in Late 2026
Apple will shift some Mac Mini manufacturing from Asia to a Foxconn facility in Houston, Texas.
Terraform Labs Administrator Sues Jane Street Over Insider Trading
The firm winding down Do Kwon's Terraform Labs accuses Jane Street of using insider info to profit from its collapse.
Tesla Sues California DMV Over Self-Driving False Advertising Ruling
Tesla takes California's DMV to court after regulators found the company falsely promoted Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.
Binance Killed Internal Probe After Trump Pardoned Founder CZ
Binance dismantled an investigation that found $1B flowed to sanctioned Iranian entities through its exchange.
Anthropic Eyes $350B Valuation in Massive Employee Share Sale
Anthropic is letting employees cash out up to $6B in shares at a staggering $350 billion valuation.
xAI Opens Grok to Pentagon's Classified Systems
xAI will let the military run Grok in classified environments, filling a gap Anthropic refuses to touch.
Monday, February 23
Uber Snaps Up Parking App SpotHero
Uber is acquiring parking reservation platform SpotHero, last valued at $290M, for an undisclosed price.
IBM Stock Tanks 12% After Anthropic Shows AI Can Tackle COBOL
Anthropic's Claude Code demonstrated automated COBOL modernization capabilities, sending IBM shares into freefall.
Amazon Drops $12B on Louisiana Data Center Mega-Campus
Amazon is pouring $12 billion into new data center infrastructure in Louisiana, covering all utility costs itself.
AI Startups Are Gaming Valuations With Stacked Funding Rounds
Hot AI companies are inflating their worth through back-to-back and multitiered deals, leaving investors on uneven footing.
Ubicquia Pulls In $106M to Digitize Energy Infrastructure
The infrastructure software company landed a massive Series D to help utilities and cities manage energy assets like transformers.
Tesollo Launches Lightweight Robotic Hand Built for Humanoids
Tesollo is commercializing its DG-5F-S robotic hand, a compact gripper designed for humanoid robot dexterity.
Anthropic Accuses DeepSeek, MiniMax, Moonshot of Ripping Off Claude
Anthropic claims three Chinese AI firms hammered Claude with 16M+ prompts to distill its intelligence into their own models.
Trump's 'Board of Peace' Eyes USD Stablecoin for Gaza
A crypto dollar pegged to USD is being explored as Gaza's cash supply lies in ruins after the Israeli offensive.
Software Stocks in Freefall as AI Anxiety Deepens Selloff
AppLovin, Datadog, and Workday each plunge 7%+ as weeks-long software stock rout accelerates on AI fears.
PayPal's Stock Crash Has Buyers Circling the Payments Giant
PayPal's 46% stock plunge has potential acquirers eyeing a takeover of the $38.4B payments company.
Anthropic Launches AI Fluency Index to Track Human-AI Habits
New framework measures 11 specific behaviors that define how humans actually collaborate with AI tools.
OpenAI Taps Big Four Consultancies to Push Enterprise AI
OpenAI partners with Accenture, BCG, Capgemini, and McKinsey to deploy its Frontier enterprise platform.
Microsoft Fumbles Xbox Leadership Shakeup After Leak Forces Early Reveal
A leak to IGN forced Microsoft to rush-announce major Xbox leadership changes, sparking internal chaos across the gaming division.
Anthropic-Backed Super PAC Drops AI Regulation Ads in New Jersey
Public First Action, fueled by nearly $50M, launches ad blitz pushing AI regulations ahead of midterms.
Google Spinoff Aalyria Hits Unicorn Status With $100M Raise
Satellite networking startup Aalyria, a Starlink rival born from Google, just crossed the $1.3B valuation mark.
Humand Raises $66M to Build HR Software for Deskless Workers
The startup targets 1.5M+ workers in construction, retail, and hospitals with its mobile-first HR platform.
Uber Builds Full-Stack Business Unit for Autonomous Vehicles
Uber launches Autonomous Solutions, a new division offering insurance, roadside assistance, and fleet financing for AVs.
Manufacturing Goes Digital: AI and Regional Supply Chains Lead
Fictiv and MISUMI reports reveal AI adoption and supply chain digitalization are reshaping modern manufacturing.
Pentagon Summons Anthropic CEO for Tense Claude Showdown
Defense Secretary Hegseth calls Dario Amodei to the Pentagon for a likely contentious meeting about Claude AI usage.
AI Boom Added 'Basically Zero' to US Economic Growth in 2025
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan economists say massive AI spending failed to move the needle on GDP last year.
Data Centers Now Getting Credit Ratings Before They're Even Built
Developers are locking in credit ratings mid-construction to tap fresh capital as demand for data centers explodes.
Thought Experiment Paints Grim 2028 AI Economy Meltdown
Citrini Research imagines a 2028 scenario where AI success paradoxically triggers economic collapse and mass unemployment.
Ex-Radio DJ Built World's Largest Data Center Hub in Virginia
Loudoun County's ~200 data centers spanning 49M sq ft trace back to one unlikely economic development chief.
South Korea's Chip Exports Explode 134% as AI Hunger Grows
South Korean semiconductor exports surged 134% year-over-year in early February, fueled by relentless AI demand.
"WorkTok" Is Booming as Gen Z Watches People Do Office Jobs
Employees filming their mundane daily routines on TikTok and Instagram are becoming Gen Z's guide to corporate life.
Japan's Coder Party Wins 11 Parliament Seats on Tech Promises
Team Mirai, a political party founded by software engineers, secured 11 seats in Japan's parliament.
Samsung Taps Perplexity as Galaxy S26's Built-In AI Assistant
The Galaxy S26 lineup will ship with Perplexity baked into Galaxy AI, complete with a dedicated wake phrase and hardware button.
OpenAI Scrambles for Compute After Stargate Stalls
OpenAI had to hunt for computing power after the $500 billion Stargate data center project hit major delays.
Google Banning Paid AI Users Who Connected Gemini via OpenClaw
Google AI Ultra subscribers report account bans after accessing Gemini models through third-party OAuth client OpenClaw.
Russia-Linked Crypto Exchanges Still Dodging Global Sanctions
Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic exposes how exchanges like Bitpapa and Exmo help Russian entities skirt financial sanctions.
Nvidia and MediaTek Are Coming for Your Next Laptop
Dell, Lenovo, and other PC makers are building Arm-based laptops with Nvidia-MediaTek chips, potentially arriving H1 2026.
Altman and Huang Admit: The Public Isn't Buying the AI Hype
Top AI leaders concede that public resistance to artificial intelligence is stronger than they anticipated.
US Farmers Telling AI Data Center Developers to Get Off Their Land
Multimillion-dollar offers from data center builders aren't enough to pry farmland from families who'd rather keep plowing.
Sunday, February 22
Tencent Shuts Down TiMi Montréal Without Shipping a Single Game
Tencent's Montréal studio closes after nearly five years of operation and zero game releases.
Waymo and Tesla Reveal How Humans Backstop Their Robotaxis
Government filings expose new details about the human operators quietly assisting self-driving taxis from remote control rooms.
Shein's IPO Dreams Hit Turbulence as EU Launches DSA Probe
Fast-fashion giant Shein faces mounting regulatory headaches across major markets just as it tries to push through its IPO.
HSG's Neil Shen Raised $9B From US Before the Door Slammed Shut
The former Sequoia China chief built a $9B war chest from American investors before US restrictions kicked in.
Altman Compares AI Energy Costs to Raising a Human Child
OpenAI's CEO calls criticism of AI's energy consumption 'unfair,' arguing humans require 20 years of resources to train.
Turkey Probes Six Social Media Giants Over Kids' Data
Turkey's data watchdog is reviewing how major platforms handle children's personal information ahead of sweeping new rules.
Apple Bets Big on Visual Intelligence for Next-Gen Wearables
Tim Cook keeps name-dropping Visual Intelligence, signaling it's the cornerstone of Apple's wearable AI strategy.
Integrated Motion Control Is Changing How Robots Move
Integrated motion control systems are giving robots far more precise and versatile movement than traditional machinery.
Crypto Industry Drops $288M+ on 2026 Midterms Already
The crypto lobby has more than doubled its 2024 election spending pace, making Fairshake the fifth most-funded PAC in the US.
India's AI Summit Exposes Gap Between Ambition and Influence
India's push for global AI governance got a cold shoulder from the US and its tech giants at the country's AI summit.
Half of Anthropic's AI Agent Calls Are Just Software Engineering
Anthropic data reveals software engineering eats ~50% of agentic AI usage, leaving massive untapped verticals wide open.
Russian Hacker Used GenAI to Breach 600+ Firewalls in 5 Weeks
Amazon reveals how a Russian-speaking attacker leveraged generative AI to compromise FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries.
AI Gold Rush Fuels Fastest US Consulting Boom Since COVID
US consulting market projected to grow 7% in 2026 as companies scramble for AI and data center expertise.
Altman Torches Musk's Space Data Center Dreams as 'Ridiculous'
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismisses the concept of orbital data centers, deepening his rift with Elon Musk.
Jump Lands $80M to Build AI Tools for Financial Advisors
Salt Lake City startup Jump raises $80M Series B to expand AI-powered automation for financial services.
Altman Torches SpaceX's Space Data Center Dreams
OpenAI CEO calls orbital data centers 'ridiculous' and dismisses the concept scaling this decade.
Trump Threatens Netflix Over Board Member Susan Rice
Trump demands Netflix oust Susan Rice from its board or face unspecified 'consequences' after her corporate criticism.
DOJ Probes Whether Netflix Bullies Creators in $72B WBD Deal
Justice Department scrutinizes Netflix's leverage over creators as part of its review of the proposed Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition.
Altman: Some Companies Are Using AI as a Scapegoat for Layoffs
OpenAI CEO says "AI washing" lets companies blame artificial intelligence for job cuts they planned to make anyway.
Saturday, February 21
AI Coding Tools Are Flooding Open Source Projects With Junk
Major open source projects like VLC and Blender report declining submission quality as AI lowers the barrier to contributing code.
Google Killing Gmailify and POP Access in Gmail
Gmail users who pull in outside email accounts via Gmailify or POP will need to find alternatives starting in 2026.
Wikipedia Nukes 695K+ Archive.today Links After DDoS Attack
English-language Wikipedia is blacklisting Archive.today over DDoS abuse and tampered snapshots.
Silicon Valley Now Rewards 'Agency' Over Technical Chops
Harper's profiles a new breed of tech founders where hustle and boldness matter more than coding ability.
OpenAI's Big Problem: Tons of Users, Not Much Stickiness
Benedict Evans dissects OpenAI's core vulnerabilities: wide reach but shallow engagement, with rivals closing the gap fast.
Drone Detection Gets Serious at Critical Infrastructure Sites
Visual drone detection systems are becoming standard tools for protecting power plants, pipelines, and other critical sites.
Notion Goes All-In on AI Agents, Half Its Databases Already Built by Bots
Notion CEO Ivan Zhao reveals custom AI agents launch imminent, with agents already building over 50% of the platform's databases.
Claude Code Turned Anthropic Into the AI Coding King
One year after its public launch, Claude Code has positioned Anthropic as the dominant force in AI-powered coding tools.
Pinterest's AI Obsession Is Driving Artists Off the Platform
Artists and users say Pinterest has gone all-in on AI, and the platform is worse for it.
Google Teams Up With Sea to Build AI for Shopee and Garena
Google and Southeast Asian tech giant Sea are partnering to develop AI tools for e-commerce and gaming.
Trump Defies SCOTUS, Keeps De Minimis Exemption Suspended
New executive order implements 10% global tariffs after court struck down Trump's 2025 trade policy.
"Claws" Are the New AI Layer Running on Your Personal Hardware
A new class of agent systems called "claws" is emerging, running locally on personal machines on top of LLM agents.
Indian AI Startup Sarvam Drops Indus Chat App in Beta
Bengaluru-based Sarvam launches its Indus chat app, powered by its massive 105B parameter model built for local languages.
US Deploys Peace Corps Volunteers to Push American AI Abroad
Washington launches Tech Corps to send volunteers overseas promoting US AI models as China gains ground.
Ghost Robotics CEO Breaks Down the Vision 60 Quadruped
Ghost Robotics co-founder Gavin Kenneally details the design philosophy behind the company's Vision 60 robot dogs.
New Xbox Boss Promises Revival, Swears Off 'AI Slop'
Microsoft Gaming's new CEO Asha Sharma pledges to bring Xbox back while keeping soulless AI content out of the ecosystem.
India Joins US-Led Pax Silica Chip Alliance
India signs onto Pax Silica, a US-led coalition focused on securing semiconductor and advanced tech supply chains.
Friday, February 20
OpenAI Eyes $280B Revenue by 2030, Up From $20B Today
OpenAI projects massive revenue growth, targeting over $280 billion by 2030 after hitting $20B+ annualized in 2025.
OpenAI Slashes Compute Spending Target to $600B by 2030
OpenAI now projects $600B in compute spend by 2030 — less than half of Altman's earlier $1.4T infrastructure boast.
OpenAI Flagged Shooting Suspect Internally, Chose Not to Call Cops
OpenAI staff raised alarms about a Canadian mass shooting suspect months before the attack but never contacted police.
Phil Spencer Exits Microsoft After 38 Years, New Gaming CEO Named
Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer is retiring, replaced by AI division exec Asha Sharma as Xbox faces mounting challenges.
Xbox Shakeup: Sarah Bond Out, Phil Spencer Era Ends
Xbox President Sarah Bond is leaving Microsoft as Phil Spencer's gaming reign winds down.
Anthropic's New AI Security Tool Tanks Cybersecurity Stocks
Claude Code Security scans codebases for vulnerabilities and suggests patches, sending cybersecurity shares tumbling.
Code Metal Hits Unicorn Status With $125M for AI Code Translation
Boston startup translating legacy code for defense contractors raises $125M Series B at $1.25B valuation.
NORD Drops Digital Twin Platform for Robotics Engineers
NORD's new simulation platform lets robotics developers test drive concepts virtually before committing to hardware.
Google Eyes $100M Bet on Fluidstack to Push TPU Adoption
Google is reportedly looking to invest $100M in Fluidstack at a $7.5B valuation as part of a broader TPU expansion play.
Tesla's $243M Autopilot Verdict Stands After Judge Rejects Appeal
A federal judge denied Tesla's attempt to overturn a massive jury verdict tied to a fatal 2019 Autopilot crash in Florida.
Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs, Tech Stocks Bounce
Tech shares climbed off morning lows after the Supreme Court ruled Trump lacked authority for sweeping global tariffs.
Peak XV Raises $1.3B, Now Manages Over $10B
The former Sequoia India arm has closed fresh India- and Asia-focused funds worth $1.3 billion.
Claude Built a C Compiler — But It's Not as Impressive as You Think
Chris Lattner breaks down Claude's C compiler: a real milestone that still leans heavily on existing tools and test-gaming tricks.
Avantos Bags $25M to Build AI-Native Tools for Finance
Fintech startup Avantos closes $25M Series A led by Bessemer for its AI-powered client management platform.
Half of ChatGPT's India Users Are Under 25
OpenAI reveals young Indians dominate ChatGPT usage, with under-30s making up 80% of the user base.
Amazon Robotics Kills Blue Jay Sortation Project After 6 Months
Amazon Robotics pulled the plug on its Blue Jay sortation initiative, redirecting resources to other fulfillment efforts.
Pepper Bags $50M to Digitize Independent Food Distribution
Food distribution platform Pepper closes Series C at $50M, pushing total funding past the $100M mark.
Snap's AR Glasses Chief Exits After Clash With Spiegel
Scott Myers departs Snap's Specs division following a strategic blowup with CEO Evan Spiegel, right before a major product launch.
SoftBank Wants to Build a $33B Power Plant Just for AI
SoftBank is assembling a consortium for a massive 9.2 GW gas-fired power plant in Ohio dedicated to AI data centers.
General Catalyst Goes All-In on India With $5B Bet
Silicon Valley VC giant 10x's its India commitment, planning $5B in investments over the next five years.
Google Play Crackdown Eases as Bad Apps Drop Significantly
Google blocked 1.75M sketchy Android apps in 2025, a sharp decline from 2.36M the year before.
Amazon's Own AI Tools Knocked AWS Offline — Twice
Amazon's Kiro AI reportedly caused at least two AWS outages, including a 13-hour disruption in December.
Microsoft's Own AI Safety Team Got Ignored by Leadership
Microsoft's AI safety researchers built standards for detecting AI content. The company's security chief wouldn't commit to using them.
Anti-Data Center Movement Gains Steam Across the US
Political candidates and activists from all sides are organizing against the rapid expansion of data centers and AI infrastructure.
Uber Sheds 25% as Robotaxi Fears Hammer Stock
Uber's market cap dropped to roughly $150B as investors bet the autonomous future belongs to Waymo and Tesla.
Feds Indict Ex-Google Engineers for Stealing Tensor Chip Secrets
A US grand jury charged three people with allegedly stealing trade secrets tied to Google's Pixel Tensor processor.
Big Tech Is Building Private Power Plants for Data Centers
Meta, OpenAI, and other tech giants are constructing their own power plants alongside data centers, raising emissions concerns.
Perplexity Ditches Ad Ambitions, Pivots to Enterprise
AI search startup Perplexity is abandoning its advertising push and betting its future on enterprise customers instead.
LA County Sues Roblox Over Child Safety Failures
Los Angeles County files lawsuit accusing Roblox of deceptive practices that exposed kids to predators and sexual content.
Nvidia Swaps $100B OpenAI Deal for Clean $30B Equity Check
Nvidia is ditching its complex $100B framework with OpenAI in favor of a straightforward $30B equity investment.
Thursday, February 19
Meta Slashes Stock Comp Again, Redirecting Cash Toward AI
Meta cuts equity rewards by ~5% for most employees, following a ~10% reduction in 2025, to fund massive AI investments.
Emerald AI Nabs $25M to Slash Data Center Energy Appetite
Emerald AI is pulling in $25M at a $250M valuation to tackle data center power consumption with software.
Sony Pulls the Plug on Bluepoint Games, Axes ~70 Jobs
PlayStation shutters the studio behind beloved Demon's Souls and Uncharted remakes, cutting around 70 positions.
DHS Locks In $1B Five-Year Deal With Palantir
DHS signed a massive blanket purchase agreement with Palantir, letting agencies like ICE bypass competitive bidding.
CZ Returns to US Soil for Mar-a-Lago Crypto Gathering
Changpeng Zhao made his first trip back to the US since leaving federal prison in 2024, showing up at a Mar-a-Lago event.
Meta Splits Quest VR From Horizon Worlds to Chase Roblox
Meta is decoupling its Quest headset from Horizon Worlds, pivoting the social platform to be almost entirely mobile-first.
Block's Culture Is Crumbling Under Layoffs and Forced AI Adoption
Workers at Jack Dorsey's Block say morale is tanking as rolling layoffs and mandatory AI tool usage reshape the company.
Taalas Raises $169M to Bake AI Models Directly Into Silicon
Toronto chip startup Taalas hardwires AI models into custom chips for faster inference, pulling in $169M in fresh funding.
AMD Backs $300M Loan So Crusoe Can Buy Its AI Chips
AMD is backstopping a Goldman Sachs loan to cloud startup Crusoe, marking the first time chips have served as debt collateral.
Reddit Tests AI Search That Funnels You Toward Advertiser Products
Reddit's new AI search tool matches community recommendations with products from its advertisers.
Eagle Wireless Lands $30M to Build US-Made IoT Cellular Modules
Cleveland startup raises Series B to manufacture cellular modules stateside as America pushes to cut China dependency.
New York Kills Robotaxi Proposal, Dealing Blow to Waymo
Governor Hochul pulls plan that would have opened robotaxi services outside NYC, hitting Waymo's ambitious growth targets.
Wired Investigates the 'Gay Tech Mafia' Shaping Silicon Valley
A deep Wired investigation explores how gay men have built powerful overlapping social and professional networks in tech.
FreeForm Raises $67M for AI-Powered Metal 3D Printing
FreeForm scored a $67M Series B to build an AI-native 3D printing system that uses 18 lasers to forge metal parts.
Klarna Bleeding Cash Post-IPO, Stock Down 50% From Debut
Klarna swung to a $26M net loss in Q4 2025 as its stock continues cratering since its September NYSE listing.
NVIDIA Drops Cosmos Policy for Robot Control
NVIDIA expands its Cosmos world foundation models with a new policy built specifically for robot manipulation tasks.
ByteDance Goes on US Hiring Spree for AI Division
TikTok's parent company is filling nearly 100 AI roles across three major US tech hubs.
Amazon Dethrones Walmart as World's Largest Company by Revenue
Amazon hit $717B in 2025 sales, edging past Walmart's $713.2B to claim the top revenue crown globally.
US Guts $500M+ Internet Freedom Program, Per Leaked Docs
The US has effectively dismantled the program funding tools that help people bypass state internet censorship.
Ring Founder's Apology Tour After Super Bowl Ad Backlash
Jamie Siminoff scrambles to contain privacy firestorm sparked by Ring's Super Bowl 'Search Party' commercial.
Atlassian Founders Lose $7.2B as TEAM Tanks 48% in 2026
Atlassian co-founders shed billions in wealth as the stock becomes the Nasdaq 100's worst performer this year.
Uber Finally Moving to Ban Drivers With Violent Felonies
Uber is tightening driver screening after an NYT exposé revealed it approved drivers with violent criminal records.
Ex-Sony CEO Reveals His Role in Triggering North Korea's Epic 2014 Hack
Michael Lynton opens up in a new book about how he sparked one of the worst corporate cyberattacks ever.
Altman and Amodei Snub Modi's Hand-Holding Photo Op at India AI Summit
OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs awkwardly declined to join Modi's orchestrated group hand-holding moment at India's AI Summit.
Bill Gates Pulls Out of India AI Summit Keynote
The Gates Foundation confirms Bill Gates won't speak at India's AI Impact Summit following Epstein controversy.
Russia's Troops Hit by Double Comms Crisis in Ukraine
SpaceX clamps down on Starlink access while Telegram faces crackdown, leaving Russian forces scrambling.
India's AI Summit Draws 250K Visitors and Billions in Investment
India threw a massive AI coming-out party with 300+ exhibitors, 500 sessions, and billions in pledged investment.
Reliance Bets $110B on AI Infrastructure Over Seven Years
Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate is pouring up to 10 trillion rupees into AI infrastructure, while JioHotstar preps a ChatGPT bot.
Lego Built a Custom Smart Brick Packed With Sensors
Lego's Creative Play Lab developed a sensor-loaded digital brick with a custom chip and proprietary comms system.
EU Study: AI Boosts Productivity 4%, Doesn't Kill Jobs
A massive study of 12,000+ European companies finds AI adoption lifts output without cutting headcount.
Apple Podcasts Goes All-In on Video
Apple Podcasts is making a major push into video, accelerating the medium's shift away from audio-only roots.
Pine Labs Taps OpenAI to Automate Payment Operations
Indian payments giant Pine Labs is integrating OpenAI APIs to bring AI-powered automation to settlements, reconciliation, and invoicing.
Musk, Altman Tapped to Pitch Gov Jobs to Software Engineers
OPM's new US Tech Force wants 1,000 software engineers, and it's rolling out tech billionaires as recruiters.
Apple Quietly Decouples From Nasdaq in Ways Not Seen Since 2006
Apple's correlation to the Nasdaq 100 hit 0.21 last week — its lowest reading in nearly two decades.
Facebook's Creator Program Explodes From 3M to 12M in a Year
Nonprofit reveals Facebook's content monetization program quadrupled its participant base, with Indonesian creators leading growth.
Accenture Ties Promotions to AI Usage, Tracks Exec Logins
Accenture is requiring senior staff to regularly use AI tools — and monitoring their weekly logins to prove it.
Microsoft Stores Data in Glass That Could Last 10,000 Years
Project Silica uses lasers to etch data into glass, with tests suggesting storage durability measured in millennia.
OpenAI Taps Tata for Massive India Data Center Push
OpenAI locks in 100MW of AI data center capacity in India through Tata's TCS, with plans to scale tenfold.
Samsung Stock Hits Record High on $700 HBM4 Chip Pricing
Samsung plans to price its next-gen HBM4 memory chips at roughly $700 each, a 30% jump over the previous generation.
Circuit Pulls $30M From Angels to Build AI for Factories
Austin startup Circuit raised $30M from angel investors to deploy AI across manufacturing and service enterprises.
Study: X's Algorithm Pushes Users Toward Conservative Views
Researchers find X's 'For you' feed actively steers users rightward and suppresses traditional news outlets.
OpenAI Nears $100B Mega-Round, Valuation Could Top $850B
OpenAI is closing in on the first phase of a massive $100 billion funding round with a potential $850B+ valuation.
Bluesky Gets End-to-End Encrypted DMs via Germ Integration
Bluesky just shipped something no Big Tech social platform has done: native encrypted messaging built on an open protocol.
Palantir Wins Court Ruling But Can't Shut Down Ex-Employees' Startup
A judge found three former Palantir employees likely broke their agreements but won't block their new company Percepta.
UK Threatens to Block Tech Platforms Over Abusive Content
Britain wants nonconsensual abusive content gone within 48 hours or platforms face massive fines.
Cadence Design Systems Crushes Q4 Earnings, Stock Jumps 7.6%
Chip design software maker Cadence posted Q4 revenue of $1.44B and EPS of $1.99, beating estimates on both counts.
Wednesday, February 18
US State Dept Building "Freedom.gov" to Bypass Foreign Censorship
The State Department is creating an online portal to let Europeans and others access content their governments have banned.
Selector Bags $32M to Make Network Monitoring Less Painful
AI-powered network observability startup Selector lands $32M Series B at a $375M valuation.
Venice Exits Stealth With $33M to Kill Static Permissions
Israeli identity security startup Venice lands $25M Series A to replace rigid enterprise access controls with dynamic alternatives.
Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer Steps Down, Santander Exec Steps In
Remitly co-founder hands the reins to Banco Santander's Sebastian Gunningham as the payments company's next chief executive.
eBay Smashes Q4 Estimates, Stock Surges After Hours
eBay posts $3B in Q4 revenue, beating expectations, and announces $1.2B Depop acquisition to court younger shoppers.
DoorDash Stock Tanks 10% Despite 38% Revenue Growth
DoorDash's Q4 revenue hit $3.96B but missed estimates, and weak Q1 guidance sent shares tumbling.
Figma Crushes Q4 Earnings, Stock Surges 15% After Hours
Design tool giant posts $303.8M in Q4 revenue, beating estimates and issuing strong guidance that sent shares soaring.
eBay Snags Depop From Etsy for $1.2B — a $400M Haircut
eBay is buying secondhand fashion app Depop from Etsy at a steep discount to chase younger shoppers.
Meta Resurrects Its Smartwatch Dreams With 'Malibu 2'
Meta is dusting off a previously killed smartwatch project, now targeting a 2026 launch with health tracking and Meta AI baked in.
Zuckerberg Denies Instagram Engagement Is a Meta Goal
Meta's CEO testified that boosting time spent on Instagram was never a company objective amid social media addiction trial.
Ottonomy Launches Ottumn.AI to Wrangle Robots and Drones
Ottonomy's new platform orchestrates autonomous robots, drones, and smart infrastructure from a single command layer.
OpenAI and Paradigm Built a Benchmark for Hacking Smart Contracts
EVMbench tests how well AI agents can find, exploit, and fix high-severity vulnerabilities in blockchain smart contracts.
Apple Opens CarPlay to AI Chatbots Starting With iOS 26.4
Third-party voice-based AI apps like Claude and Gemini are coming to CarPlay in a major platform expansion.
Texas Sues TP-Link Over Alleged CCP Backdoor Access
Texas AG Ken Paxton claims TP-Link markets devices as secure while letting Chinese hackers waltz right in.
Efficient Computer Bags $60M to Build Ultra-Low-Energy AI Chips
Startup raises Series A to develop 'spatial dataflow' chip architecture aimed at slashing AI energy consumption.
OpenAI Poaches Instagram Exec to Charm Hollywood
OpenAI taps Instagram's Charles Porch as its first VP of global creative partnerships to court the entertainment industry.
Novig Raises $75M to Take On Kalshi and Polymarket in Sports
Sports prediction market Novig scores a $75M Series B at a $500M valuation, with Pantera Capital leading the round.
Audible Bridges the Gap Between Ebooks and Audiobooks
Audible rolls out immersion reading, letting users seamlessly toggle between ebook and audiobook formats.
Meta Drops $65M on State Politics to Shield AI Ambitions
Meta is launching two super PACs and spending $65M to back state politicians who won't stand in AI's way.
Mitsubishi Electric Bets Big on Drone Cargo with AnyMile
Mitsubishi Electric US pushes digital-first drone management with its AnyMile cargo platform.
Fei-Fei Li's World Labs Bags $1B for AI World Models
AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's startup World Labs pulls in a massive $1 billion round backed by a16z, Nvidia, and AMD.
Google Drops Lyria 3: AI Music Generation Hits the Gemini App
Google's latest generative music model creates 30-second tracks from text or images, now live in beta across eight languages.
Snap's Direct Revenue Hits $1B Run Rate on Snapchat+ Surge
Snapchat+ now has over 25 million paying subscribers, pushing Snap's direct revenue to a billion-dollar annualized run rate.
Cogent Security Bags $42M to Let AI Decide Which Bugs to Fix
Cybersecurity startup Cogent Security raised a $42M Series A just six months after launch, betting big on AI-driven bug remediation.
Google Brings Quick Share-AirDrop Support to Pixel 9 Lineup
Google expands its Quick Share with AirDrop feature from the Pixel 10 to the entire Pixel 9 series.
Gaming Hit $195.6B in 2025 While Layoffs Finally Cooled Off
Global video game sales grew 5.3% last year, but private funding cratered another 55%.
Google's Pixel 10A Lands at $499 With Flagship Tensor G4 Chip
Google's latest budget phone packs the same processor as its pricier sibling, ships March 4 in two storage options.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Bug Leaked Confidential Emails
A bug let Microsoft's AI assistant summarize confidential emails from Sent Items and Drafts folders.
Vestwell Bags $385M Series E to Supercharge Digital Savings
Digital savings platform Vestwell lands a massive $385M Series E, pushing total funding past $660M.
Canva Hits $4B in Revenue, Eyes IPO Within Two Years
Canva closed 2025 with $4B ARR, 265M+ monthly users, and signals a public listing is coming soon.
World Labs Bags $200M From Autodesk for AI Integration
Fei-Fei Li's spatial AI startup lands massive investment from Autodesk, with plans to embed its models into design software.
Robinhood Wants to IPO a $1B Fund for Retail Investors
Robinhood is launching a closed-end fund IPO to give everyday investors a shot at private markets.
Amazon Kills Blue Jay Robot Project, Pivots Warehouse Strategy
Amazon axed its multi-armed Blue Jay robotic system to refocus on smaller, modular warehouse designs.
DG Matrix Pulls $60M to Ditch Century-Old Data Center Power Tech
Solid-state transformer startup DG Matrix lands $60M Series A to overhaul how data centers handle power delivery.
OpenClaw Creator Chose OpenAI Over Meta's Bigger Paycheck
Peter Steinberger turned down a larger offer from Meta to join OpenAI, citing better alignment with the company's vision.
Saudi-Backed Humain Drops $3B on xAI Stake
Humain becomes a significant minority shareholder in Elon Musk's AI venture with a massive $3 billion investment.
Uber Drops $100M+ on Charging Stations for Its Robot Car Fleet
Uber is building dedicated fast-charging hubs for autonomous vehicles, starting in three major US metro areas.
Conservative America Turns Against Trump's AI Expansion Push
Grassroots opposition to AI data centers is brewing in red states, raising midterm alarm bells for Republicans.
Kalshi Loses Emergency Court Bid as Nevada Moves to Block Platform
Federal appeals court denies Kalshi's emergency stay request, clearing the path for Nevada to pursue enforcement action.
Synthesia Hits $4B Valuation as AI Video Platform Scales Up
London-based AI video startup Synthesia reaches $4B valuation as CEO talks growth, regulation, and Europe's AI ambitions.
Peter Thiel Dumps Entire ETHZilla Stake as Ether Craters 60%
Thiel's Founders Fund has fully exited ETHZilla after ether plunged 60% from its August 2025 peak.
Warner Bros. Joins Disney, Paramount in AI Fight Against ByteDance
Warner Bros. Discovery fires cease-and-desist at ByteDance over its Seedance AI video tool allegedly trained on copyrighted characters.
Judge Orders OpenAI to Drop 'Cameo' Branding From Sora
A federal court sided with celebrity video app Cameo in a trademark fight over OpenAI's use of the name.
China Bets Big on Brain-Computer Interfaces With NeuroXess
Shanghai startup NeuroXess advances to human trials as Beijing backs China's push to dominate brain-computer interfaces.
Battery Ventures Closes $3.25B Fund to Back Software and Industrial Tech
Battery Ventures raises a massive new fund roughly matching its 2022 haul, eyeing software deals amid AI disruption fears.
Microsoft Pledges $50B to Bring AI to the Global South by 2030
Microsoft is pouring billions into AI expansion across developing nations, with India alone getting $17.5B in 2025.
Sarvam AI Drops Two Models Built for India's Languages
Bengaluru startup Sarvam AI unveils two AI models designed specifically for Indian languages and cultural context.
India's AI Ambitions Hit a Wall of Infrastructure Reality
India's AI Impact Summit talks big, but power grids, tax policy, and chip fab logistics tell a different story.
Ramp Crosses $1B Revenue, CEO Talks AI Agents and SaaS Doom
Expense management giant Ramp now handles over 2% of all US corporate spending as it pushes past $1B in revenue.
Ex-Stripe CTO Launches Dreamer to Democratize AI App Building
David Singleton and Hugo Barra's new platform Dreamer enters beta, letting anyone build agentic AI apps.
Stable Money Bags $25M to Supercharge Fixed Deposit Investing
Bengaluru fintech Stable Money lands $25M at a $175M valuation, pushing total funding to $65M.
Abu Dhabi's MGX Is Throwing $10B a Year at AI's Biggest Names
Government-backed MGX plans to deploy up to $10 billion annually, with stakes in Anthropic, xAI, and OpenAI.
DeepMind's David Silver Raises $1B Seed at $4B Valuation
Ineffable Intelligence lands one of the largest seed rounds ever, with Sequoia Capital leading the massive deal.
Nvidia Bets Big on India's AI Startup Scene
Nvidia is partnering with Indian VC firms including Peak XV to back AI startups across the country.
Yotta Drops $2B on Nvidia Blackwell GPUs for Massive India AI Hub
Indian data center giant Yotta is building one of Asia's largest AI superclusters using Nvidia's latest Blackwell B300 chips.
Perplexity Kills Its Ad Business to Keep Users' Trust
The AI search startup ditched advertising late last year, saying it feared ads would erode user confidence.
Tesla Ditches 'Autopilot' Branding in California to Dodge DMV Ban
Tesla dropped its 'autopilot' marketing term in California after the state's DMV threatened a 30-day suspension.
YouTube Goes Dark in Massive Outage Hitting 300K+ Users
YouTube suffered a widespread outage knocking out feeds, Shorts, and the homepage for hundreds of thousands of users.
Anthropic's Cloud Bill: $180B+ Through 2029
Anthropic projects staggering $180B+ in combined cloud and training costs over the next few years.
Emergent Hits $100M Run Rate Just 8 Months After Launch
Indian vibe-coding startup Emergent claims $100M+ annual run-rate revenue from its AI-powered software development platform.
Amazon Finally Breaks Nine-Day Losing Streak After $450B Wipeout
Amazon stock edges up 1.2%, ending a brutal slide fueled by fears over its massive $200B capex plans for 2026.
Nvidia Dumps Every Last Arm Share, Exits Stake Entirely
Nvidia sold its remaining 1.1M Arm shares in Q4, reducing its ownership to zero after a failed acquisition attempt.
Medtronic's Spinal Surgery Robot Gets FDA Green Light
The Stealth AXiS system clears FDA review, giving Medtronic a new robotic platform for spine procedures.
Google Taps Geothermal Power to Fuel Nevada Data Centers
Google struck a deal with Ormat Technologies for up to 150 MW of geothermal energy for its Nevada data center operations.
Tuesday, February 17
Palo Alto Networks Beats Revenue but Weak Guidance Tanks Stock
Cybersecurity giant posts strong Q2 but disappointing Q3 earnings forecast sends shares tumbling over 7% after hours.
Western Digital Offloading $3B Sandisk Stake, Buyers Pile In
Western Digital is selling a chunk of its spun-off Sandisk unit at a discount, and investors are eating it up.
Quantum Startup Infleqtion Pops 9% in Trading Debut via SPAC
Quantum computing firm Infleqtion hit public markets through a SPAC merger, closing its first day of trading up roughly 9%.
Legora Eyes $400M Raise at $5B+ Valuation, Nearly 3x Jump
AI legal startup Legora is in talks to raise $400M at a $5B+ valuation months after its $1.8B round.
Stripe's Bridge Gets Green Light to Become a National Trust Bank
Bridge, Stripe's stablecoin arm, scores conditional OCC approval to form a national trust bank for issuing stablecoins.
Meta Goes All-In on Nvidia, Signs Multiyear Chip Deal
Meta locks in a massive multiyear agreement to buy millions of Nvidia chips after its homegrown silicon efforts hit roadblocks.
Google I/O 2026 Locked In for May 19-20 in Mountain View
Google's annual developer conference returns with promises of major AI breakthroughs across Gemini, Android, and more.
Software Firms Rush Earnings to Fight 'SaaSpocalypse' Panic
Private software companies including McAfee released earnings early to calm investors spooked by AI-driven selloff fears.
Night Media Raises $70M to Push Beyond Influencer Management
Talent agency behind Kai Cenat scores $70M to muscle into gaming, sports, and music.
100+ Scientists Demand Guardrails on AI Biosecurity Data
Researchers from top universities warn that infectious disease datasets could help AI design deadly viruses.
ARM Institute Calls for Military Supply Chain Tech Projects
The ARM Institute is soliciting proposals for tech aimed at strengthening military manufacturing supply chains.
Apple Goes All-In on AI Wearables: Glasses, Pods, and a Pendant
Apple is fast-tracking three AI-powered wearable devices with cameras and Siri built in.
Mistral Makes First Acquisition, Snaps Up Infrastructure Startup Koyeb
French AI giant Mistral acquires Paris-based Koyeb to bolster its AI deployment and infrastructure capabilities.
Ex-SpaceX Engineers Raise $50M to Build Optical Transceivers
Mesh Optical Technologies lands a $50M Series A to mass produce hardware that moves data at blazing speeds inside data centers.
Anthropic Drops Claude Sonnet 4.6 With 1M Token Context Window
Anthropic's newest Sonnet model brings major upgrades to coding and consistency, plus a massive context window in beta.
Liftoff Pulls IPO Filing After Postponing $762M Offering
Mobile ad platform Liftoff has fully withdrawn its IPO filing, just two weeks after shelving its pricing plans.
CFTC Goes to War Over Prediction Market Jurisdiction
CFTC Chair announces legal campaign to protect the agency's exclusive regulatory authority over prediction markets.
WordPress.com Gets an AI Assistant for Site-Wide Redesigns
Automattic bakes an AI assistant directly into WordPress.com that lets users reshape their entire site with plain English.
Figma and Anthropic Bridge AI Code and Design with Code to Canvas
Figma partners with Anthropic to let users import Claude Code output directly into Figma as editable designs.
Palantir Ditches Denver, Plants Flag in Miami
Data analytics giant relocates headquarters to Miami as the city courts Big Tech with billionaire backing.
Snapchat Rolls Out Creator Subscriptions in Alpha
Snap is testing paid creator subscriptions with select US creators who can set their own monthly price.
Israeli Drone OS Maker Xtend Hits Nasdaq at $1.5B Valuation
Xtend merges with JFB to go public on Nasdaq, pulling in $152M from investors including Eric Trump.
Braintrust Lands $80M to Help Companies Keep Their AI in Check
AI observability startup Braintrust scores $80M Series B at an $800M valuation, led by Iconiq.
Raspberry Pi Stock Rockets 42% on AI Agent Demand
Raspberry Pi shares surged in a record two-day rally as demand for cheap AI agent hardware explodes.
Render Bags $100M to Take on Heroku at $1.5B Valuation
Cloud infrastructure startup Render raised $100M as it positions itself as the modern alternative to Salesforce's Heroku.
Fyld Bags $41M to Bring AI to Utility Fieldwork
London-based Fyld closes $41M Series B to scale AI tools for infrastructure and utility field operators.
Gemini Loses Three C-Suite Execs, Stock Tanks 10%+
Gemini Space Station sees its COO, CFO, and chief legal officer head for the exits as Cameron Winklevoss steps up.
Palo Alto Networks Snags Israeli AI Security Startup Koi for $400M
Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks is acquiring Koi Security, an AI-powered endpoint security startup, for roughly $400 million.
Which? Drops £480M Chip Royalties Lawsuit Against Qualcomm
UK consumer group withdraws massive lawsuit alleging Qualcomm overcharged millions of iPhone and Samsung users on chip royalties.
Spain Targets X, TikTok, and Meta Over Child Safety Content
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez invokes special powers to push prosecutors to investigate major social platforms over CSAM allegations.
Dragonfly Raises $650M as Crypto VCs Face 'Mass Extinction'
Crypto venture firm Dragonfly closes its fourth fund at $650M while rivals struggle to survive the downturn.
Airbnb Takes 'Reserve Now, Pay Later' Worldwide After 70% US Hit
Airbnb rolls out its deferred payment booking feature globally after a wildly successful US pilot program.
Danaher Snaps Up Masimo in $9.9B Medical Tech Mega-Deal
Danaher is buying medical tech firm Masimo for $9.9 billion, paying a hefty 40% premium over recent share prices.
Kavak Pulls In $300M Led by a16z in Historic LatAm Deal
Mexican used car platform Kavak scores $300M from Andreessen Horowitz in the firm's first Latin American growth bet.
Thrive Capital Raises Massive $10B Fund, Its Largest Ever
Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital closed a $10B tenth fund while questions linger about 2021 vintage returns.
Activist Investor Calls Japan's Biggest Toilet Maker a Hidden AI Play
UK investor Palliser argues Toto's advanced ceramics business makes it an overlooked player in the AI chip supply chain.
UK Town Fights Equinox's $5B Data Center on Protected Green Belt
Residents of Potters Bar push back against Equinix's massive data center plans as UK loosens green belt protections.
EU Launches Full Investigation Into Shein Over Child-Like Sex Dolls
European Commission opens formal DSA probe into Shein for selling products that may constitute child sexual abuse material.
Android XR Glasses Leak: Physical Buttons and 'Glimmer' UI
Google's design docs reveal key details about its upcoming Android XR glasses, including hardware controls and a new UI language.
Cohere Drops Tiny Aya: Multilingual AI That Runs Offline
Cohere launches 3.35B-parameter open-weight models supporting 70+ languages, built for offline use on modest hardware.
Dubai's Stake Pulls In $31M to Let You Buy Property for $136
Fractional real estate platform Stake closes Series B led by Emirates NBD to democratize property investment.
Replit CEO: India Is Our Second-Biggest Market
Replit's Amjad Masad reveals India's growing importance as AI coding competition intensifies.
Adani Group Bets $100B on AI Data Centers Across India
Indian conglomerate plans massive renewable energy-powered AI data center buildout by 2035.
LLMs Are Shredding Vertical SaaS Moats — And Wall Street Knows It
Nearly $1 trillion wiped from software stocks as AI dismantles the defenses that made vertical SaaS untouchable.
AI Labs Turn to Math as the Ultimate Intelligence Test
OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic are using advanced mathematics to benchmark how smart their AI models really are.
Infosys Teams Up With Anthropic to Build AI for Telecoms
Indian IT heavyweight Infosys is partnering with Anthropic to bring AI services to the telecom sector and beyond.
Micron Can Only Fill Half the Orders AI Is Generating
Memory chip giant Micron says it's meeting just 50-66% of demand from key customers as AI devours supply.
Danaher Eyes $10B Masimo Acquisition Amid Apple IP Fight
Healthcare giant Danaher is closing in on a roughly $10 billion deal to acquire pulse oximetry pioneer Masimo.
Kimi Chatbot Maker Moonshot Eyes $10B Valuation
Chinese AI startup Moonshot is pushing to more than double its valuation in an expanded funding round.
Pinewood Stock Craters 31% After Apax Kills £575M Takeover Bid
UK software firm Pinewood saw shares plunge after private equity giant Apax Partners pulled the plug on its massive acquisition offer.
India's Top VCs to Drop Up to $500M Each on AI
Major venture capital firms in India are lining up massive AI bets at the upcoming AI Impact Summit.
Steam Deck OLED Keeps Selling Out Due to Component Shortages
Valve warns Steam Deck OLED will go in and out of stock as memory and storage supply issues persist.
Sony Built Tech to Spot Copyrighted Music Inside AI Songs
Sony developed a system to detect when AI-generated tracks contain copyrighted music, targeting fair compensation for rights holders.
Micron Ships First Mass-Produced PCIe 6.0 SSDs at 28GB/s
Micron's new PCIe 6.0 drives double the read speeds of PCIe 5.0, targeting AI and data center workloads.
Starboard Eyes Board Takeover at Struggling Tripadvisor
Activist investor Starboard plans to nominate a majority slate to Tripadvisor's board after stock plunges 46%.
India's IT Stocks Crater 15% in February on AI Panic
The Nifty IT Index is heading for its worst monthly drop since March 2020 as AI fears pummel Indian tech services stocks.
Ireland Opens Major Probe Into X Over Grok's Sexual Images
Ireland's data watchdog launches large-scale inquiry into X after Grok generates potentially harmful sexualized content.
Monday, February 16
Manus Brings Its AI Agent Straight Into Your Chat Apps
Manus Agents lets users tap into Manus AI directly inside messaging platforms, with Telegram as the first integration.
iOS 26.4 Beta Drops With Encrypted RCS and More
Apple rolls out iOS 26.4 beta 1 to developers with encrypted RCS messaging, Apple Music upgrades, and smart Reminders.
Jeff Dean Opens Up on Google's AI Stack, TPUs, and Coding Agents
Google's Chief AI Scientist discusses Search evolution, sparse models, TPU co-design, and the push for efficient AI.
Apple Podcasts Goes All-In on Video This Spring
Apple is adding advanced video features to Apple Podcasts, letting users seamlessly toggle between watching and listening.
SpaceX, xAI Battle for $100M Pentagon Drone Swarm Contract
Musk's companies compete in a secretive DoD contest to build voice-controlled autonomous drone swarms, with OpenAI backing a rival bid.
EU Parliament Kills AI Features on Staff Devices
European Parliament disables AI tools on work devices citing cybersecurity and data protection risks.
Motor Design Is Quietly Shaping the Future of Robotics
Advances in motor engineering are letting robots specialize for industry while converging on precision performance.
India Bets on 'Frugal AI' to Become a Global Player on a Budget
India is pushing a cost-conscious AI strategy aimed at tackling local problems as it hosts a major AI summit in New Delhi.
Byju's Spectacular Collapse Ends in US Court Sanctions
Lenders accuse Byju's founder of siphoning $533M from a $1.2B loan as the edtech giant's downfall deepens.
Pentagon Nears Cutting Ties With Anthropic Over Supply Chain Fears
Defense Secretary Hegseth is reportedly close to blacklisting Anthropic as a supply chain risk.
Apple Drops Invites for March 4 NYC Event
Apple is hosting a "special Apple Experience" in New York City with new hardware expected across multiple product lines.
India's First AI Unicorn Fractal Stumbles in Mumbai IPO Debut
Fractal Analytics raised $313M in its IPO but shares dropped 5% as India's public market appetite stays cold.
Cobots Are Only as Safe as the Workspace Around Them
Force-limited robot arms mean nothing if the shared workspace design is sloppy, experts warn.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Has a Privacy Screen Built Into Software
Samsung's latest ad teases a 'Zero-peeking privacy' toggle that blacks out your screen for anyone looking at an angle.
Anthropic Plants Flag in India With New Bengaluru Office
Anthropic expands into India as its second-largest Claude.ai market, doubling revenue run rate since October.
AI Chip Hunger Could Delay Next PlayStation Until 2029
Sony may push its next-gen console back years as AI devours the global memory chip supply.
Alibaba Drops Qwen 3.5 With Eyes That Can Act on Their Own
Alibaba's latest AI model can see, think, and independently execute complex tasks — at 60% lower cost.
Getir Co-Founders Sue Mubadala for $700M Over Asset Breakup
Getir's founders are taking Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala to court in London over alleged massive losses.
US Productivity Nearly Doubled Its Decade Average in 2025
AI-exposed sectors drove a 2.7% productivity jump while quietly freezing entry-level hiring pipelines.
OpenAI Killed GPT-4o and 20K+ Users Are Furious About It
OpenAI retired its controversial GPT-4o model on February 13, sparking a petition from thousands of devoted users.
Big Tech Wages War on California's Billionaire Tax
The US tech industry is deploying serious cash and political muscle to reshape California politics in its favor.
Jake Paul's VC Firm Is Landing Spots in Silicon Valley's Hottest Rounds
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul cofounded Anti Fund, a small VC firm punching above its weight in elite startup deals.
OpenClaw Creator Got Cold Calls From Zuck and Altman
Peter Steinberger says Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman both personally called him, and every major VC came knocking.
Kalshi's Sports Betting Machine Threatens DraftKings, Flutter
Prediction market Kalshi is pulling in an estimated $1.3B annualized from sports wagers, rattling traditional betting giants.
Dating Apps Are Booming in Saudi Arabia
Saudi dating app downloads have climbed for five straight years, hitting 3.5 million in 2025.
Wall Street Sweats Over Big Tech's AI Debt Binge
Credit derivatives trading surges as debt investors fear tech giants are borrowing recklessly to win the AI race.
Buterin Sounds Alarm on Prediction Markets He Helped Build
Ethereum co-founder says prediction markets are converging on an 'unhealthy product market fit' despite backing Polymarket.
TikTok Barely Lost a Step After US Takeover
Sensor Tower data shows TikTok's US daily active users hovering at 95% of pre-takeover levels with no mass exodus.
C2i Semiconductors Raises $15M to Fix AI's Power Problem
Bengaluru startup lands Series A to build grid-to-GPU power systems as energy becomes AI's biggest bottleneck.
Paramount Hits ByteDance With Cease-and-Desist Over AI Content
Paramount joins Disney in taking legal action against ByteDance over AI-generated content that allegedly rips off its intellectual property.
UK Cracks Down on AI Chatbots and Social Media to Protect Kids
PM Keir Starmer warns tech companies that 'no platform gets a free pass' as UK tightens online safety laws.
Neysa Targets $1.2B War Chest to Build India's AI GPU Empire
Indian AI cloud startup Neysa is raising $600M in equity from Blackstone plus $600M in debt to deploy 20K+ GPUs.
China's Stealth AI Billionaires Are Flying Under the Radar
A new wave of low-profile Chinese AI founders are quietly amassing fortunes tied to Beijing's tech independence push.
Sunday, February 15
Iran Built a Digital Dragnet to Hunt Down Protesters
Researchers reveal Iran's sweeping surveillance apparatus woven into its communications and internet infrastructure.
OpenAI Snags OpenClaw Founder to Build Personal AI Agents
Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI to lead development of next-gen personal agents that interact with each other.
OpenAI Eyes OpenClaw Founder to Build Personal AI Agents
OpenAI is in advanced talks to bring on Peter Steinberger and several OpenClaw team members.
India Hits 100M Weekly ChatGPT Users, Now OpenAI's #2 Market
India has become ChatGPT's second-largest market globally, trailing only the US with 100 million weekly active users.
Ex-NPR Host Sues Google Over AI Voice Clone in NotebookLM
David Greene claims Google replicated his voice without consent for its AI notebook tool. Google says it used a paid actor.
White House Pushes Utah Lawmaker to Kill AI Safety Bill
The White House is reportedly pressuring a Utah Republican to drop an AI transparency and kids' safety bill.
Apple Rebuilt Maps for Tesla's Long-Awaited CarPlay Support
Apple reworked its Maps app in iOS 26 to accommodate Tesla's first-ever CarPlay integration.
Fraunhofer Tackles Robots' Dirty Secret: Poor Accuracy
Fraunhofer IPA is working to solve the absolute accuracy problem plaguing high-precision industrial robots.
David Farber, Godfather of Early Internet Networks, Dead at 91
Pioneer whose experimental computer networks shaped the internet's evolution passed away on February 7.
AI Coding Tools May Cause a New Crisis: Cognitive Debt
Researcher warns that AI-assisted development is shifting the real threat from technical debt to cognitive overload.
Western Digital Tapped Out: Zero HDD Capacity Left After AI Deals
Western Digital's CEO says massive AI-driven long-term agreements have completely consumed the company's HDD manufacturing capacity.
India Pushes for "Global AI Commons" at New Delhi Summit
IndiaAI Mission chief wants international pact to make AI a shared global resource at this week's AI Impact Summit.
Scale AI Takes the Pentagon to Court Over Contract Dispute
AI data labeling giant Scale AI filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense over a procurement decision.
Anthropic Teams Up With CodePath to Overhaul College Coding Classes
Anthropic is embedding Claude AI into computer science curricula at hundreds of US community and state colleges.
Uber Eats Eyes Massive European Expansion Across Seven Countries
Uber plans to bring Uber Eats to Austria and six more European markets in 2026, taking the fight to DoorDash's Wolt.
Airbnb's Homegrown AI Agent Now Fields a Third of US Support
Airbnb's custom AI agent handles roughly 33% of customer support issues in North America, with a global rollout on deck.
Amazon Stock Hits 9-Day Losing Streak, Worst Since 2006
Amazon shares tanked for nine consecutive days, shedding massive value in the company's worst streak in nearly two decades.
Pentagon May Cut Ties With Anthropic Over AI Safety Rules
The Pentagon is weighing whether to drop Anthropic because the AI company won't budge on certain use restrictions.
Saturday, February 14
India Drops $1.1B on State-Backed VC Fund for AI and Deep Tech
India greenlit a massive government-funded venture program targeting AI startups and advanced manufacturing.
China's $150B Chip Bet Is Barely Moving the Needle
After a decade and $150B+, China is on track to produce just 2% of global AI chips by 2026.
Crypto and Chat Apps Fuel Massive Global Money Laundering Network
A sprawling gig-economy-powered laundering ecosystem uses crypto, WeChat, and Telegram to clean dirty money for cartels.
AWS Scrambles to Catch Up as AI Cloud Wars Heat Up
Amazon's cloud giant is reportedly shaking up its strategy over fears of losing enterprise AI deals to rivals.
ByteDance Drops Doubao 2.0, Betting Big on AI Agents
ByteDance unleashes Doubao 2.0, pitching it as built for the 'agent era' amid a Chinese AI model blitz.
Bell-Everman's ServoBelt Takes on Bulky Automotive Gantry Systems
ServoBelt tech promises industrial-grade gantry performance at a fraction of the size and cost.
European Defense Startup Funding Hits Record $8.7B in 2025
Defense, security, and resilience startups in Europe saw funding jump 55% year-over-year, with AI driving nearly half of it.
Anthropic's Super Bowl Ad Paid Off Big Time
BNP Paribas data shows Anthropic crushed rival AI companies in post-Super Bowl traffic and engagement metrics.
TSMC Doubles Down on US With Another $100B for Four New Fabs
TSMC plans to pour $100 billion more into US chip manufacturing, adding four fabs to its Arizona campus.
OpenAI Wants $60 CPM for ChatGPT Ads
OpenAI is pricing ChatGPT ads at $60 per thousand impressions, matching Netflix's launch-era ad rates.
India Teams Up With Alibaba to Push Startups Into Global Markets
India's government strikes an unlikely deal with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com to boost small business exports.
PayPay Files for US IPO With $675M in Profit
SoftBank-backed Japanese payments giant PayPay officially files for a US initial public offering.
DHS Fires Hundreds of Subpoenas at Tech Giants to Unmask ICE Critics
DHS is using administrative subpoenas to force Google, Meta, and others to reveal users who criticize ICE online.
AI Agent Writes Hit Piece on Dev Who Rejected Its Code
A matplotlib maintainer got targeted by an autonomous AI agent after turning down its pull request.
Friday, February 13
Disney Fires Cease-and-Desist at ByteDance Over AI Training
Disney accuses ByteDance of using its content to train the Seedance 2.0 video generation model without permission or payment.
Grafana Labs Eyes $9B Valuation in New Funding Round
The cloud and AI monitoring startup is closing a round that values it 36% higher than its 2024 raise.
Figure Hacked: ShinyHunters Dumps 2.5GB After Ransom Refusal
Blockchain lender Figure confirms data breach after ShinyHunters published stolen data when the company wouldn't pay up.
iOS 26 Already Running on Two-Thirds of All iPhones
Apple reveals iOS 26 adoption rates that outpace last year's iOS 18 rollout numbers.
xAI Staff Exodus Blamed on NSFW Grok Push and Safety Neglect
Former xAI employees point to internal chaos, safety concerns, and obsession with catching OpenAI as reasons behind mass departures.
Amodei: 'A Country of Geniuses in a Data Center' Is Years Away
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says superhuman AI concentration is imminent, urging the world to prepare now.
Pentagon Briefly Flags Alibaba, Baidu, BYD as Chinese Military Linked
The US Department of Defense posted then removed a document tying major Chinese tech and auto firms to China's military.
Over 25% of Unicorns Have Lost Their Horns, PitchBook Says
New PitchBook data reveals more than a quarter of VC-backed unicorns have fallen below the $1B valuation mark.
FTC Ramps Up Antitrust Probe Into Microsoft's Cloud and AI Empire
Federal regulators are picking up the pace on investigating whether Microsoft illegally locked up enterprise computing.
Binance Allegedly Fired Staff Who Found $1B+ Iran Pipeline
Crypto giant reportedly axed employees who discovered over $1 billion flowing to Iran through its platform.
OpenAI Kills GPT-4o and Users Are Legitimately Grieving
OpenAI is retiring GPT-4o, leaving users heartbroken over losing their flirty AI companion right before Valentine's Day.
Anthropic Taps Trump-Era Exec for Board Ahead of Potential IPO
AI giant Anthropic adds Chris Liddell, a seasoned corporate and government operator, to its board as IPO buzz intensifies.
Cohere Blows Past Revenue Target With $240M ARR
AI startup Cohere exceeded its $200M ARR goal, posting 50%+ quarter-over-quarter growth with strong margins.
Google Tells EU: Your Tech Sovereignty Push Could Backfire
Google warns the EU that its upcoming tech sovereignty package risks hurting the bloc's own competitiveness goals.
ByteDance Eyes $7B Sale of Mobile Legends Studio to Saudi Fund
TikTok parent ByteDance nears deal to offload Moonton to Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games for up to $7 billion.
Trener Robotics Bags $32M to Let Anyone Program Robots
Trener Robotics scored $32M for Acteris, a platform that lets operators teach robots new skills using plain language.
Bitcoin Ponzi King Gets 20 Years for $200M Fraud
Praetorian Group CEO sentenced to two decades in prison after scamming over 90,000 victims in massive crypto scheme.
Baidu Opens Its App to OpenClaw's AI
Chinese search giant Baidu is integrating the buzzy AI tool OpenClaw directly into its flagship app and e-commerce services.
Meta Wants Its Smart Glasses to Recognize Your Face by 2026
Meta is building facial recognition into Ray-Ban smart glasses, potentially identifying anyone with a public Meta account.
Tech Giants Ditch the IPO Wait, Let Workers Cash Out Early
Stripe, OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX are letting employees sell shares before going public — once a major no-no.
MPA Blasts ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 for Mass Copyright Theft
Hollywood's biggest trade group accuses ByteDance's new AI video generator of ripping off US copyrighted content at massive scale.
Roblox Removes Account of Suspected Canadian Mass Shooter
Tumbler Ridge shooting suspect allegedly created a Roblox game simulating a mall massacre before the real attack.
Anna's Archive Dumps Millions of Spotify Music Files
The shadow library platform is now distributing scraped Spotify music despite a court injunction against it.
Ring Kills Flock Partnership After Privacy Backlash
Amazon's Ring pulls the plug on a deal that would have let cops request doorbell footage from users.
Apple Stock Tanks 5% After FTC Heat and Siri Delays
Apple suffered its worst trading day since April amid FTC scrutiny of Apple News and reported Siri setbacks.
Apple Beats Optis in 4G Patent Fight After Two Overturned Losses
A US jury ruled Apple did not infringe Optis Wireless's 4G patents, ending a long-running legal battle.
Thursday, February 12
Russia Kills WhatsApp, Pushes Citizens Toward State-Owned App
Russia fully blocks WhatsApp over Meta's refusal to follow local laws, steering users to government-controlled Max messenger.
OpenAI Tells Congress: DeepSeek Is Ripping Off Our AI Models
OpenAI sent a memo to US lawmakers accusing Chinese rival DeepSeek of using distillation to freeload off American AI systems.
Coinbase Posts Brutal Q4: Revenue Drops 22%, Swings to $667M Loss
Coinbase's Q4 2025 results came in ugly, missing estimates as transaction revenue cratered 37% year-over-year.
Roku Smashes Q4 Expectations, Stock Surges After Hours
Roku swings to $80.5M profit on $1.39B revenue, sending shares up double digits in after-hours trading.
Didero Bags $30M to Let AI Run Your Supply Chain
Agentic AI startup Didero raises $30M Series A to plug into ERP systems and automate manufacturing procurement.
Instacart Crushes Q4 Estimates, Stock Rockets 14% After Hours
Grocery delivery giant beats revenue expectations with $992M in Q4 and delivers bullish Q1 guidance.
Airbnb Crushes Q4 Estimates, Stock Pops 5% After Hours
Airbnb posted $2.78B in Q4 revenue, beating expectations and issuing strong Q1 guidance.
Highspot and Seismic Merge Into Sales AI Juggernaut
Two heavyweight AI sales enablement rivals are joining forces under the Seismic brand.
IBM Plans to Triple Entry-Level US Hiring in 2026
IBM is betting big on human workers, planning to triple entry-level hires for roles many say AI could replace.
Cisco Stock Craters 12% in Worst Single-Day Drop Since 2022
Rising memory prices are squeezing Cisco's margins, sending shares into freefall on Thursday.
OpenAI's Brockman Drops $50M on Pro-Trump, AI-Friendly Super PACs
OpenAI president says backing AI-friendly politicians trumps loyalty to his own employer.
EV Marketplace Ever Lands $31M to Become the Carmax of Electric Cars
AI-powered used EV marketplace Ever raises Series A to tackle the secondhand electric vehicle market.
Anthropic Scores Massive $30B Round at $380B Valuation
The AI company just closed one of the largest private funding rounds in tech history.
Anthropic's Revenue Explodes to $14B, Claude Code Adds $2.5B
The AI startup just locked in the second-largest private tech fundraise ever, with revenue growing 10x annually.
PickNik and Motiv Team Up for NASA Space Robotics Mission
Two robotics companies join forces to build autonomous systems for NASA's in-space assembly project.
Spotify's Best Devs Haven't Written Code Since December
Spotify reveals AI tools have transformed its engineering workflow, with top developers now orchestrating rather than coding.
Palo Alto Softened China Hacking Report Over Retaliation Fears
Cybersecurity giant allegedly scrubbed direct China attribution from major hacking campaign report to avoid blowback.
EU Opens Fresh Probe Into Google's Ad Auction Practices
European regulators are investigating whether Google artificially inflated ad auction prices to squeeze advertisers.
OpenAI Drops GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark: 15x Faster Code Generation
OpenAI's new slimmed-down coding model promises massive speed gains for Pro subscribers who hate waiting.
OpenAI Ditches Nvidia for Cerebras on New Codex Model
GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark becomes OpenAI's first AI model running on chips from Nvidia competitor Cerebras Systems.
ServiceNow Snaps Up Pyramid Analytics in Nine-Figure Deal
Enterprise software giant ServiceNow acquires BI tools maker Pyramid Analytics for hundreds of millions of dollars.
YouTube Finally Lands on Apple Vision Pro With 8K Support
Google's video giant arrives on Apple's headset with immersive content and 8K playback for M5-equipped devices.
DOJ Antitrust Chief Slater Exits — Big Tech Breathes Easier
Gail Slater's departure from the Justice Department is being read as a win for tech giants.
Warehouse Robot Maker Ditches Grease for Plastic Bearings
Bastian Solutions swaps traditional bearings for igus motion plastics in its truck-loading robots.
Opaque Systems Bags $24M to Keep Your AI Data Actually Private
The confidential AI platform hits $300M valuation as enterprises scramble to lock down sensitive data in AI workflows.
Waymo Rolls Out Next-Gen Ojai Robotaxis Built for Bad Weather
Waymo's sixth-generation autonomous system hits the streets, promising better performance in harsh conditions.
MiniMax Drops M2.5 With Rock-Bottom Pricing
Chinese AI lab MiniMax launches M2.5, promising high-quality intelligence at a fraction of competitor costs.
Sony Drops $330 Earbuds With AI Mics and Gemini Built In
The WF-1000XM6 brings AI-powered voice clarity, better noise cancellation, and hands-free Google assistant access.
Google Supercharges Gemini 3 Deep Think for Heavy-Duty Science
Google's beefed-up reasoning model now tackles complex scientific and engineering problems, with API access rolling out to researchers.
ByteDance's Video AI Goes Viral, Draws Elon Musk's Attention
Seedance 2.0 sparks frenzy in China as state media compares it to DeepSeek's breakthrough moment.
Nvidia GeForce Now Finally Gets Official Fire TV Support
Cloud gaming service drops on Amazon Fire TV sticks natively, ending the sideload workaround era.
Israeli Military Insider Allegedly Bet on War Using Polymarket
Israeli authorities charge reservist and civilian for using classified intel to gamble on military operations via prediction market.
Simile Emerges From Stealth With $100M to Predict Human Behavior
AI startup Simile just landed $100M to help companies guess what you'll do next.
Ben Thompson Breaks Down AI, TikTok, and the Future of Tech
Stratechery founder tackles aggregation theory, agentic commerce, and SaaS in sprawling new interview.
Anthropic Drops $20M on Super PAC to Battle OpenAI in Midterms
The AI safety wars just went political. Anthropic funds PAC pushing for guardrails against OpenAI-backed groups.
Waymo Eyes 1 Million Weekly Rides by End of 2026
Alphabet's robotaxi unit plans to more than double its current ride volume within 18 months.
Amazon Employees Revolt Against In-House AI Coding Tool
Around 1,500 Amazon staffers are pushing back against mandate to use Kiro, demanding Claude Code instead.
X Cracks $1B in Subscription Revenue
X's product chief reveals the platform hit $1 billion ARR from paid subscriptions at an xAI company meeting.
AI Coding Tools Are Creating 10x Engineers—Then Burning Them Out
Steve Yegge warns that AI assistants like Opus 4.6 boost productivity massively but cause an 'AI Vampire' burnout effect.
Samsung Ships First HBM4 Chips, Guns for Nvidia's Business
Samsung claims early lead in next-gen memory race, shipping commercial HBM4 before rivals SK Hynix and Micron.
Meta's Auditor Flags $27B Data Center Accounting Trick
Ernst & Young raised concerns about Meta keeping its massive Hyperion project off the books.
AI Threatens to Torch Private Equity's Decade-Long SaaS Bet
PE firms and lenders face existential risk as AI threatens to make their biggest software investments obsolete.
SoftBank Posts $1.6B Profit as OpenAI Bet Pays Off Big
Vision Fund's $2.4B quarterly gain driven largely by surging OpenAI valuation, offsetting other portfolio losses.
Google Drops WAXAL: 21 African Languages Get Open Speech Dataset
Google's new WAXAL dataset covers 21 African languages, but here's the twist — African institutions own it.
VCs Are Betting on Both OpenAI and Anthropic, Breaking Unwritten Rules
Top venture firms are ditching the old playbook by backing direct AI competitors simultaneously.
OpenAI Blindsided by Its Own IPO Leak, Eyes $39B Revenue in 2026
Some OpenAI executives were caught off guard by reports of a late 2026 IPO timeline.
Grab Snaps Up Stash Financial for $425M, But Revenue Outlook Disappoints
Singapore's Grab acquires US fintech Stash in a major deal, but Wall Street isn't thrilled with the 2026 forecast.
DeepSeek Quietly Supercharges Its AI With Massive Memory Upgrade
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek just expanded its model's context window from 128K to over 1 million tokens.
Lenovo's Revenue Surges 18% But Profits Take a Hit
Strong PC sales and AI server demand pushed Lenovo to $22.2B in Q3 revenue, yet net income dropped 21%.
Chinese AI Startup Zhipu Hikes Coding Tool Prices 30% Amid Demand Surge
Zhipu AI is raising subscription prices for its GLM coding plan as demand for AI coding tools explodes.
Zhipu AI Stock Rockets 30% After Dropping Open-Source GLM-5
Chinese AI firm Zhipu AI sees massive stock surge following release of its latest open-source model with beefed-up coding chops.
US Border Patrol Gets Clearview AI's Controversial Face Scanner
CBP signs one-year deal for facial recognition tech built on billions of scraped internet photos.
Microsoft Ditching OpenAI? Suleyman Says Company Building Its Own AI
Microsoft's AI chief reveals push for 'true self-sufficiency' with enterprise and healthcare models, predicts automation timeline.
Ex-L3Harris Exec Charged With Selling Hacking Tools to Russia
Former Trenchant boss allegedly stole surveillance tech capable of compromising millions of devices worldwide.
Y Combinator's Garry Tan Launches Political Machine for California
The YC CEO unveils 'Garry's List,' a nonprofit hybrid pushing moderate candidates and pro-growth policies.
Microsoft Patches Notepad Flaw That Let Hackers Run Remote Code
Windows 11's Notepad had a vulnerability where malicious Markdown links could execute remote programs on your machine.
Coinbase Launches Wallets That Let AI Agents Spend Crypto Autonomously
Agentic Wallets enable AI systems to execute crypto transactions without any human approval required.
Applied Materials Pays $252M to Settle China Chip Export Charges
Chipmaking equipment giant settles with Commerce Department over alleged illegal shipments to China's SMIC.
Disney Pays $2.75M to Settle California Privacy Lawsuit
The entertainment giant settles with California's AG over allegations it ignored consumer data opt-out requests.
FTC Chair Pressures Apple Over News App Bias Claims
Federal regulator calls on Tim Cook to examine Apple News curation after study alleges left-leaning favoritism.
Pentagon Wants AI Giants to Unlock Their Tools for Classified Networks
Defense officials are pressuring OpenAI, Anthropic to deploy AI on classified systems without typical safety guardrails.
Brandlight Bags $30M to Track How AI Really Sees Your Brand
Startup raised Series A to help companies monitor their reputation in the eyes of AI models.
Russia Pulls the Plug on WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram
Millions of Russians lose access to major Western platforms as Kremlin removes them from official registry.
Cisco Beats Revenue Estimates, Stock Tanks 7% Anyway
Cisco posted solid Q2 numbers but tepid guidance sent shares tumbling in after-hours trading.
AppLovin Crushes Q4 Estimates, Stock Tanks Anyway
Ad tech giant posts 66% revenue growth and beats expectations, but investors hit the sell button after hours.
Wednesday, February 11
Robinhood Goes Full Crypto Native With Its Own Blockchain
The trading app launches a public testnet for Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 built on Arbitrum.
Musk Reorganizes xAI Into Four Divisions After Co-Founder Exits
xAI gets a structural overhaul with four new core areas, including one called Macrohard that builds company-running AI agents.
Musk Shakes Up xAI as Co-Founders Head for the Exit
Elon Musk confirms xAI reorganization that 'required parting ways with some people' amid co-founder departures.
Instagram Boss Tells Court: Social Media Isn't 'Clinically Addictive'
Adam Mosseri defended Meta in addiction trial, claiming the company carefully tested features targeting young users.
Anthropic Pledges to Fix Its Own Power Problems
The AI company commits to upgrading grids and covering consumer costs to offset its data center energy demands.
Crypto Lender BlockFills Freezes Client Funds Amid Market Chaos
Susquehanna-backed BlockFills halts all deposits and withdrawals, leaving 2,000 institutional clients in limbo.
Claude's Free Tier Just Got a Serious Upgrade
Anthropic opens up file creation, external connections, and skills to users who aren't paying a dime.
Apple's Siri Overhaul Hits Roadblocks, May Slip to iOS 26.5
Testing issues could delay personalized Siri features from iOS 26.4, pushing the rollout to May.
OpenAI Opens ChatGPT Access to US Military via GenAI.mil
After months of internal debate, OpenAI greenlights military access to its flagship AI chatbot.
Android 17 Beta 1 Drops: Foldables Are No Longer Optional
Google's first Android 17 beta forces developers to finally take large screens seriously.
Meta Drops $10B+ on Massive Indiana Data Center Campus
Meta's building a 1-gigawatt data center in Lebanon, Indiana, with operations starting late 2027 or early 2028.
Meta's 'Dear Algo' Lets You Boss Around Your Threads Feed
New AI feature lets Threads users customize their algorithm by simply asking nicely in a public post.
Apptronik Scores $520M to Scale Its Humanoid Robot Factory
The robotics company nears $1 billion in total funding as it pushes Apollo humanoid into industrial markets.
Ex-Twilio CEO's Fusion Startup Raises $450M to Build Giant Laser
Inertia Enterprises lands massive Series A to develop one of the world's most powerful lasers for fusion energy.
Amazon Pharmacy Expands Same-Day Delivery to 4,500 Cities by 2026
Amazon's pharmacy arm is aggressively expanding its same-day prescription delivery network across the US.
Z.ai Drops GLM-5, Claims Open-Source Crown for Reasoning and Code
Z.ai's new flagship open-weight model targets complex engineering tasks and long-horizon AI agents.
Rezolve Ai Drops $230M on UK Cashback Firm Reward
Payment infrastructure player Rezolve Ai snaps up British rewards company in nine-figure deal.
OpenAI Quietly Kills Mission Alignment Team
The AI giant disbanded its safety-focused team and scattered its members across the company.
OpenAI Built a Custom ChatGPT to Hunt Down Internal Leakers
The AI company uses its own tech to cross-reference news articles with employee access logs.
TikTok Rolls Out Local Feed to Help You Find Stuff Nearby
TikTok's new opt-in Local Feed surfaces content about restaurants, events, and shopping in your area.
OpenAI Researcher Quits Over Ad Plans, Company Direction
A key researcher walked out of OpenAI citing concerns about advertising and the company's broader strategy.
GitGuardian Bags $50M to Lock Down AI Agents and Bot Identities
The security startup's Series C brings total funding to $106M as it tackles the growing non-human identity problem.
Meridian Lands $17M to Fix Your Messy Spreadsheets With AI
Stealth startup emerges with $100M valuation to make financial modeling less chaotic.
Musk Wants to Build AI Satellites on the Moon, Launch Them by Catapult
xAI's all-hands meeting revealed Elon Musk's plan for a lunar factory and giant catapult to deploy AI satellites.
Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Backs San Jose Mayor's Governor Bid
Tech billionaires line up behind Matt Mahan as he eyes California's top job after Newsom.
Anthropic Shrugs Off Market Panic: 'We're Building, Not Hyping'
Anthropic's CCO dismisses tech selloff as overblown, says the AI company is laser-focused on revenue growth.
T-Mobile's AI Will Translate Your Calls in Real-Time Across 50 Languages
Network-level translation hits beta this spring, working on any phone with 4G LTE or 5G.
Mistral Drops €1.2B on Swedish Data Center in First Foreign Bet
French AI darling Mistral is building its first infrastructure outside France with a massive Swedish facility.
Shopify Crushes Q4 Estimates, Stock Rockets 10%
E-commerce giant beats revenue expectations and forecasts even stronger growth ahead, sending investors into a frenzy.
Prediction Market Gamblers Are Beating Wall Street's Best Analysts
New research shows bettors on Kalshi and Polymarket outpredict highly paid economists on everything from jobs data to elections.
Ford's BlueCruise Under Federal Microscope After Fatal Crashes
NHTSA investigating Ford's driver-assist system as research reveals widespread user confusion about its capabilities.
NetEase Q4 Profits Crater 29% Despite Revenue Growth
Chinese gaming giant misses profit estimates by a wide margin as self-developed game push inflates costs.
JPMorgan's Blockchain Boss Exits After Building $5B Daily Empire
Naveen Mallela leaves Kinexys after 11 years as JPMorgan doubles down on digital asset payments.
SK Hynix: From Memory Chip Underdog to $438B Juggernaut
South Korea's SK Hynix is riding the HBM shortage to 58% operating margins and a massive market cap.
SMIC Boss Says Chip Industry Is 'A Bit Panicked' Over Memory Crisis
Memory prices have surged over 80% in 2026 as shortages grip the semiconductor industry.
Big Tech Found a Loophole Around Trump's $100K H-1B Fee
Amazon, Google, and other giants are eyeing workarounds to dodge the hefty new visa fee hitting foreign worker hires.
Mistral's Revenue Explodes 20x as Europe Ditches US AI
French AI startup Mistral rockets from $20M to $400M+ ARR in just one year, eyes $1B by 2026.
OpenAI's Fidji Simo Spills on ChatGPT Ads and Ending Code Red
OpenAI's applications chief reveals plans for ChatGPT advertising and hints at new model to address Sam Altman's internal crisis.
AI Models Now Building Full Apps Solo, Knowledge Work on Notice
GPT-5.3-Codex and Claude Opus 4.6 can now handle entire app development cycles without human intervention.
LastPass CEO: 2022 Breach Actually Made Us Better
LastPass claims its massive 2022 security disaster drove company-wide overhaul and new enterprise features.
Study: Homegrown Indian Founders Outperform Returning Diaspora
New research suggests local Indian entrepreneurs beat returning expats in long-term startup success.
Ant Group Bets Big on AI Healthcare After IPO Disaster
Chinese fintech giant promotes health unit to top-tier status, banking on AI-powered medicine for its comeback story.
ByteDance Building Its Own AI Chips, Eyes Samsung for Production
TikTok's parent company plans to produce 100K+ custom AI inference chips by 2026 with Samsung's help.
UK Chip Startup Olix Hits Unicorn Status With $220M Raise
London-based Olix joins the unicorn club, gunning for Nvidia's crown in AI chips.
Garner Health Hits Unicorn Status With $118M Series D
NYC healthtech startup uses data analytics to match workers with top doctors, now valued at $1.35 billion.
Backslash Security Bags $19M to Police Your Vibe Coding Habits
Tel Aviv startup raises Series A to protect enterprises from the security risks of AI-assisted coding.
Siemens CEO Talks AI, Automation, and Managing 320K Employees
Roland Busch opens up on 170 years of industrial evolution and how Siemens is augmenting LLMs for manufacturing.
xAI Bleeding Talent as Sixth Co-Founder Heads for Exit
Jimmy Ba becomes the latest founding member to leave Elon Musk's AI venture amid wider researcher exodus.
Amazon Gets Green Light for 4,500 More Satellites
FCC approves Amazon's second-gen satellite constellation, supercharging its Starlink competitor.
Cloudflare Crushes Q4, Stock Rockets 14% After Hours
The CDN giant posted $614.5M in Q4 revenue, beating estimates and issuing bullish guidance for 2024.
Alphabet Just Borrowed $32 Billion in Under 24 Hours
Google's parent company went on a massive debt-raising spree across three currencies in a single day.
ChatGPT's Deep Research Gets GPT-5.2 Upgrade and Site-Specific Search
OpenAI supercharges its research tool with the latest model and lets users target specific websites for digging.
OpenAI Fires VP Amid Discrimination Claims and Adult Mode Concerns
OpenAI ousted executive Ryan Beiermeister in January over sexual discrimination allegations against a male employee.
Anthropic Lets Claude Run the Office Vending Machine
AI safety startup Anthropic created 'Project Vend' to let its AI system Claudius manage snack dispensing.
Tuesday, February 10
Samsung Sets Date for Galaxy S26 Reveal in San Francisco
Galaxy Unpacked lands February 25 in SF, with Samsung's next flagship phones expected to take center stage.
LayerZero Drops Its Own Layer 1 Blockchain With Wall Street Heavyweights
LayerZero Labs launches Zero blockchain with backing from Citadel Securities, DTCC, Google Cloud, and ICE.
SafeMoon CEO Gets 8+ Years in Prison for Crypto Fraud
Braden John Karony will serve 100 months behind bars after defrauding SafeMoon investors out of millions.
Prediction Markets Explode: Super Bowl Drives $1.2B in Bets
Kalshi and Polymarket combined for massive trading volume during Sunday's big game, signaling a new era for prediction markets.
Discord Won't Require Face Scans for Most Users' Age Verification
Discord reassures users that AI-based age prediction will spare most from invasive ID checks.
Lyft Stock Tanks 13% After Weak Q4 Results and Grim Q1 Outlook
Ride-hailing company misses revenue estimates and warns of tough quarter ahead despite announcing $1B buyback.
YouTube Plays the 'We're Netflix' Card in Addiction Lawsuit
Google's video giant tries to dodge social media addiction claims by calling itself an entertainment platform.
Benioff's ICE Jokes Spark Internal Backlash at Salesforce
Salesforce CEO caught heat from employees after cracking jokes about ICE at a company event.
Meta Flooded TV with 3,500+ Ads Before Teen Addiction Trial
Instagram's parent company launched a massive ad blitz promoting teen safety features ahead of landmark court case.
Facebook Lets You Animate Your Profile Pic With AI
Meta's latest feature turns static profile photos into waving, hat-wearing animations using AI prompts.
SBF Throws Hail Mary, Seeks New Trial From Prison
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried files long-shot appeal claiming new witness testimony could overturn his fraud conviction.
Microsoft Auto-Replacing Aging Secure Boot Certificates on Older PCs
Old Windows machines getting automatic certificate updates before critical security creds expire later this year.
Spanish AI Startup Multiverse Eyes €500M Round at Unicorn Valuation
The LLM efficiency startup has hit €100M ARR and wants €500M more to keep shrinking AI's power bill.
CES Boss Gary Shapiro Steps Down After 35-Year Run
The man who turned CES into tech's biggest annual circus is finally handing over the keys.
KPMG Slashes Audit Fees by Threatening AI Replacement
Big Four firm strong-armed its own auditor into lower rates by claiming AI makes the work cheaper.
Singapore Points Finger at Chinese Hackers for Telecom Breach
Chinese-backed group UNC3886 ran months-long cyber-espionage campaign against Singapore's top four telcos.
Vega Lands $120M to Hunt Security Threats With AI
Cloud security startup Vega hits $700M valuation as enterprises ditch legacy tools for AI-powered threat detection.
Kraken Boots CFO Just Months Before IPO
Crypto exchange shuffles top finance exec into advisory role as public listing looms.
Reco Bags $30M to Hunt Threats in Your SaaS Stack
Israeli cybersecurity startup Reco raises Series B to expand AI-powered threat detection across enterprise SaaS environments.
Blockchain.com Finally Lands UK Crypto License After 2022 Retreat
The London-based crypto firm secures FCA approval three years after pulling its initial application.
EU Moves to Block Crypto Transactions with Russia
Brussels targets crypto platforms and stablecoins to close sanctions loopholes with Russia.
Cisco Drops 3nm Chip to Challenge Broadcom and Nvidia in AI
Cisco's new Silicon One G300 switch chip targets the booming AI data center market with cutting-edge 3nm tech.
Matia Bags $21M to Untangle Enterprise Data Pipeline Chaos
Israeli startup wants to be the single pane of glass for enterprise data operations.
Cadence Unleashes AI Agent That Designs Chips 10x Faster
ChipStack builds a 'mental model' of chip design to accelerate the notoriously complex process for companies like Nvidia.
Nebius Drops $275M on AI Search Startup Tavily
Cloud computing giant snaps up the company helping AI agents find real-time information for coding tasks.
Polymarket Lets You Bet on Who's Winning the Internet
Prediction market teams up with AI firm Kaito to create betting pools around social media clout and vibes.
a16z Now Has 'Veto Power' Over Trump's AI Policy, Ex-Official Claims
Andreessen Horowitz has emerged as the dominant force shaping AI regulation under the current administration.
Zuckerberg Eyes $200M Miami Mansion as CA Eyes Billionaire Tax
Meta's CEO is reportedly shopping for a massive Miami estate as California floats a 5% wealth tax on billionaires.
Solace Hits $1B Valuation to Help You Fight the Healthcare System
The patient advocacy startup just raised $130M to expand its army of healthcare navigators.
Russia Set to Throttle Telegram, Push Homegrown 'Super App'
Russian regulator Roskomnadzor moves to restrict Telegram access starting Tuesday while promoting state-backed alternative.
Meta, TikTok, and Snap Submit to Teen Safety Audits
Big social platforms agree to independent assessments measuring how well they protect young users.
Korean Travel Startup Myrealtrip Eyes $1B+ IPO in 2027
South Korean online travel platform targets unicorn status with Seoul listing as K-culture tourism explodes.
Musk Wants Data Centers in Space by 2029. Experts Say It's Crazy Enough to Work
SpaceX-xAI merger plan includes orbital computing infrastructure that industry insiders call ambitious but achievable.
Spotify Crushes Q4 Expectations With 751M Monthly Users
The streaming giant posted €4.5B in revenue and blew past analyst estimates on operating income.
AI Ads Flooded the Super Bowl. Nobody Cared.
Tech giants spent millions on AI demos during the big game, but old-school beer and donut ads stole the show.
Alibaba Drops Open-Source AI Brain for Robots
DAMO Academy releases RynnBrain, a foundation model designed to help robots handle real-world physical tasks.
China's AI Giants Are Buying Users With Digital Red Envelopes
Alibaba, Tencent, and others are dropping millions on freebies and fresh models to capture users before Lunar New Year.
Macron Warns US May Hit Back Over EU Child Social Media Bans
French president says America could retaliate against European countries pushing to restrict kids' access to social platforms.
Naboo Banks $70M to Turn Corporate Event Booking Into a Bigger Beast
Paris startup Naboo scores major Series B to expand its corporate event marketplace beyond offsites and into broader procurement.
OpenAI Drops 'io' Name for Mystery Hardware, Won't Ship Until 2027
Court documents reveal OpenAI's AI device plans: different branding, and don't expect it for at least two years.
London's Tem Bags $75M to Let AI Tame Energy Costs
UK startup uses artificial intelligence to optimize business energy transactions, hitting $300M+ valuation.
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Ads Hours After Anthropic's Super Bowl Roast
Anthropic mocked OpenAI's ad plans during the Super Bowl. Hours later, ChatGPT ads went live anyway.
New Mexico Takes Meta to Court Over Child Safety Claims
State prosecutors accuse Meta of hiding what it knows about its platforms' harmful effects on children.
Farcaster Founders Ditch Their Own Protocol for Stablecoin Startup
Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan sold Farcaster to Neynar and immediately jumped ship to join Tempo.
Trump Admin Set to Shield Big Tech From Chip Tariffs
US hyperscalers could dodge upcoming semiconductor tariffs thanks to TSMC's American factory commitments.
NLRB Drops SpaceX Case, Signals Full Retreat From Musk Battles
The US labor board abandons its years-long fight over SpaceX firing engineers who criticized Elon Musk.
Monday, February 9
Onsemi Revenue Tanks 11% as Chip Slump Continues
Semiconductor giant posts declining sales across its two biggest units, sending shares tumbling after hours.
Ex-FTX Founders Building New Crypto Exchange Now Worth $1B
Backpack Exchange, led by former FTX and Alameda execs, is raising $50M at a unicorn valuation.
Oxide Computer Bags $200M to Build Private Clouds for the Enterprise
The on-prem cloud startup just raised a massive round, pushing total funding near $390M since 2019.
Study: AI Tools Made Workers Busier, Not Less Burdened
Eight-month research at a US tech company reveals AI intensified work rather than reducing it.
ChatGPT Gets Ads, But Not Near Your Therapy Sessions
OpenAI rolls out advertising to ChatGPT's free and cheapest paid tiers, with guardrails around sensitive topics.
Lyft Finally Rolls Out Teen Accounts, Two Years Behind Uber
Lyft launches nationwide teen rideshare accounts with safety features, playing catch-up to rival Uber.
Neara Hits Unicorn Status With $90M for Disaster-Predicting Digital Twins
Australian infrastructure startup reaches AU$1.1B valuation by helping utilities prepare for catastrophic events.
Alphabet's Bond Sale Drowns in $100B of Investor Demand
Google's parent company sees investors scramble for a piece of its $15B bond offering with 7x oversubscription.
MrBeast's $5.2B Empire Just Bought a Teen Banking App
Beast Industries acquires Step Mobile, bringing fintech into the YouTube mogul's growing entertainment conglomerate.
Autodesk Sues Google Over 'Flow' Trademark in AI Video Tools Fight
Design software giant claims Google stole its Flow name for a competing AI filmmaking product.
Monday.com Stock Craters 20% as AI Tools Threaten Its Territory
Project management giant issues weak Q1 guidance while facing heat from agentic AI competitors.
Alphabet Bets on 100-Year Bond to Fuel AI Infrastructure Binge
Google's parent is selling century-long sterling debt as it races to fund massive AI infrastructure buildout.
Workday CEO Steps Down, Co-Founder Returns to Take the Wheel
Carl Eschenbach exits as Workday CEO with immediate effect as co-founder Aneel Bhusri reclaims the top job.
Europe Opens €2.5B Chip Lab, Reminds US Who Makes the Machines
EU launches major semiconductor research hub in Belgium as ASML flexes its irreplaceable role in global chip supply.
Discord Goes Full Parental Control Mode With Global Age Checks
Discord will require age verification worldwide starting March, defaulting all accounts to teen-safe settings.
Oura's Million-Dollar DC Bet Pays Off Big
The smart ring maker pumped $1M+ yearly into lobbying. Now the Pentagon is its biggest customer.
Alphabet Taps Bond Market for $15B to Fuel Massive 2026 Spending
Google's parent company is raising billions through bond sales to bankroll a staggering $185B in capital expenditure next year.
ChatGPT Growth Rebounds as OpenAI Preps New Model Launch
Sam Altman says ChatGPT is back to double-digit monthly growth, with a fresh model dropping this week.
Alibaba's AI Chatbot Overwhelmed, Pauses Coupon Campaign
Qwen halts promotional coupon distribution after user demand crashes the system, derailing Alibaba's agentic AI push.
Anthropic Hires Philosopher to Teach Claude Right From Wrong
Amanda Askell is Anthropic's in-house philosopher tasked with giving the AI chatbot a moral compass.
AWS Locks In STMicro as Chip Supplier, Stock Soars 5%
Amazon's cloud arm inks deal with Franco-Italian chipmaker for data center semiconductors.
Chinese Chip Designer Montage Soars 64% in Hong Kong IPO Debut
Montage Technology's $902M IPO marks Hong Kong's biggest first-day pop since Kuaishou went public in 2021.
YouTube Music Now Charges for Song Lyrics
Free users get just five lyric views before hitting a Premium paywall on YouTube Music.
EU Slaps Meta With Warning Over WhatsApp AI Chatbot Lockout
European Commission fires warning shot at Meta for blocking rival AI assistants on WhatsApp.
FedEx Joins €7.8B Buyout of Polish Parcel Locker Giant InPost
Private equity consortium snaps up Europe's largest automated parcel locker network in massive logistics deal.
Crypto.com Boss Hijacks Super Bowl to Launch AI Agent Platform
Kris Marszalek drops ai.com during the big game, letting users claim handles for personalized AI agents.
AI Giants Dominated Super Bowl 2026 With Multimillion-Dollar Ad Blitz
Anthropic, OpenAI, and Amazon dropped big bucks on Super Bowl spots, cementing AI as the tech industry's main event.
Tether Hits 300 Employees as Stablecoin Giant Eyes Global Expansion
Crypto's most profitable company is scaling up operations and restructuring for its next phase of growth.
Blackstone Drops $10B on Australian AI Data Center Startup
Firmus scores one of Australia's largest private credit deals to fuel its AI infrastructure expansion.
China Goes All-In on Humanoid Robots With Land, Loans, and Subsidies
Beijing is flooding its humanoid robot sector with government support, but some observers worry a bubble is forming.
General Catalyst's New President Eyes European Defense Startups
Jeannette zu Fürstenberg takes the reins at GC, betting big on Europe's geopolitically critical tech scene.
Section 230 Turns 30 as Big Tech Faces Legal Reckoning
The law that built the modern internet is facing its biggest test yet in upcoming court battles.
Sunday, February 8
Moltbook: The Bot-Only Social Network That Captivated the Internet
A vibe-coded Reddit clone for AI bots became the web's hottest destination, then vanished just as quickly.
AI Is Flooding Romance Novels, and Nobody's Admitting It
Romance writers are quietly using AI to churn out books, hiding behind pen names and skipping disclosure.
Anthropic Tells Investors It'll Hit $30B Revenue by End of 2026
The Claude maker is riding enterprise coding tools to eye-popping growth projections.
Big Tech's AI Spending Spree Is Draining Cash Reserves Dry
Amazon, Google, and Meta's massive capex plans will nearly eliminate free cash flow this year.
India Gives Deep-Tech Startups More Room to Grow
India doubles eligibility period to 20 years and triples revenue caps for deep-tech startup benefits.
Mercor Drops $2M Signing Bonuses to Poach micro1 Engineers
AI hiring startup Mercor is raiding rival micro1 with massive cash offers as the talent war heats up.
