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February 16, 2026, 10:25 AM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Sam Altman / @sama: |
Sam Altman says Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, is joining OpenAI “to drive the next generation of personal agents”; OpenClaw will remain open source — Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents. He is a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people. We expect this will quickly become core to our
More: Peter Steinberger, The Register, TechCrunch, The Next Web, Financial Times, The Verge, Computerworld, Reuters, Help Net Security, Bloomberg, Unite.AI, Tom's Guide, Times of India, Tech.eu, Decrypt, The Hans India, Implicator.ai, Silicon Republic, Benzinga, CNBC, Engadget, The Deep View, SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, The Information, and Crypto Briefing
X: @steipete, @yuchenj_uw, @altryne, @om, @gdb, @ibab, @levie, @austen, @dylanabruscato, @steipete, @jessicalessin, @dabit3, @filipe_almeida, @thsottiaux, @emollick, @scottjduffy, @rayfernando1337, @alxfazio, @timhaldorsson, @toddsaunders, @anothercohen, @romainhuet, @dahongfei, @steipete, @cofoundersnik, @christyhwchoi, @chrismaconi, @alexfinn, @theprimeagen, @badlogicgames, @dvassallo, @zackkorman, @edzitron, @themotelman, @davemorin, @apoorva_mehta, @aakashgupta, @mirkogarozzo, @romainhuet, @krausefx, @fidjissimo, @hsvsphere, @jquinonero, @iannuttall, @bilawalsidhu, @joannastern, @raphaelschaad, @benjamindekr, @gregisenberg, @bullyesq, @sytaylor, @kareldoostrlnck, @swyx, @meta_alchemist, and @steipete
LinkedIn: Choon Leng Chia, Romain Huet, Wei Manfredi, and Iago Maciel
Mastodon: @drahardja@sfba.social and @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: Hacker News, r/BetterOffline, r/OpenAI, r/clawdbot, and r/openclaw
| Marcus Schuler / Implicator.ai: |
In a podcast, OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger describes his phone calls with Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, and says he had been contacted by “every big VC” — Mark Zuckerberg needed ten minutes. He was finishing code. — Peter Steinberger had called him on WhatsApp without scheduling anything.| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Sony is considering pushing back the debut of its next PlayStation console to 2028 or even 2029, as the AI boom fuels huge memory chip demand — A growing procession of tech industry leaders including Elon Musk and Tim Cook are warning about a global crisis in the making …
More: Forbes, Game Developer, The Verge, Livemint, Pure Xbox, Notebookcheck, iPhone in Canada, Motley Fool, Tech4Gamers, GamesRadar, Video Games Chronicle, TheGamer, Push Square, DigiTimes, Blockonomi, and PlayStation LifeStyle
X: @sonusvarghese. Bluesky: @tomwarren.co.uk and @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk. Forums: r/NintendoSwitch2
| Osmond Chia / BBC: |
ByteDance says it “respects IP rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance” and it plans to “strengthen” safeguards, after Disney's legal threats — Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) … | Todd Spangler / Variety: |
Following Disney, Paramount sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging its AI-generated Seedance videos and Seedream images infringed Paramount's IP — Disney also sent a legal demand to Chinese internet company — Paramount Skydance accused ByteDance of engaging in …
More: The Verge, CNBC, Decrypt, The Information, Deadline, Breitbart, The Wrap, and South China Morning Post
Forums: r/technology, r/MediaMergers, and r/movies
| Hartley Charlton / MacRumors: |
Apple sends invites for a “special Apple Experience” event on March 4 in New York City; rumors suggest an M5 MacBook Pro, entry-level iPad Air, and iPhone 17e — Apple today announced a “special Apple Experience” in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET.
More: Bloomberg, 9to5Mac, Engadget, AppleInsider, PCMag, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Tom's Guide, MacTech.com, Digital Trends, iClarified, The Apple Post, and The Mac Observer
X: @markgurman, @markgurman, @vadimyuryev, @vadimyuryev, @markgurman, and @markgurman
Forums: r/apple and MacRumors Forums
| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Samsung releases an ad for the Galaxy S26 series that briefly shows a “Zero-peeking privacy” toggle to black out on-screen content for onlookers at an angle — Leaker Ice Universe has shared a video of the tech in action. … Samsung has released a new advertisement …
More: YouTube, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, SammyGuru, Android Headlines, Digital Trends, The Mac Observer, and SamMobile
X: @universeice and @universeice
| Eduardo Baptista / Reuters: |
Alibaba debuts Qwen 3.5, adding “visual agentic capabilities” to independently execute tasks, and says it is 60% cheaper to use and 8x better at large workloads — Alibaba on Monday unveiled a new artificial intelligence model Qwen 3.5 designed to execute complex tasks independently …
More: Qwen, Silicon Republic, Implicator.ai, South China Morning Post, The Information, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, and Reuters
X: @theahmadosman, @scaling01, @suvsh, @shariqriazz, @scaling01, @teortaxestex, @tphuang, @alibaba_qwen, @theahmadosman, and @kimmonismus. Forums: Hacker News
| Mari Novik / Financial Times: |
Keir Starmer says no platform “should get a free pass”, as the UK moves to tighten online safety laws covering AI chatbots and social media, to protect children — Keir Starmer to warn tech companies that ‘no platform gets a free pass’ after deepfake scandal involving Grok
More: GOV.UK, Politico, Keir Starmer, The Guardian, The Register, The Economic Times, The Guardian, Forbes, Sky News, CNN, Help Net Security, UKTN, PC Gamer, Benzinga, crypto.news, The Independent, Tech in Asia, Daily Sabah, BBC, HuffPost, Bloomberg, and The i Paper
X: @keir_starmer, @anglopjdst, @guidofawkes, @kathrynporter26, @douglascarswell, @alecmuffett, @beccajiggens, @drhingram, @deandobbs, @yougov, @togetherdec, @anglofuturist, @tomdavenport, @archrose90, @awakenedoutlaw, @james7holland, @scitechgovuk, @karlemilnikka, @joshhousden, @prestonjbyrne, @prestonjbyrne, @drbenspencer, @scitechgovuk, @lukejcr, @alistrathern, @clashreport, @leicesterliz, and @silkiecarlo. Forums: r/ukpolitics
| Tripti Lahiri / Wall Street Journal: |
As India prepares to host its AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week, the country is set to promote a frugal AI strategy focused on solving local issues — The world's most populous country is looking at how it can become an artificial-intelligence power without breaking the bank
More: Moneycontrol, TechCrunch, The Indian Express, The Economic Times, Daily Sabah, and Bloomberg
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
More: Livemint, Fincrypt, Unite.AI, CNBC, Digit, Times of India, Moneycontrol, The Indian Express, The Hans India, The Economic Times, Fortune India, Tech in Asia, DigiTimes, and Hindustan Times. Bluesky: @atroposinsights.com
| Axios: |
A senior Pentagon official says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating it as a “supply chain risk” — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the AI company a …
More: The Economic Times, International Business Times, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, and NewsMax.com
Bluesky: @somewhattolerable.com and @penllawen.favrd.social
Forums: r/BetterOffline and Slashdot
| Zack Abrams / The Block: |
Vitalik Buterin, who backed Polymarket, says he's “starting to worry” that prediction markets “seem to be over-converging to an unhealthy product market fit” — Quick Take — Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that prediction markets are “over-converging” …
More: crypto.news, CryptoNinjas, BeInCrypto, Cryptonews, and Blockonomi
| Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg: |
OpenAI retired GPT-4o on February 13, angering loyal users, 20K+ of whom signed a petition; 4o showed the unique attachment that people can form with chatbots — GPT-4o showed the unique attachment that people can form with chatbots — OpenAI is forcing thousands of people to break up with its most controversial AI model.
More: Tom's Guide and PiunikaWeb
| Erik Brynjolfsson / Financial Times: |
Analysis: US productivity rose by ~2.7% in 2025, nearly doubling the 1.4% annual average over a decade, as AI-exposed sectors cooled their entry-level hiring — New economic data suggests the US is transitioning to a phase of measurable gains from the technology
More: Fortune. X: @danobrien20, @fabioghironi, @producercities, @matthewstoller, @ft, @happyhappyhenri, @alexolegimas, @wholemars, @ai, @darioperkins, @firstadopter, @erikbryn, @briancalbrecht, @micro2macr0, and @greenplusane
LinkedIn: Anthony Battle Mrics Msc and Eric Hazan
| Matthew Chin / CNBC: |
Sensor Tower: TikTok's US DAUs were ~95% of its usership the week of January 19, with metrics showing little sign of a mass exodus since its January 23 takeover — TikTok's U.S. joint venture seems to have survived a turbulent rollout with minimal change in usership, as early narratives … Sponsor Posts
Command Line:
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Will Reed:
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IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
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Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
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Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
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| Will Oremus / Washington Post: |
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X: @willoremus, @defnotbeka, @ryp__, @mollyhf, @lumoherdaui, @rotopat, and @eilperin
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