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February 16, 2026, 6:00 AM
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| 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, TechCrunch, The Register, Times of India, Benzinga, Reuters, Financial Times, The Verge, Tech.eu, Silicon Republic, Bloomberg, The Hans India, The Information, CNBC, Decrypt, Implicator.ai, The Deep View, SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, and Crypto Briefing
X: @steipete, @yuchenj_uw, @altryne, @om, @gdb, @ibab, @levie, @mirkogarozzo, @dylanabruscato, @steipete, @jessicalessin, @dabit3, @filipe_almeida, @thsottiaux, @emollick, @scottjduffy, @rayfernando1337, @alxfazio, @timhaldorsson, @toddsaunders, @anothercohen, @romainhuet, @dahongfei, @steipete, @meta_alchemist, @cofoundersnik, @christyhwchoi, @chrismaconi, @alexfinn, @theprimeagen, @badlogicgames, @dvassallo, @swyx, @zackkorman, @edzitron, @themotelman, @davemorin, @apoorva_mehta, @aakashgupta, @romainhuet, @krausefx, @fidjissimo, @hsvsphere, @jquinonero, @iannuttall, @bilawalsidhu, @joannastern, @raphaelschaad, @benjamindekr, @gregisenberg, @bullyesq, @sytaylor, @kareldoostrlnck, and @steipete
LinkedIn: Romain Huet, Iago Maciel, Wei Manfredi, and Choon Leng Chia
Mastodon: @drahardja@sfba.social and @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: Hacker News, r/OpenAI, r/BetterOffline, 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.
More: Engadget, Barron's Online, Livemint, Neowin, The Information, Lex Fridman, DigiTimes, Techstrong.ai, Android Authority, and MacStories
X: @garrytan, @steipete, @steipete, @danielfoch, @theonejvo, @haridigresses, and @steipete
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Apple tweaked its Maps app for Tesla before the EV maker's planned addition of CarPlay; low-cost MacBook will get an aluminum chassis in playful colors — Tesla's plan to start supporting CarPlay in its vehicles has been held back by the need for changes in iOS 26's Maps app.
More: Gizmodo, PCMag, 9to5Mac, GSMArena.com, Engadget, Digital Trends, Tech Times, Forbes, The Apple Post, iPhone in Canada, Neowin, PhoneArena, The Mac Observer, Appleosophy, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, and iClarified
X: @markgurman, @markgurman, @thijsverreck, @markgurman, @markgurman, @rudrank, and @markgurman. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
| 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: CNBC, Decrypt, Breitbart, The Information, The Wrap, Deadline, Associated Press, South China Morning Post, TechCrunch, and Engadget
Forums: r/technology, r/MediaMergers, and r/movies
| 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, Blockonomi, Bitcoin News, and Cointelegraph
X: @vitalikbuterin, @0xandros, @victornotaro, @allquantor, and @kenilshahh
| Will Oremus / Washington Post: |
Former NPR host David Greene sues Google for allegedly replicating his voice in NotebookLM without permission; Google says the voice is based on a paid actor — NPR's David Greene says he was “completely freaked out” when he heard an AI voice that sounded just like his own, and he's suing over it.
More: Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Neowin, Digital Trends, and Newser
X: @willoremus, @defnotbeka, and @eilperin
Bluesky: @carnage4life, @annabookwriter, @samthielman.com, @newsjennifer, @treblaw, @brutumfulmen, @shiraovide, @jeradwalker, and @acarv.in
Forums: Hacker News and r/NPR
| Financial Times: |
Analysis: sports bets on Kalshi generate an estimated ~$1.3B in annualized revenue, underscoring the threat prediction markets pose to traditional operators — DraftKings and Flutter shares slide as investors fret about threat posed by apps such as Kalshi — Sports wagers on Kalshi … | 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 … | 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, Sky News, The Independent, The Guardian, Benzinga, BBC, Tech in Asia, HuffPost, crypto.news, Bloomberg, and The i Paper
| Dara Kerr / The Guardian: |
A look at the US tech industry's effort to influence Californian politics: fighting the 5% billionaire tax, super PACs, and seeking a new tech-friendly governor — As Gavin Newsom departs, ultra-wealthy flex wealth and influence to fight regulation and keep the boom going| Jake Angelo / Fortune: |
A look at Anti Fund, a small VC firm cofounded by YouTuber Jake Paul that has gained access to hot rounds in startups like OpenAI, Anduril, Polymarket, and Ramp — Jake Paul crossed paths with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at President Donald Trump's second inauguration ceremony last year …
Bluesky: @hypervisible.blacksky.app
| 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, PiunikaWeb, Android Headlines, TechRadar, and Engadget
| Omar Abdel-Baqui / Wall Street Journal: |
Sensor Tower: dating app downloads in Saudi Arabia have risen annually for five years, hitting 3.5M in 2025, as liberalization enables more casual relationships — Liberalization has opened the door to more casual relationships, but society is still catching up| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Sam Altman says that India has 100M weekly active ChatGPT users, the app's second-largest userbase after the US, ahead of the AI Impact Summit — India has 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, making the country one of OpenAI's largest markets globally, CEO Sam Altman said ahead of a government-hosted AI summit.
More: The Hans India, Digit, The Indian Express, CNBC, Times of India, Fortune India, Moneycontrol, Tech in Asia, The Economic Times, DigiTimes, Livemint, and Hindustan Times. Bluesky: @atroposinsights.com
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Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
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Sundar Pichai on Gemini 4 and the AI compute crunch
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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Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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