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Techmeme
February 19, 2026, 11:05 AM
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Top News

Reuters:
Sources: the US State Department is building an online portal at freedom.gov that will let users in Europe and elsewhere see content banned by their governments  —  The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned …
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
India's AI Summit: Modi orchestrated a photo op with tech and business leaders holding hands in a line, but Sam Altman and Dario Amodei refused to clasp hands  —  Once a rival, always a rival.  —  As Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the busiest day of India's AI Summit in New Delhi …
New York Times:
Inside India's AI Impact Summit: 300+ exhibitors, 500 sessions, 250K visitors, billions in investment, and entrepreneurs touting solutions to real-world issues  —  The event promised to be a global coming-out party for India's artificial intelligence aspirations.
Cherylann Mollan / BBC:
The Gates Foundation says Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote at India's AI Summit after “careful consideration”, amid controversy over his Epstein ties  —  Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, his philanthropic organisation …
Bloomberg:
Indian conglomerate Reliance plans to invest up to ~$110B to build AI-related infrastructure over the next seven years, and JioHotstar plans a ChatGPT-based bot
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
India-based Tata Group signs OpenAI as its first data center client, starting with 100MW of capacity, and plans to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise, starting with TCS
CNBC:
Social media addiction trial: Mark Zuckerberg says increasing engagement on Instagram is not a company goal and that Meta removes underage users it identifies  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back against the notion that the social media company made increasing time spent on Instagram a company goal.
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of its record $100B+ round; its overall valuation, including the eventual funding, could exceed $850B  —  OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of a new funding round that is likely to bring in more than $100 billion …
Gayoung Lee / Gizmodo:
Microsoft's Project Silica team details its laser-modified glass storage tech, saying tests suggest that it can preserve large amounts of data for 10,000+ years  —  “This will change the way we think about keeping data and archival preservation.”  —  Our knowledge of the past comes from stone tablets and old parchment.
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Amazon dethrones Walmart as the world's largest company by revenue, reporting $717B in 2025 sales, compared to Walmart's $713.2B for the 12 months to January 31  —  Amazon.com Inc. has officially dethroned Walmart Inc. as the biggest global company by revenue, a milestone attesting …
Niko Gallogly / New York Times:
eBay agrees to acquire secondhand clothing app Depop from Etsy for ~$1.2B in cash; Etsy bought Depop, popular with Gen Z, in 2021 for $1.6B; ETSY jumps 5%+  —  The $1.2 billion deal comes as eBay looks to expand its appeal among younger users.  —  Secondhand clothing apps hit a stride during …
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
eBay reports Q4 revenue up 15% YoY to $3B, above $2.87B est., GMV up 10% YoY to $21.2B, net income down 23% YoY to $525M, and forecasts Q1 profit above est.
Ece Yildirim / Gizmodo:
Study: X's feed algorithm favors conservative content, and switching to For You for seven weeks shifted users' views toward more conservative political opinions  —  The algorithm also doesn't like posts by traditional news media, the researchers found.  —  In case you had any doubt …
The Guardian:
The UK proposes requiring tech companies to remove nonconsensual abusive content within 48 hours, or risk being blocked and fined up to 10% of global revenue  —  PM says measure, also applied to deepfake nudes, is needed owing to a ‘national emergency’ of online misogyny
Katie Roof / The Information:
ZaiNar, a developer of a GPS alternative that uses Wi-Fi and 5G to provide location data, raised $10M at a $1B valuation, bringing its total funding to $100M  —  Over the last two years, investors and researchers have flocked to startups helping bring AI into the physical world …
Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News:
Ownwell, which uses AI to let homeowners appeal property taxes, raised a $30M Series B, bringing its total funding to $54M; it also raised $20M in debt  —  Ownwell, an AI-powered startup that appeals property taxes on behalf of homeowners, has secured $50 million in financing …
More: FinSMEs
Bloomberg:
Atlassian's founders lost ~$7.2B in wealth in 2026, behind AppLovin's three founders, amid a SaaS rout; TEAM is down 45%+ YTD, the Nasdaq 100's worst performer  —  Michael Cannon-Brookes became a billionaire in his 30s and one of Australia's richest tech executives with the initial public offering …
Jyoti Mann / The Information:
Sources: Meta has revived a previously shelved smartwatch project, now code-named Malibu 2, and plans to release it in 2026 with health features and Meta AI  —  Meta Platforms plans to release its first smartwatch in 2026, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:05 AM ET, February 19, 2026.

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From Mediagazer

Todd Spangler / Variety:
On a staff call, Bari Weiss defends firing Scott Pelley, saying the foundation of “trust and mutual respect” was broken after Pelley's outburst on Monday

Bloomberg:
Bill Ackman's Pershing Square plans to sell its stake in Universal Music Group, days after the Amsterdam-listed group rejected his takeover bid

Washington Post:
Two Stars and Stripes advisory board members sue the US Defense Department, saying new restrictions on the paper violate the First Amendment and federal law

More News

Earlier Picks

OpenAI:
OpenAI and Paradigm announce EVMbench, a benchmark that measures how well AI agents can detect, exploit, and patch high-severity smart contract vulnerabilities
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple adds support for third-party voice-based conversational apps in CarPlay starting with iOS 26.4, letting CarPlay users access apps like AI chatbots
The Record:
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues TP-Link, alleging it deceptively markets its products as secure while allowing the CCP to hack into consumers' devices
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