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February 19, 2026, 6:50 AM
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| Reuters: |
Sources: the US State Department is building an online portal at freedom.gov to let users in Europe and elsewhere view 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 …
More: The Guardian, The European Conservative, GB News, Reclaim The Net, and The Post Millennial
X: @jamestitcomb, @as400495, @florian4gamers, @ordinarygamers, @elonmusk, @g_slattery, @developerharris, @alx, and @nickadobos
Bluesky: @petertl, @marypcbuk, @carnage4life, @benfenton, @parismarx.com, @tyleraking.com, @bcmerchant, @kendrawrites.com, @abeardedpanda, @realjuicyjay.blacksky.app, @noupside, @alexanotherone, @caseynewton, @originalsp.in, @markjacob, @lottelydia, @davidcorn, @lepetitereboot, @brainnotonyet, @5-2blue, @ndrew, @explaintrade.com, @froomkin, @davidakaye, @tjmcintyre.com, @mbkplus, @waldo.net, @fritzbischoff, @paleofuture, and @lukesteuber.com
Mastodon: @evacide@hachyderm.io and @kevinrothrock@infosec …
Forums: r/privacy, r/politics, r/worldnews, r/eutech, r/europe, and r/europeanunion
| Joe Miller / Financial Times: |
US OPM Director Scott Kupor says tech billionaires like Elon Musk will give talks to the US Tech Force, which aims to recruit roughly 1,000 software engineers — Programme aims to modernise digital infrastructure of US federal agencies — Tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman …
Bluesky: @metacurity.com
| 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 awkwardly refused — Once a rival, always a rival. — As Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the busiest day of India's AI Summit in New Delhi …
More: Business Today, The Indian Express, Business Insider, BMI, Hindustan Times, and Livemint
X: @siddharthb_, @prathamgrv, @ns123abc, @pitdesi, @indianidle, @hopes_revenge, @autismcapital, @trendulkar, @ani, @sidhant, @himanshustwts, and @yuchenj_uw. Bluesky: @shona
| 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 …
More: Times of India, Al Jazeera, Telegraph, NDTV, Bloomberg, Business Standard, Digit, Press Trust of India, The Hindu, and Storyboard18
X: @princearihan, @marionawfal, @marionawfal, and @priyankac19. Bluesky: @dominicervolina.com. Forums: r/news
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
| New York Times: |
More: Reuters, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Guardian, Politico, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, and Bloomberg. X: @madhavchanchani
| 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.
More: The Guardian, Business Insider, SFGATE, New York Times, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, BBC, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, NPR, BERNAMA, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, Anadolu Ajansı …, Times of India, NEOS KOSMOS, CNN, Tech Times, Courthouse News Service, BMI, The Boston Globe, Moneycontrol, Newser, The Korea Herald, The Verge, Wired, Implicator.ai, Deadline, Information Age, Business Insider, The Information, Tech Oversight Project, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Engadget, Bloomberg, Livemint, Straight Arrow News, Mashable, Forbes Australia, Al Jazeera, NewsNation, The Free Press, Overturned, Gizmodo, YouTube, Semafor, One America News Network, Digital CxO, LAW.com, The American Bazaar, CNN, Breitbart, CBS News, International Business Times, ABC, Fox News, Axios, New York Post, The National, New York Post, The Wrap, Sydney Morning Herald, Deseret News, Bloomberg, and Quartz
X: @tech_oversight, @kyle_a_morse, @barnes_law, @matthewstoller, @philthatremains, @tech_oversight, @thewarmonitor, @amy_siskind, @sachalouise, and @senblumenthal. LinkedIn: Kelly Stonelake
Bluesky: @karlbode.com, @alexlaughs, @theresistanceco, and @davelee.me
Forums: r/apple, r/politics, r/politics, r/NPR, r/technology, and r/LegalNews
| Gayoung Lee / Gizmodo: |
Microsoft's Project Silica team details its laser-modified glass storage tech, saying tests suggest that it can preserve information for at least 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.
More: Microsoft Research, Nature, Ars Technica, Help Net Security, Microsoft Research, ITPro, New Scientist, PCWorld, Digital Trends, The Register, GovTech, LiveScience, Science, The Guardian, and The Independent
X: @satyanadella. LinkedIn: Satya Nadella. Mastodon: @hkrn@mstdn.social. Forums: r/technology and Ars OpenForum
| 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 17%+ — The $1.2 billion deal comes as eBay looks to expand its appeal among younger users. — Secondhand clothing apps hit a stride during …
More: Etsy, Inc., Silicon Republic, RTÉ, Barron's Online, ChannelX, Associated Press, City A.M., The Independent, Economic news, TheIndustry.fashion, BusinessCloud, SmartCompany, TheJournal.ie, Dow Jones Newswires, The Information, 9News, WWD, The Business of Fashion, Vogue, Oktopost, TechCrunch, Sky News, San Francisco Business Times, BBC, Value Added Resource, Wall Street Journal, Benzinga, and CNBC
X: @bjornjeffery, @jimcramer, @mikeisaac, and @mikeisaac
| Financial Times: |
Sources: Accenture told executives that promotions would require “regular” AI adoption and it is tracking individual weekly AI tool logins for some senior staff — Consulting firms use ‘carrot and stick’ with some senior staff less willing to use technology than junior colleagues| The Guardian: |
The UK proposes new rules requiring tech firms to remove nonconsensual abusive content within 48 hours or risk blocking and fines of up to 10% of global revenue — PM says measure, also applied to deepfake nudes, is needed owing to a ‘national emergency’ of online misogyny
More: BBC, Silicon Republic, Bloomberg, Financial Times, GOV.UK, Ofcom, The Indian Express, The Times, Sky News, Telegraph, Mirror, Reuters, and The Sun
X: @leicesterliz, @keir_starmer, and @scitechgovuk. LinkedIn: Dame Nicole Jacobs. Bluesky: @pqpolitics
Forums: r/unitedkingdom and r/europe
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of its $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 … | The Keyword: |
Google rolls out Lyria 3, a generative music model to make 30-second tracks with Nano Banana-generated cover art, in beta in the Gemini app in eight languages — The Gemini app now features our most advanced music generation model Lyria 3, empowering anyone to make 30-second tracks using text or images in beta.
More: Livemint, Ghacks, Tech Times, The Verge, GSMArena.com, Digit, The Deep View, SammyGuru, Los Angeles Times, Communicate Online, SiliconANGLE, arabnews.jp, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, The Rundown AI, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, Mashable, The Register, Engadget, MarkTechPost, SQ Magazine, Mix 1049, Campaign Middle East, Neowin, PCMag, Tom's Guide, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, and EFTM
X: @geminiapp, @googledeepmind, @slow_developer, @kimmonismus, @iamemily2050, @pyvrma, @marcelocaporale, @710_eth, @natlungfy, @rpnickson, @allan_d_clive, @ammaar, @stocksavvyshay, @jasonbaldridge, @_philschmid, @google, @google, @googleai, @officiallogank, @synthwavedd, and @joshwoodward
LinkedIn: Eyal Rozenberg, PhD, Jeff Chang, and Debbie W.
Forums: r/singularity and Slashdot
| Ece Yildirim / Gizmodo: |
An experiment finds X's feed algorithm favored conservative content, and switching to the For You feed shifted users' views toward more conservative positions — The algorithm also doesn't like posts by traditional news media, the researchers found. — In case you had any doubt …
More: Nature, Ben Werdmuller, and Forbes
Mastodon: @johnnyryan@eupolicy.social, @leavex@mastodon.social, @metin@graphics.social, and @Doug_Bostrom@scicomm.xyz
Forums: Hacker News, r/technology, r/technology, and r/NoShitSherlock
| 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 — With iOS 26.4, CarPlay users will be able to use third-party chatbots with CarPlay. AI services like Claude, Gemini …
More: Apple, Digital Trends, Ghacks, Moneycontrol, NERDBOT, Car and Driver, Mashable, iDrop News, CNET, AppleInsider, iClarified, 9to5Mac, and BGR
| 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 — Texas is suing networking equipment company TP-Link Systems for allegedly allowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to hack into consumers' devices … | New York Times: |
Meta plans to spend $65M in 2026 to boost AI-friendly state politicians; filings show Meta started two super PACs, one backing the GOP and another for Democrats — Meta's biggest election investment aims to prevent state legislation that it fears could inhibit artificial intelligence development.
More: Wall Street Journal, Originally Reported …, Tech Oversight Project, The Verge, and Political Wire
X: @melatkirosco, @likebutterfield, @nathantbernard, @mattplatkin, @rhymewithocean, @jdcocchiarella, @hbendaas, @reed_showalter, @cernovich, @thegreenebj, @ryangrim, @leehepner, @teddyschleifer, and @teddyschleifer
Bluesky: @vortexegg.com, @mattheweadie, and @sachalouise
Forums: r/BetterOffline, r/politics, r/technology, and Slashdot
| Bloomberg: |
Russian forces in Ukraine face communications issues as SpaceX restricts Starlink access and Telegram faces a crackdown, per pro-Russian military channels — Russian forces fighting in Ukraine are facing communications problems from the dual blow of restricted access to Elon Musk's Starlink …
More: Economic news and The War Zone
| OpenAI: |
OpenAI and Paradigm announce EVMbench, a benchmark that measures how well AI agents can detect, exploit, and patch high-severity smart contract vulnerabilities — Making smart contracts safer by evaluating AI agents' ability to detect, patch, and exploit vulnerabilities in blockchain environments.
More: Help Net Security, The Block, crypto.news, Cyber Security News, Blockonomi, DL News, Cointelegraph, Rohan's Bytes, Decrypt, CoinGape, The Crypto Times, and Paradigm
X: @0xalpo, @openai, @scaling01, @antoniogm, and @gdb
Forums: r/singularity and r/OpenAI
| Bloomberg: |
Atlassian's founders lost ~$7.2B in wealth in 2026, behind AppLovin's three founders, amid an SaaS rout; TEAM dropped ~48% 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 … | Emily Steel / New York Times: |
Sources: Uber is moving to bar drivers with convictions for violent felonies, sexual offenses, and child or elder abuse, after an NYT report in December 2025 — The New York Times revealed in December that the ride-hailing giant approved drivers with many types of criminal convictions, including violent felonies.| Michael Lynton / Wall Street Journal: |
Book extract: ex-Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton recounts his role in sparking North Korea's 2014 hack, one of the worst cyberattacks in corporate history — In an exclusive book excerpt, the former CEO of Sony Entertainment opens up about his role in unleashing one of the worst cyberattacks in corporate history.
Bluesky: @metacurity.com
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Bluesky integrates Germ DM, an E2E encrypted messaging app built on AT Protocol, making it the first private messenger natively available in the Bluesky app — Here's something that you've never seen on Big Tech social platforms: The decentralized open social network Bluesky has integrated …
Bluesky: @alexbenzer.com, @evacide, @germnetwork.com, and @germnetwork.com
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Indian digital payments company Pine Labs plans to embed OpenAI APIs into its infrastructure to enable AI-assisted settlement, reconciliation, and invoicing — As India pitches itself as a global hub for applied artificial intelligence, OpenAI has partnered with Pine Labs to integrate AI-driven reasoning …
More: The Economic Times and Tech in Asia
| CEPR: |
A study of 12K+ EU companies finds AI adoption increases labor productivity by 4% on average in the EU, with no evidence of reduced employment in the short run — Artificial intelligence promises to reshape economies worldwide, but firm-level evidence on its effects in Europe remains scarce.| Bloomberg: |
Crypto lending firm Ledn sold $188M in securitized bonds backed by bitcoin loans, making it the first deal of its kind in the market for asset-backed debt — Crypto lending firm Ledn Inc. has sold $188 million of securitized bonds backed by Bitcoin, making it the first ever deal of its kind in the market for asset-backed debt.
More: Cointelegraph, CoinDesk, BeInCrypto, Bitcoin Magazine, and The Block
| Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: |
Apple Podcasts' fresh leap into video podcasts accelerates the podcast industry's shift from an audio-centric medium to a decidedly video-focused one — Apple Podcasts' fresh leap into video podcasts refocuses the audio medium on visuals — Welcome back to Soundbite.| Hazel Gandhi / Rest of World: |
Nonprofit What To Fix says Facebook's content monetization program grew from under 3M to over 12M participants in just over a year; 8M+ accounts are in English — And Indonesian creators are leading the charge. — Facebook's new content monetization program is booming …
X: @restofworld
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