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February 21, 2026, 12:00 PM
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Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Jordan Novet / CNBC: |
Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma, the president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, will become the CEO of gaming — Microsoft's head of gaming, Phil Spencer, is leaving the software maker following a 38-year tenure, as the company's Xbox business faces increased challenges.
More: Microsoft, HotHardware, Windows Central, Variety, Ars Technica, Times of India, Game Informer, The Verge, The American Bazaar, Game File, Pure Xbox, Push Square, Tech4Gamers, Phandroid, Moneycontrol, Business Today, Economic news, Benzinga, TechRadar, GeekWire, UPI, Deadline, Comic Book, The Wrap, PocketGamer.biz, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Mobilegamer.biz, Forbes, Engadget, Kotaku, TheGamer, DayOne, Business Insider, Thurrott, The Game Business, GeekWire, Screen Rant, GamesRadar, The Information, Windows Central, Game Developer, The Verge, Kotaku, Blue's News, Sherwood News, and PC Gamer
X: @xboxp3, @legacykillahd, @jronald, @paultassi, @davidscottjaffe, @raywongy, @petermooreusa, @signulll, @mr_rebs_, @klobrille, @mightykeef, @dansgaming, @fwiz, @thetruebowser, @ordinarygamers, @welfare_jbp, @aakashgupta, @nick_marseil, @mightykeef, @chrisavellone, @thecarteldel, @youtheremehere, @timsweeneyepic, @asha_shar, @paultassi, @reggie, @theo, @aarongreenberg, @firstadopter, @bellulargaming, @geoffkeighley, @markrein, @xbox, @xboxp3, @xboxp3, @xboxp3, @xboxp3, @okami13_, @detectiveseeds, @mischiefsyt, @mr_rebs_, @lukestephens, @hoeglaw, @arron_tk, @videotechuk_, @destiny_thememe, @vara_dark, @zephyr_z9, @rgt_85, @firstadopter, and @stephentotilo. LinkedIn: LinkedIn
Bluesky: @mgsiegler.com, @benalterman.com, and @stevekovach
Forums: r/consoles, r/technology, r/XboxSeriesS, r/pcmasterrace, r/xbox, and r/videogames
| Ryan McCaffrey / IGN: |
Xbox President Sarah Bond, long thought to be Phil Spencer's heir, is leaving; Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is promoted to Chief Content Officer — Spencer's run with Xbox ends just months shy of the brand's 25th anniversary. — Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer …
More: Neowin, Video Games Chronicle, Polygon.com, Tech4Gamers, GamesRadar, Pure Xbox, Comic Book, Tom's Guide, Aftermath, 80 Level, XDA Developers, Mashable, Game Informer, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Destructoid, Push Square, TheGamer, Dexerto, DayOne, GamingBolt, Stevivor, Kotaku, GamesIndustry.biz, PC Gamer, GameRant, Insider Gaming, The Verge, and GamesBeat
X: @nib95_, @detectiveseeds, and @firstadopter
LinkedIn: Sarah Bond and Ryan Wyatt
Bluesky: @cypheroftyr and @stealth40k
| Sean Hollister / The Verge: |
Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma says she is committed to “the return of Xbox” and that the company won't “flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop” — She's promising “The return of Xbox.” … Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer has just announced he's leaving … | Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: OpenAI staff raised concerns about a Canadian mass shooting suspect months ago; OpenAI says her activity didn't meet the bar for reporting to police — ChatGPT maker opted against informing authorities about Jesse Van Rootselaar's descriptions of violence last June
More: TechCrunch, Associated Press, The Verge, BBC, ZeroHedge News, Fox News, The Asia Business Daily, Pixel Envy, The Decoder, New York Post, Globe and Mail, twitchy.com, The Post Millennial, Futurism, Business Standard, 77 WABC, and NextBigWhat
X: @agoldmund, @benwoodfinden, @klonnypin_gosch, @seltzergenius, @prestonjbyrne, @arictoler, @luke_metro, @mrgunn, @miles_brundage, @miles_brundage, @autismcapital, @elonmusk, and @jeffbercovici
Bluesky: @drewharwell.com, @grahammacklin, @jenstden, and @kevincollier
Forums: r/singularity, r/news, r/BetterOffline, r/britishcolumbia, and r/canada
| Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg: |
Anthropic launches Claude Code Security, which “scans codebases for security vulnerabilities and suggests targeted software patches”; cybersecurity stocks fall — Shares of cybersecurity software companies tumbled Friday after Anthropic PBC introduced a new security feature into its Claude AI model.
More: Anthropic, Runtime, PCMag, Matt Mullenweg, CyberScoop, The Hacker News, SiliconANGLE, Cyber Security News, The Decoder, Benzinga, The Economic Times, Investor's Business Daily, The Deep View, Implicator.ai, Motley Fool, Claude, Blockchain.News, Yahoo Finance, The Information, and CRN
X: @omercheeema, @manztrades, @mattjay, @bcherny, @jay_azhang, @jaykreps, @litcapital, @abrilzucchi, @firstadopter, @trq212, @trq212, @trq212, @heidykhlaaf, @thegeorgepu, @matrosov, @contrariancurse, and @claudeai
LinkedIn: Philippe Bogaerts, Ibad Rehman, Guy Flechter, and Pradeep Sanyal
Bluesky: @heidykhlaaf, @hmans.dev, and @tyleraking.com
Forums: r/InformatikKarriere, r/technology, r/StockMarket, r/ClaudeCode, r/ClaudeAI, and Slashdot
| Benedict Evans: |
A look at the fundamental questions facing OpenAI: its models have a very large user base but very narrow engagement, incumbents are matching its tech, and more — “Jakub and Mark set the research direction for the long run. Then after months of work, something incredible emerges …
More: The Register and Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At
| Sources: |
An interview with Notion CEO Ivan Zhao on Custom Notion AI agents launching in the coming week, over 50% of Notion databases now being built by agents, and more — CEO Ivan Zhao on the company's big custom agents launch, changing its business model for AI, hiring a 16-year-old engineer, and more.| Matthew Gault / 404 Media: |
Pinterest users, especially artists, say the platform has gotten worse in the past year due to AI moderation, AI-generated art, and AI features — Users are exhausted fighting AI moderation, AI-generated art, and AI-first features. — Pinterest has gone all in on artificial intelligence and users say it's destroying the site.| Andrej Karpathy / @karpathy: |
NanoClaw and other “claws”, smaller OpenClaw-like systems that can run on personal hardware, form a new layer running on top of agents that run on LLMs — Bought a new Mac mini to properly tinker with claws over the weekend. The apple store person told me they are selling like hotcakes and everyone is confused :) I'm definitely a bit sus'd to run OpenClaw specifically - giving my private data/keys to 400K lines of vibe coded
More: Simon Willison's Weblog and The New Stack
X: @simonw, @karpathy, @alexfinn, @garrytan, @garysheng, @punk3700, and @maziyarpanahi
| CNBC: |
Sources: OpenAI is telling investors it's targeting ~$600B in total compute spend by 2030, months after Sam Altman touted $1.4T in infrastructure commitments — OpenAI is telling investors that it's now targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030, months …
More: The Information, Economic news, FundaAI, Gizchina, Tech in Asia, and Reuters
X: @quinnypig, @teortaxestex, @ethanchoi7, and @stalkermustang. LinkedIn: Ashley Capoot. Bluesky: @edzitron.com
Forums: r/StockMarket and r/technology
| Zeyi Yang / Wired: |
President Trump signs an EO to continue the suspension of the de minimis exemption, despite the SCOTUS' ruling that overturned most of Trump's 2025 tariffs — The president signed an executive order implementing 10 percent global tariffs after calling the justices who struck down his signature trade policy a “disgrace.”
More: New York Times, Slate, The Indian Express, Business Today, Benzinga, The Sun, The Independent, MarketWatch, Scripps News, Axios, CBS News, and Reuters
X: @byheatherlong, @aaronrubin, and @tedlieu
| Adam Levine / Barron's Online: |
More: AppleInsider, AppleInsider, Fortune, The Budget Lab at Yale, The White House, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, Slate, Mashable, Reuters, Cult of Mac, PCMag, Benzinga, The Guardian, Taipei Times, Council on Foreign Relations, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Times, Mirror, Autoweek, Silicon Valley Business …, The Straits Times, and Crypto Briefing
Forums: r/Mogong, r/soundsaboutright, r/Washington50501, r/FedEmployees, r/UnderReportedNews, r/waymo, r/NewsStarWorld, r/goodnews, r/inflation, r/unusual_whales, r/JoeRogan, r/ValveDeckard, r/KanagawaWave, r/law, r/sidestreetbets, r/Economics, r/AntiTrumpAlliance, r/Destiny, r/goodnews, r/wallstreet, r/stupidpol, r/AnythingGoesNews, r/StockMarket, r/uspolitics, r/scotus, r/thescoop, r/economy, r/inthenews, r/law, r/democrats, and r/news
| Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg: |
How Claude Code, released publicly a year ago, cemented Anthropic as a leader in the lucrative, emerging market for AI coding tools — Anthropic released Claude Code a year ago, forcing other rivals to play catch-up. — Even Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei was surprised … | Rajesh Roy / Associated Press: |
India joins Pax Silica, a US-led initiative that aims to build secure supply chains for semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and critical technologies — India joined a U.S.-led initiative to strengthen technology cooperation among strategic allies in a move Friday that underscores …
More: Tom's Hardware, The Indian Express, India Press Information Bureau, The Wire, Deccan Herald, United States Department …, Ministry of External Affairs …, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, NDTV, Bloomberg, India Today, The Hindu, Business Standard, Inc42, The Asia Business Daily, Asia's Premier News Agency, DigiTimes, The Economic Times, Fortune India, Digit, Hindustan Times, Livemint, Times of India, ThePrint, China Money Network, and Bloomberg Law
X: @sriramk, @stevehou, @undersece, @meaindia, @econatstate, @ashwinivaishnaw, and @usambindia
| Stanley Widianto / Reuters: |
Google announces a partnership with Sea to develop AI tools for Sea's Shopee, Southeast Asia's most dominant e-commerce platform, and Sea's gaming unit Garena — Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Southeast Asian technology conglomerate Sea Ltd (SE.N) announced a new tie-up on Thursday … Sponsor Posts
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