Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise Site News Contact Editors
Techmeme
February 9, 2026, 2:30 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter

Top News

Stevie Bonifield / The Verge:
Discord says it will roll out age verification globally from March to access some content; all accounts will have a “teen-appropriate experience by default”  —  Beginning in March, all accounts will have a “teen-appropriate experience by default.”
CNBC:
Slack message: Sam Altman tells staff that ChatGPT is “back to exceeding 10% monthly growth”, and OpenAI plans to release “an updated Chat model” this week  —  As OpenAI faces intensifying pressure from rival Anthropic's improved coding tools, CEO Sam Altman …
Bloomberg:
The European Commission sends a statement of objections to Meta over WhatsApp blocking rival AI chatbots, warning it will take measures to avoid “serious” harm  —  Meta Platforms Inc. was given a European Union warning over policies that block the use of rival Artificial Intelligence assistants …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Databricks raised $5B in equity financing and $2B in debt at a $134B valuation and says its annualized revenue crossed $5.4B for the January quarter, up 65% YoY  —  Databricks said Monday it has raised $5 billion in funding and $2 billion in new debt capacity at a $134 billion valuation.
Financial Times:
Sources: Alphabet plans to sell a rare 100-year sterling bond, as Big Tech companies borrow more to fund their capex growth; IBM sold a 100-year bond in 1996  —  Deal comes as Google parent steps up AI borrowing rush with $15bn sale of dollar bonds  —  Alphabet has lined up banks to sell …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Alphabet is set to raise $20B from a US dollar bond sale, more than the $15B initially expected, as it seeks to finance $185B in 2026 capex  —  Alphabet Inc. is borrowing far and wide to finance the unprecedented spending plan behind its artificial intelligence ambitions.
Juro Osawa / The Information:
ByteDance debuts Seedance 2.0, a new version of its AI video generation model that can produce multi-shot scenes, available to select Jimeng and Jianying users  —  ByteDance's new AI video generation model Seedance 2.0, unveiled over the weekend, is generating a lot of buzz on social media, with some calling it a game changer.
Brayden Lindrea / Cointelegraph:
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek launches ai.com in beta during the Super Bowl and opens username registration to let users get a private, personalized AI agent  —  Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek's goal with ai.com is to build “a decentralized network of autonomous, self-improving AI agents …
Bloomberg:
Uber agrees to acquire Getir's delivery operations from Mubadala for $335M in cash and says it will take a 15% stake in the remaining portfolio for $100M  —  Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to buy Turkish company Getir's delivery operations from its controlling shareholder Mubadala Investment Co …
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Workday announces CEO Carl Eschenbach is stepping down and will be replaced by the company's co-founder, Aneel Bhusri, effective immediately; WDAY drops 6%+  —  Workday on Monday announced that CEO Carl Eschenbach is stepping down from his role and will be replaced by the company's co-founder, Aneel Bhusri, effective immediately.
Valida Pau / The Information:
Beast Industries, the entertainment conglomerate founded by MrBeast and last valued at $5.2B, acquires Step Mobile, a teen-focused banking app  —  Beast Industries, the entertainment conglomerate founded by Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, has agreed to buy Step Mobile, a teen-focused banking app, the companies plan to announce Monday.
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
A look at the 2026 Super Bowl ads from Anthropic, Meta, Amazon, Google, and others, as AI continued to take center stage in ad creation and AI product promotion  —  Following last year's trend of showcasing AI in multimillion-dollar ad spots, the 2026 Super Bowl advertisements took …
More: 404 Media, YouTube, Slate, YouTube, Washington Post, Business Insider, Coinbase on YouTube, Big Technology, New York Times, Apple, New York Times, Sports Business Journal, modernity, Jon Loomer Digital, The Verge, The Drum, Interesting Engineering, Fast Company, Inc.com, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, The Verge, The Verge, Wired, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Variety, IGN, and Polygon.com
X: @coinbase, @brian_armstrong, @scaling01, @hugeasmammoth_, @shinboson, @tyleroakley, @evan_ss6, @drometa, @orenmeetsworld, @sama, @gabydvj, @igorbobic, @icyvert, @chilearmy123, @electionsjoe, @deanwball, @kingbealestreet, @jordanmaison, @hilalayddn, @gabydvj, @the25thnigga, @light_2610, @signulll, @phil_lewis_, @emiliemc, @litcapital, @shwinnabego, @neerajka, @introspecktive, @johncoogan, @jordihays, @jmaynard_21, @elonmusk, @jappleby, @framesofnick, @rob1ham, @hammerswingames, @alexonchain, @tylercwhitmore, @jbillinson, @jbillinson, @ednewtonrex, @electionsjoe, @openai, @_zeets, @coinbase, @hasanthehun, @_zeets, @orenmeetsworld, @lukeisamazing, @hubpointless, @maxbranzburg, @rwitoff, @netcapgirl, @bindureddy, @rmac18, @bnj, @themg3d, @kenzietuff, @desusnice, @maxwelltani, @albertcamslut, @problemsthots, @collectdust, @kylebrussell, @ccpool_daniel, @kath_krueger, @bendreyfuss, @aaronp613, @wayansjr, @andrewsolender, @chasedownleads, @pissvortex, @litcapital, @almostjingo, @the_acumen, @812filmreviews, and @pewilliams_.  Truth Social: @realDonaldTrump …
Forums: r/formula1, r/PokeInvesting, and r/nintendo
See also Mediagazer
Amanda Chu / Politico:
How Oura won over DC by growing its lobbying spend to $1M+ per year, as RFK Jr. touts wearables for health and the US DOD makes the rings an employee benefit  —  It's paying off.  The Defense Department, Oura's largest customer, now provides rings to certain soldiers and civil servants as an employee benefit.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
YouTube launches a Premium paywall for song lyrics on YouTube Music, after testing it in recent months; users get five free lyrics before they have to subscribe  —  After testing in recent months, YouTube Music looks to be widely rolling out a Premium paywall for lyrics.
Miles Kruppa / The Information:
Source: Apollo nears a ~$3.4B loan deal to a Valor-led investment vehicle to buy Nvidia chips for leasing to xAI; through fall 2025, xAI was burning $1B+/month  —  Apollo Global Management, one of Wall Street's biggest private credit firms, is nearing a deal to lend about $3.4 billion …
More: Reuters
Dominic Chopping / Wall Street Journal:
Advent, FedEx, A&R, and PPF agree to acquire Polish automated parcel delivery company InPost for €7.8B; InPost has 61K+ automated parcel lockers across Europe  —  The consortium says there is a clear path to significantly grow InPost's network and extend its reach across Europe

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
What will the next generation of developers do when AI writes the code?  —  Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon are betting that the junior devs we train today will be the senior engineers of tomorrow.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books  —  The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
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.
Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
 Anthropic IPO Panic, A Spy At OpenAI?, The Great Food Slop Debate
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Great Chat:
 What happened to tech's backbone?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
The Upstarts Podcast:
 The $7B Startup Mapping Your Health In Just One Hour | Neko's Hjalmar Nilsonne
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Cheeky Pint:
 The company building underwater drones for $50,000
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
BG2 Pod:
 Jensen Huang | Does AI Revenue Justify Capex, '27 AI Bottlenecks, Singularity, Open vs Closed & more
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
 How to Run a Political Campaign in the TikTok Era (And How Not To)
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.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Add your podcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:30 PM ET, February 9, 2026.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

New York Times:
White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was forced out of her role on Friday, after five days on the job and hosting only one press briefing

Washington Post:
Israeli settlers attacked WaPo photographer Heidi Levine, who wore a “PRESS” vest, in the West Bank, kicking her repeatedly and taking her cameras and phone

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney and Dude Perfect sign a broad deal bringing some Dude Perfect content to Disney+; the group will create original content for events like the Super Bowl

More News

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Q&A with YouTube VP of Subscription Products Christian Oestlien on YouTube TV's future, the NFL and Oscars deals, its friendly rivalry with Netflix, and more

Earlier Picks

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
As Section 230 turns 30, a look at how upcoming court cases involving Meta, Alphabet, and others in the US could reshape the bounds of Section 230's protections
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
Moltbook was peak AI theater; as the hype dies down, Moltbook looks less like a window onto the future and more like a mirror held up to society's AI obsessions
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
How AI is impacting the romance novel industry, with authors not disclosing their use of AI and using pen names more, bogging down the publishing ecosystem
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter