Techmeme
February 9, 2026, 1:00 PM

Top News

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 …
Stevie Bonifield / The Verge:
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 …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Alphabet aims to raise ~$15B from a US high-grade dollar bond sale, as it seeks to finance $185B in 2026 capex; Alphabet raised $17.5B in November 2025  —  Alphabet Inc. is borrowing far and wide to finance the unprecedented spending plan behind its artificial intelligence ambitions.
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.
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 …
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Autodesk sues Google for allegedly infringing its Flow trademark as the name of Google's AI filmmaking tool  —  Google (GOOGL.O) has been sued by Autodesk (ADSK.O) for allegedly infringing its “Flow” trademark to market competing AI-enabled software used to make movies, TV shows and video games.
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com
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.
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.
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, Slate, YouTube, Washington Post, Big Technology, Coinbase on YouTube, YouTube, Apple, New York Times, Sports Business Journal, Benzinga, Business Insider, The Drum, The Verge, Inc.com, New York Times, Interesting Engineering, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, Business Insider, The Verge, The Verge, Wired, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Variety, IGN, Polygon.com, Adweek, and Sports Illustrated
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  —  YouTube is going to start selling cheaper TV bundles for sports fans, news junkies  —  Happy Super Bowl Sunday …
Rhiannon Hoyle / Wall Street Journal:
Neara, which builds digital twins of critical infrastructure to help prepare for disasters, raised a AU$90M Series D, a source says at a AU$1.1B valuation  —  Australian startup's customers include Southern California Edison and CenterPoint Energy  —  Neara, an Australian startup …
Pieter Haeck / Politico:
EU officials and tech executives inaugurate a €2.5B chips research hub in Belgium; ASML and Imec emphasized that the US is dependent on European chip tech  —  ASML CEO says chip printers are the machines “the entire world would like to get.”  —  LEUVEN, Belgium — The rest …

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More News

Dominic Chopping / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
Alexandra Alter / New York Times: