Techmeme
February 12, 2026, 9:15 PM

Top News

Anthropic:
Anthropic raised a $30B Series G led by GIC and Coatue and co-led by D. E. Shaw, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, Iconiq, and MGX at a $380B post-money valuation  —  We have raised $30 billion in Series G funding led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380 billion post-money.
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
David Gewirtz / ZDNET:
OpenAI launches a research preview of GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, a smaller version of GPT-5.3-Codex that it claims generates code 15 times faster, for Pro users  —  ZDNET's key takeaways  — OpenAI targets “conversational” coding, not slow batch-style agents.  — Big latency wins: 80% faster roundtrip, 50% faster time-to-first-token.
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark is OpenAI's first AI model to run on chips from Nvidia rival Cerebras; OpenAI says Codex has more than 1M weekly active users  —  OpenAI is releasing its first artificial intelligence model that runs on chips from semiconductor startup Cerebras Systems Inc. …
The Keyword:
Google updates Gemini 3 Deep Think to better solve modern science, research, and engineering challenges and expands it via the Gemini API to some researchers  —  Our most specialized reasoning mode is now updated to solve modern science, research and engineering challenges.
Maxwell Zeff / Wired:
An interview with OpenAI President Greg Brockman on donating $50M to AI and pro-Trump super PACs, why such donations serve a larger AI mission, and more  —  In an interview with WIRED, Greg Brockman says supporting politicians who back AI is “bigger than the people that I happen to be employed with.”
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
YouTube launches an app for the Apple Vision Pro, with standard videos, 180° and 360° videos, and YouTube Shorts; devices with the M5 chip can play 8K videos  —  Starting today, an official YouTube app is available on the Apple Vision Pro, allowing you to watch videos on a theater-sized screen …
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Amazon's Ring cancels its partnership with Flock that would have let law enforcement agencies request footage from Ring doorbell users, following backlash  —  After weeks of mounting pressure and a questionable Super Bowl ad, the Amazon-owned company has walked back its plan to integrate with the controversial surveillance company.
Jo Constantz / Bloomberg:
IBM says it plans to triple entry-level hiring in the US in 2026 “for all these jobs that we're being told AI can do”  —  International Business Machines Corp. said it will triple entry-level hiring in the US in 2026, even as artificial intelligence appears to be weighing on broader demand for early-career workers.
More: TechCrunch and HR Brew
Bluesky: @marypcbukForums: Slashdot
Reuters:
Russia confirms it has blocked WhatsApp, citing Meta's “unwillingness to comply with Russian law”, and proposes that Russians switch to the state-owned Max app  —  U.S. messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms (META.O), has been completely blocked in Russia for failing …
Theo Wayt / The Information:
xAI all-hands: Nikita Bier says X hit $1B in ARR from selling $3- to $40-per-month subscriptions, but offered no details on ad revenue or other xAI financials  —  X recently hit $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue from selling subscriptions, head of product Nikita Bier said in an xAI all-hands meeting on Tuesday.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Apple's stock dropped 5% on Thursday, its worst day since April, following FTC scrutiny of Apple News and reports about delays with Siri  —  Apple just wrapped up its worst day on the stock market since April after reports surfaced about delays with Siri and as the company's news app faced regulatory scrutiny.
Bloomberg:
In a memo to US lawmakers, OpenAI accused DeepSeek of using distillation techniques to train the next generation of R1 and “free-ride” on leading US AI models  —  OpenAI has warned US lawmakers that its Chinese rival DeepSeek is using unfair and increasingly sophisticated methods …
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Roku reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to $1.39B, vs. $1.35B est., and an $80.5M net income, vs. a $35.5M loss in Q4 2024; ROKU jumps 9%+ after hours  —  The streaming hardware maker forecasts 16% revenue growth in 2026  —  Shares of Roku climbed as much as 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday …
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
Anthropic donates $20M to Public First, a super PAC pushing for AI guardrails and transparency in opposition to OpenAI-backed PACs, ahead of the US midterms  —  Anthropic and OpenAI now have their own well-funded political groups that will square off in the midterm elections over artificial intelligence safety and regulation.
André Beganski / Decrypt:
Coinbase reports Q4 revenue down 22% YoY to $1.78B, vs. $1.84B est., transaction revenue down 37% to $983M, a net loss of $667M, vs. a $1.3B profit in Q4 2024  —  Coinbase reported a down quarter for the end of 2025, with its investment portfolio plunging alongside Bitcoin and other crypto assets.
Financial Times:
Israeli authorities charge a reservist and a civilian for allegedly using classified information to bet on “the occurrence of military operations” on Polymarket  —  Civilian and reservist charged with security offences, bribery and obstructing justice after ‘red line’ crossed with online gambling
Eduardo Baptista / Reuters:
ByteDance's new AI video generation model Seedance 2.0 goes viral in China, with one state-backed newspaper saying it is bigger than DeepSeek's “Sputnik moment”  —  ByteDance's new video-generating artificial intelligence model has already impressed the likes of Elon Musk and gone viral in China …
MiniMax:
MiniMax releases M2.5, claiming the model delivers on the “intelligence too cheap to meter” promise, priced at $0.30/1M input tokens and $1.20/1M output tokens  —  Today we're introducing our latest model, MiniMax-M2.5.  —  Extensively trained with reinforcement learning …
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Highspot, which has raised $650M and makes AI-powered sales enablement software, plans to merge with rival Seismic; the combined company will be called Seismic  —  Seattle-based company Highspot plans to merge with Seismic in a deal that will combine two of the biggest players in sales and revenue enablement software.
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Sony launches the $330 WF-1000XM6 earbuds, with AI-powered beamforming mics for enhanced voice call clarity, improved ANC, and hands-free Gemini on Android  —  Sony Group Corp. introduced its latest pair of premium wireless earbuds, offering a retooled design and active noise cancellation …

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Axios:

Earlier Picks

Edward Ludlow / Bloomberg:
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
Eugene Kim / Business Insider:
Steve Yegge:
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:
Jonathan Weil / Wall Street Journal:
More: Wall Street Journal, The Information, and GuruFocus
X: @zerohedge and @jbulltard1LinkedIn: Deepak JhaBluesky: @jordannovet.cnbc.comThreads: @crumbler
Bloomberg: