Google launches Personal Intelligence, a Gemini feature that links to Gmail, Google Photos, Search, and YouTube history to tailor answers, for paid subscribers
ZDNET's key takeaways — Personal Intelligence scans your apps to improve Gemini answers. — The feature is off by default and won't train on sensitive data.
Sources: Chinese officials told customs agents this week that Nvidia H200s are barred from China and told local tech companies not to buy them unless necessary
Chinese customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia's (NVDA.O) H200 artificial intelligence chips are not permitted …
As part of its Reality Labs cuts, Meta is closing three VR gaming studios and will stop developing new content and features for its VR fitness app Supernatural
Developers from Twisted Pixel Games and Sanzaru Games have posted about their studios being closed down.
Verizon says it is “aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers”, as thousands of users report no cellular reception
Seemingly ‘SOS’ is replacing network bars — While Verizon had a good few months, with the last major outage occurring in October 2024 …
California AG Rob Bonta opens an investigation into xAI over the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexualized images generated by Grok, and urges xAI to act
Politico:NEW
The UK government drops plans for mandatory digital IDs to work in the country, marking a reversal from when the UK first announced the policy in September 2025
The government has dropped plans requiring workers to sign up to its digital ID scheme in order to prove their right to work in the UK.
Elon Musk says that Tesla will stop selling FSD after February 14 and will offer it only as a monthly subscription; FSD costs $8,000 upfront or $99 per month
Tesla Inc. will stop selling the advanced driver-assistance system it calls Full Self-Driving, and instead switch to an entirely monthly subscription service.
Elon Musk claims he's “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok” and that Grok's operating principle is to “obey the laws of any given country”
Elon Musk said on Wednesday he was not aware of any “naked underage images” generated by xAI's Grok chatbot, as scrutiny of the AI tool intensifies worldwide.
How smuggled Starlink receivers and customized software let some Iranians evade a near-total internet blackout as the regime brutally cracked down on protesters
Tehran went from ‘halal internet’ to near-total blackout but activists have smuggled in Starlink devices to get information out
Bandcamp bans music and audio “generated wholly or in substantial part by AI”, hoping to build trust with fans that the music they find “was created by humans”
Bandcamp has banned music substantially generated by AI to uphold human artistry and authenticity, amid rising concerns over AI flooding platforms like Spotify.
A source details how Apple's Gemini deal works: new Siri features will launch in the spring and at WWDC, Apple can finetune Gemini, no Google branding, and more
In another AI win for Google lately, Apple announced on Monday that it will use Google's Gemini models to power …
OpenAI strikes a multibillion-dollar agreement to buy 750 MW of computing capacity from Cerebras over three years; sources: the deal is worth more than $10B
The ChatGPT-maker is racing to secure more computing power, especially for responding to user queries
Z.ai releases GLM-Image, an open-source AI model that it says is China's first state-of-the-art multimodal model to finish training using Huawei's Ascend chips
Chinese AI startup Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC Ltd. released a new multimodal model that it says is the country's …
The US Senate passes the Defiance Act that would let victims sue over nonconsensual, sexually explicit AI-generated images, amid furor over Grok images on X
The US Senate unanimously passed legislation Tuesday that would allow victims to sue over nonconsensual, sexually explicit AI-generated images …
Sources: Chinese authorities told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by ~12 US and Israeli companies due to national security concerns
Chinese authorities have told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by roughly a dozen firms from the U.S …
YouTube now lets parents set time limits on their kids' YouTube Shorts feed, ranging from 15 minutes to two hours, with an option for zero minutes coming soon
Parents will also be able to manually create and adjust child and teen accounts on YouTube.
Matthew McConaughey has secured eight USPTO trademarks of himself over the past several months to protect his likeness and voice from unauthorized AI use
Actor plans to use trademarks of himself saying ‘Alright, alright, alright’ and staring at a camera to combat AI fakes in court
UK police say they banned Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a soccer match in 2025 after Copilot hallucinated a fake West Ham-Maccabi match in an intelligence report
Copilot invented a nonexistent football match that was included in an intelligence report.
Airbnb hires Meta executive Ahmad Al-Dahle, who led the generative AI and Llama team after working at Apple, as its CTO, as it aims to add more AI to its app
Airbnb Inc. has hired a former Meta Platforms Inc. executive as its new chief technology officer, as the short-term rental company …
Sources: Apple and Qualcomm are scrambling to secure glass cloth fiber, used in chip substrates and PCBs, amid a surge in demand from AI giants like Nvidia
TAIPEI/TOKYO — It looks something like heavy-duty plastic wrap and is buried so deep in the guts of an iPhone that most users don't even know it exists.
Anthropic shakes up its C-suite: CPO Mike Krieger will become the co-lead of its Labs incubator, and Head of Product Ami Vora will take over Krieger's duties
Chief product officer Mike Krieger will change roles and join the “Labs” team. … Mike Krieger, the Instagram co-founder …
Google releases MedGemma 1.5, offering improved medical imaging support, and MedASR, fine-tuned for medical dictation, both on Hugging Face and Vertex AI
Daniel Golden, Engineering Manager, and Fereshteh Mahvar, Software Engineer, Google Research — We are updating our open MedGemma model with improved medical imaging support.
Digg, rebooted under original founder Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian, launches its open beta; the site had been open to 67,000 users on an invite-only basis
The reboot of the early-internet online community Digg, a one-time rival to Reddit, is moving forward.
Source: Microsoft has become one of Anthropic's top clients and was recently on pace to spend nearly $500M/year for Anthropic's AI to power Microsoft products
OpenAI is Microsoft's most important AI provider and its biggest cloud server customer. — But as OpenAI does more business …
Apple unveils Apple Creator Studio, a “groundbreaking collection” of creative apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro for $13/month or $129/year
Pittsburgh-based Skild AI, which makes robotics foundation models, raised a $1.4B Series C at a $14B+ valuation, up from ~$4.5B in June 2025
Skild AI Inc., a fast-rising startup that makes software to help robots learn to complete tasks, has secured about $1.4 billion …
Sources: McKinsey pilots an overhaul in how it recruits its next generation, asking candidates to use its AI tool Lilli to analyze a case study during a test
Candidates in pilot assessed on how they prompted consulting firm's AI assistant and ability to adapt responses
Meta confirms it is laying off Reality Labs staff and will “reinvest the savings” in wearables; CTO Andrew Bosworth says 1,000+ staff will be notified Tuesday
Meta Platforms Inc. is beginning to cut more than 1,000 jobs from the company's Reality Labs division …
President Trump renominates Sean Plankey to be the next director of CISA, which hasn't had a full-time chief since Trump's return to office on January 20, 2025
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) scotched Plankey's confirmation in 2025, reportedly due to a Coast Guard ship-building contract.
Microsoft changes its data center approach, pledging to pay its own power costs, reject tax breaks, and replenish more water than it uses, amid local opposition
President Trump was right about Microsoft — but he only leaked part of the story. — Microsoft is changing its approach …
The US FCC waives a rule that forced Verizon to unlock phones 60 days after they are activated, which could make it harder for people to switch from Verizon
US Big Tech companies have been on an energy-related hiring spree; Workforce.ai says Microsoft has hired 570+ people with energy-related expertise since 2022
Big Tech has been on an energy hiring spree. — Technology companies investing heavily in artificial intelligence are bolstering …
Novee, which utilizes proprietary AI models to perform automated penetration testing, emerges from stealth with a $43M Series A and an $8.5M seed
Novee, a penetration-testing cybersecurity startup, launched out of stealth with $51.5 million in funding, co-founder and CEO Ido Geffen tells Axios Pro.
Google makes improvements to Veo 3.1's Ingredients to Video feature to make videos “more expressive”, and adds native vertical video generation and 4K upscaling
Survey: 41% of US teens aged 13 to 17 support banning middle and high school students from using phones in class, while 51% oppose it; 73% oppose a full-day ban
Schools nationwide are cracking down on students' cellphone use. At the same time, support for cellphone bans is rising among U.S. adults.
How Ireland, an early data center winner, has missed out on much of the AI boom due to creaking infrastructure and a strained electricity grid stopping projects
The government has a new energy plan to get investment flowing again — Every few weeks, electricians, fitters and welders pass through Dublin Airport …
Apple and Google say Apple Foundation Models based on Gemini will help power not only a more personalized Siri, but also “future Apple Intelligence features”
A Prediction That Came TrueWesley Hilliard /AppleInsider:No, Google Gemini will not be taking over your iPhone, Apple Intelligence, or SiriChris Velazco /Washington Post:Apple taps Google to power a n...
Belgium-based Aikido Security, which offers automated security guardrails for developers, raised a $60M Series B led by DST Global at a $1B valuation
Belgium's Aikido Security has raised $60 million from investors led by tech-focused private equity firm DST Global at a valuation of $1 billion …
A look at Confer, an open-source AI assistant project from Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike that is designed to provide end-to-end encryption for AI chats
Moxie Marlinspike—the pseudonym of an engineer who set a new standard for private messaging with the creation of the Signal Messenger …
Bitchat, a P2P messaging app launched by Jack Dorsey, has emerged as a key lifeline for people in Uganda and Iran facing government-imposed internet shutdowns
A little-known offline messaging app launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has emerged as a key lifeline for Ugandans cut off …
2026 may be the year of the mega IPO, as sources say Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX took early steps to go public, setting up a watershed moment for the AI boom
Call it the year of the mega initial public offering. Or the year of the I.P.O. supercycle. Or the monster listing mania, perhaps.
Holistic Resilience, a US group that helps Iranians secure internet access, says SpaceX has waived Starlink subscription fees amid a days-long internet blackout
Makes It FreeTucker Reals /CBS News:Over 12,000 feared dead after Iran protests, as video shows bodies lined up at morgueBenoit Faucon /Wall Street Journal:Iran Is Hunting Down Starlink Users to Stop ...
The US urged UN members to take a tougher stance against North Korea IT worker scams and crypto thefts; an October 2025 report found 40+ countries were affected
The U.S. on Monday urged United Nation member states to take a tougher stance against North Korean efforts to skirt sanctions through …
Under new US licensing requirements, the Commerce Department says it will review exports of Nvidia's H200 and AMD's MI325X to China on a case-by-case basis
a limit on how much Nvidia and AMD can sell to China and required certifications that US supply won't be affected. https://www.bloomberg.com/...@kakashiii111:The Chinese government limiting purchases ...
India lacks specific policies or zoning regulations for overseeing quick commerce dark stores, which HSBC projects will hit 5,000 to 5,500 by the end of FY2026
The army of on-the-clock delivery boys, imperilling themselves and pedestrians, has become a familiar sight across urban India.
PJM trims summer 2027 peak demand forecast to ~160 GW from ~164 GW because some projects, including data centers, lack firm service or construction commitments
The biggest US grid operator dialed back its forecast for power demand growth, offering a reality check to the frenzy around the artificial intelligence boom.
Polymarket is hosting a growing number of contracts tied to military conflicts, including China invading Taiwan; possible US strikes in Iran has $18M+ in trades
Even as prediction-market platforms have tested legal and regulatory norms like never before, most have drawn a line at one category: direct wagers on war.
A look at a Myanmar online scam center that opened in 2024 with 3,500+ workers from nearly 30 countries and closed in November 2025 after rebels captured it
Times journalists got a rare look inside one of the compounds where the online fraud industry makes its billions.
Trump signs an order to impose a 25% tariff on chips “transshipped through the United States to other foreign countries”, as part of the Nvidia H200 deal
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Dutch court hearing: Nexperia claims Chinese owner Wingtech pushed for tech transfers out of Europe and threatened execs; Wingtech attacks Nexperia's management
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV claimed that Chinese owner Wingtech Technology Co. was pushing for technology transfers out of Europe …
Saudi Arabia's PIF transfers ~$12B worth of gaming company shares, including of Nintendo, to Savvy Games; PIF already transferred 11M Take-Two shares in 2025
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is transferring roughly $12 billion worth of gaming company shares, including firms …
The US gives a formal green light to sales of Nvidia's H200 chips to China, which cannot receive more than 50% of the total amount of chips sold to US customers
Depthfirst, which provides AI tools for codebase scanning, credential exposure protection, and threat monitoring, raised a $40M Series A led by Accel Partners
Cybercriminals are increasingly using AI in their attacks. At the same time, cyber defenders are also turning to the technology to fight back.
IDC: global PC shipments rose 9.6% YoY to 76.4M units in Q4 2025, helped by Microsoft ending Windows 10 support and OEMs pulling forward inventory amid tariffs
The IMF urges governments to help workers displaced by AI and says policymakers should redesign education so young people use AI “rather than compete with it”
Analysis finds evidence of the technology hitting wages and employment in certain areas
Highlights from IEDM 2025: 3D NAND is suddenly relevant again, interconnect metals beyond copper are emerging, 2D materials that could replace silicon, and more
IEDM 2025 Round-Up — It's an odd time in the chipmaking industry. On one hand, we are ramping into the biggest supercycle ever seen.
Sources: the Trump administration is weighing a substantial shift in its cyberstrategy, including by enlisting private companies to assist with cyberattacks
The proposal raises a host of questions about the legality and practicality of bolstering the involvement of the private sector in offensive cyberoperations.
WithCoverage, which replaces traditional insurance brokers with its AI-based flat-fee risk management model, raised a $42M Series B led by Sequoia and Khosla
WithCoverage, which replaces traditional insurance brokers with a flat-fee risk management model, raised $42 million in Series B funding …
Governor Gavin Newsom says he has been negotiating for four months to neutralize California's wealth tax ballot proposal; a compromise does not appear imminent
Tel Aviv- and Boston-based IO River, which helps companies manage multiple CDN and edge networks, raised a $20M Series A led by Venture Guides and New Era
IO River, a startup that lets customers use multiple content delivery and edge networks, raised a $20 million Series A led by Venture Guides and New Era …
Polygon buys crypto startups Coinme and Sequence for a total of $250M+, as it seeks to bolster its stablecoin and fintech infrastructure and compete with Stripe
Salesforce makes Slack's new AI-powered Slackbot generally available, helping users answer workflow questions, draft documents, schedule meetings, and more
Sources: Amazon is seeking supplier discounts, from low single digits to 30%, as it moves to reverse concessions made to limit the shock of Trump's tariffs
UK PM Keir Starmer says X indicated to government officials it was acting to comply with UK laws by restricting the generation of non-consensual sexual images
Financial Times:
UK satellite company Open Cosmos wins a highly contested Ka-band spectrum license, used for high-speed consumer internet, beating Peter Thiel-backed companies
Q&A with IMG President Adam Kelly on streaming platforms' growing share of sports media rights, live sports as an antidote to AI content, monetization, and more
As Netflix and Apple expand their sports ambitions, the head of IMG says media rights are entering a new phase driven by scarcity, retention and measurable returns
Alpaca, which builds software to let companies offer stocks, ETFs, and other financial instruments, raised a $150M Series D led by Drive at a $1.15B valuation
Yoshi Yokokawa, cofounder of Alpaca.COURTESY OF ALPACA — Trading platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood are rushing to offer …
Q&A with Reid Hoffman on wanting Silicon Valley to speak out against the Trump administration, AI regulation, the role of AI in art and creativity, and more
The LinkedIn cofounder and frequent Trump target has a simple message for his peers: “Just speak up about the things that you think are true.”Forums:r/politicsandr/siliconvalleyForums:r/politics:Reid ...
China's market regulator says it is investigating Trip.com, the country's largest online travel agency, over alleged antitrust conduct, without offering details
Taiwan issues an arrest warrant for OnePlus CEO Pete Lau for allegedly illegally hiring 70+ Taiwanese engineers, as it tries to stop China from raiding workers
Defense Unicorns, which provides open-source air-gapped software to the US DOD, raised a $136M Series B led by Bain Capital, taking its total valuation to $1B+
Roblox's AI-based age verification system, which uses Persona tech and expanded globally last week, faces player and developer criticism for misidentifying ages
In South Korea's competition to locally create an independent AI model, three of the five finalists used foreign open-source code, which they argue is practical
Korea's efforts show how hard it is to develop homegrown AI models and break a reliance on U.S. or Chinese tech giants
Sources: AI chipmaker Cerebras is in talks to raise ~$1B, valuing the startup at $22B before the new investment, up from an $8.1B valuation in September 2025
Analysis: DeepSeek parent company High-Flyer posted an average return of 56.6% across its quant funds in 2025, which could boost the cash available for DeepSeek
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng's quantitative hedge fund generated returns of more than 50% last year, boosting the potential war chest …
Caterpillar hits a $300B market cap for the first time, driven by demand for its data center power generation equipment; CAT is up 12% in 2026 to a record ~$640
Caterpillar Inc. shares extended a turbocharged rally fueled by bets on the industrial giant's artificial intelligence prospects …
Liftoff, which helps companies place ads in mobile apps, files for a US IPO, reporting a $25.6M net loss on $491.6M in revenue in the nine months up to Sept. 30
Sources: AI chip startup Etched raised $500M led by Stripes at a $5B valuation, bringing its total funding to almost $1B
Checkr, which does employee background checks, says its revenue grew 14% YoY to $800M+ in 2025, amid a flood of AI-generated CVs and fake financial documents
Mercedes pauses the rollout of Drive Pilot, a Level 3 “eyes off” driving feature available in Europe and the US, citing low demand and high production costs
Sources: Chinese chip designer Montage, a Shanghai-listed company valued at ~$22B, plans a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $900M+, backed by Alibaba and JPMorgan
Chinese chip designer Montage Technology Co. is set to enlist Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JPMorgan Asset Management among …