February 17, 2026
Tuesday
Plus: Asus exits the smartphone market, and Sony partners with TCL on TVs.
The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.
Research from the ride-hail aggregator Obi finds Waymo is starting to edge up on Uber and Lyft in San Francisco. Tesla, which operates a ride-hail service with human drivers, is winning the price wars.
The use of cryptocurrency in sales of human beings for prostitution and scam compounds nearly doubled in 2025, according to a conservative estimate. Many of the deals are happening in plain sight.
Advances in artificial intelligence are creating a perfect storm for those seeking to spread disinformation at unprecedented speed and scale. And it’s virtually impossible to detect.
Decades ago, Donghai was a backwater county. Today, thanks to an army of 24/7 livestreamers, it orchestrates a multibillion-dollar global industry.
As prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi battle regulators in court, Senate Democrats are urging the CFTC to avoid weighing in, escalating a broader fight over the burgeoning industry.
Waymo announced a $16 billion investment round aimed at bringing its robotaxi business to more US cities, as well as some overseas markets. The funding round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, a "crossover" firm known for investing in late-stage tech comp…
Sony has announced plans to spin off its TV hardware business, shifting it to a new joint venture with TCL. The two companies have signed a non-binding agreement for Sony's home entertainment business, with TCL set to hold a 51 percent stake in the new ventur…
Business laptops are typically dull computers foisted on employees en masse. But higher-end enterprise workstation notebooks sometimes get an interesting enough blend of power and features to appeal to enthusiasts. HP's ZBook Ultra G1a is a nice example. It's…
A successful phishing attack can cost a business an average of $4.8 million, according to research from IBM. To help reduce the risk of one succeeding, either at work or at home, 1Password is introducing a new phishing prevention feature that will watch for t…
By lots of metrics, Gemini is winning. It has raced ahead of OpenAI, become scarily good at creating convincing imagery, and even won Apple's business. So last week's news that it was enabling something called Personal Intelligence felt like a victory lap. Pe…
Snap is launching a separate business for its upcoming Specs augmented reality glasses in a bid to lure new investors to the project. The new company, aptly named "Specs," will operate under Snap as a distinct subsidiary ahead of the long-awaited public launc…
Vimeo is laying off employees around the globe just months after the Italian software company Bending Spoons acquired the platform for $1.38 billion, as reported earlier by Business Insider. Even though it's not clear how many people were laid off, Dave Brown…