Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

Summary:
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is MrWilson (who racked up a lot of wins this week) with a comment about the Twitter Files crew staying quiet when there are real attacks on free speech: “Free speech absolutists”: “You’re absolutely free to shut up and listen to my speech. Also, your […]

Australian police test station-based drones 370 miles away from target site for rapid response

Summary:
A small outback town roughly 370 miles northwest of Sydney is quietly becoming a proving...

A profile of Neil Shen of HSG, formerly Sequoia China, which raised $9B from US investors before US restrictions and has funded Manus and other Chinese startups (Wall Street Journal)

Summary:

Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Neil Shen of HSG, formerly Sequoia China, which raised $9B from US investors before US restrictions and has funded Manus and other Chinese startups  —  Neil Shen has long bridged both countries, from working at Sequoia after Yale to his own firm

Sam Altman says discussions about AI's energy usage are "unfair", as it takes "20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time" to train a human (Anthony Ha/TechCrunch)

Summary:

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman says discussions about AI's energy usage are “unfair”, as it takes “20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time” to train a human  —  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed concerns about AI's environmental impact this week while speaking at an event hosted by The Indian Express.

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

Summary:
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple will have a three-day stretch of product announcements from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4. In total, he expects Apple to introduce "at least five products."


A week ago, Apple invited selected journalists and content creators to an "Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai on Wednesday, March 4 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. At these in-person gatherings, the expectation is that attendees will receive hands-on time with the new products that Apple announce [...]

Apple is Testing These iPhone 18 Pro and Foldable iPhone Colors

Summary:
The special new color that Apple is considering for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max this year is red, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


Specifically, he said that Apple is testing a "deep red" finish for the two devices.

If this rumor materializes, it would be the first time that the Pro and Pro Max models ever come in red, and the iPhone 18 Pro models would be the first iPhone models to be available in red since the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus in (PRODUCT)RED. However, it sounds like it would be more of a burgundy finish than a bright red. [...]

Turkey launches a review of how social media platforms handle children's data as it prepares new rules that include identity verification and age restrictions (Turkish Minute)

Summary:

Turkish Minute:
Turkey launches a review of how social media platforms handle children's data as it prepares new rules that include identity verification and age restrictions  —  Turkey's data protection watchdog has opened a review of how six major social media platforms process children's personal data …

This simple infrastructure gap is holding back AI productivity

Summary:

Organizations are investing heavily in AI, with some allocating up to 8% of their total revenue in AI tools for

The post This simple infrastructure gap is holding back AI productivity appeared first on The New Stack.

Salt deposit older than dinosaurs could become Australia’s largest energy reserve

Summary:
Beneath the dusty plains of outback Queensland, under towns that depend on a single reliable...

Tim Cook's increased mentions of Visual Intelligence hint it will be a major part of Apple's new wearables; sources: Apple considers a deep red iPhone 18 Pro (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Tim Cook's increased mentions of Visual Intelligence hint it will be a major part of Apple's new wearables; sources: Apple considers a deep red iPhone 18 Pro  —  Apple CEO Tim Cook is signaling that Visual Intelligence will be the defining feature of the company's push into wearable AI devices.

Cloudflare’s Markdown for Agents automatically make websites agent-ready

Summary:

Cloudflare, the well-regarded security and Content Delivery Network company, has launched a new feature called “Markdown for Agents” that automatically

The post Cloudflare’s Markdown for Agents automatically make websites agent-ready appeared first on The New Stack.

Two 4,000-year-old burnt fabrics reveal a lost Bronze Age textile industry

Summary:
Excavations in Turkey have yielded two very small but very important pieces of fabric: the...

Wasm vs. JavaScript: Who wins at a million rows?

Summary:

By now it’s pretty clear that JavaScript needs WebAssembly (Wasm) to perform heavy computational tasks. In the past few weeks

The post Wasm vs. JavaScript: Who wins at a million rows? appeared first on The New Stack.

400% power boost: Engineers turn Renault’s 17 hp runabout into 692 lb-ft electric torque demon

Summary:
Tinkerers from DM UK-based DM Performance have reportedly souped up one of Renault’s now-discontinued Twizy...

Analysis: the crypto industry has spent $288M+ on the 2026 US midterms so far, over double the 2024 cycle; crypto PAC Fairshake is the US' fifth most-funded PAC (Molly White/Citation Needed)

Summary:

Molly White / Citation Needed:
Analysis: the crypto industry has spent $288M+ on the 2026 US midterms so far, over double the 2024 cycle; crypto PAC Fairshake is the US' fifth most-funded PAC  —  With Trump faltering and their policy agenda incomplete, the crypto industry has moved at least $288 million toward the midterms …

Hyundai advances battlefield technology with hydrogen-powered Black Veil platform

Summary:
Hydrogen propulsion took center stage as Hyundai Rotem presented its latest ground systems at the...

Cosmic rule-breaker: Researchers discover rocky planet that defies how worlds form

Summary:
Astronomers have long believed that planetary systems follow a familiar blueprint. Small rocky planets stay...

India's AI Summit highlighted the limits of the country's AI ambitions, as the US and its tech companies largely dismissed India's push for global AI governance (Krishn Kaushik/Financial Times)

Summary:

Krishn Kaushik / Financial Times:
India's AI Summit highlighted the limits of the country's AI ambitions, as the US and its tech companies largely dismissed India's push for global AI governance  —  The world's most populous country continues to struggle to find its place in an industry dominated by the US and China

Does Platform Product Management & Design Really Happen? Or is it all just platform engineering? - Tanzu Catsup

Summary:

Most organizations treat infrastructure as a series of projects to be “completed,” but successful platform engineering requires a permanent product mindset. In this episode, we explore why platform teams need dedicated product management to balance competing priorities—like security, cost, and developer experience—and why the “why” scales much better than the “what” in large enterprises. We also dive into the often-overlooked role of designers in creating platform tools that developers actually want to use.

Tanzu Catsup is a weekly conversation about platform engineering, cloud-native operations, and building software in large organizations. We follow the work wherever it actually leads.

And, see the archives for Tanzu Catsup.

Unmanned shipbuilding operations to get boost as US firm to test AI to automate tasks

Summary:
A Virginia-based company is exploring the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) for welding into shipbuilding...

Summary:

Developers crave AI tools for various tasks beyond coding, but that’s only about 20% of their work. But, ops people freak out about security and control challenges, like cost, regulatory compliance, and usage tracking.

Critical helium system fault forces NASA to delay Artemis crewed moon mission

Summary:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Artemis II Moon mission has suffered yet another...

Anthropic's data shows software engineering accounts for ~50% of its AI agent tool calls; the remaining verticals are greenfields most founders are overlooking (Garry Tan/Garry's List)

Summary:

Garry Tan / Garry's List:
Anthropic's data shows software engineering accounts for ~50% of its AI agent tool calls; the remaining verticals are greenfields most founders are overlooking  —  Anthropic's new data shows software engineering dominates agentic AI.  For founders, that's not a warning.  It's a treasure map.

Source Global: the US consulting market is set to grow 7% in 2026, the fastest pace in the post-COVID era, as companies seek advice on profiting from AI (Stephen Foley/Financial Times)

Summary:

Stephen Foley / Financial Times:
Source Global: the US consulting market is set to grow 7% in 2026, the fastest pace in the post-COVID era, as companies seek advice on profiting from AI  —  Companies are seeking advice on how to provide energy to data centres and profit from artificial intelligence

Sam Altman says currently "the idea of putting data centers in space is ridiculous" and that it is "not something that's going to matter at scale this decade" (Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

Summary:

Bijin Jose / The Indian Express:
Sam Altman says currently “the idea of putting data centers in space is ridiculous” and that it is “not something that's going to matter at scale this decade”  —  Once allies at OpenAI, Sam Altman and Elon Musk are now sharply divided over the future of AI infrastructure.

Amazon details how a Russian-speaking hacker used generative AI as part of a campaign that breached 600+ FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries in five weeks (Lawrence Abrams/BleepingComputer)

Summary:

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Amazon details how a Russian-speaking hacker used generative AI as part of a campaign that breached 600+ FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries in five weeks  —  Amazon is warning that a Russian-speaking hacker used multiple generative AI services as part of a campaign that breached …

Salt Lake City-based Jump, a provider of AI tools for financial advisors to automate meeting prep and more, raised an $80M Series B led by Insight Partners (FinSMEs)

Summary:

FinSMEs:
Salt Lake City-based Jump, a provider of AI tools for financial advisors to automate meeting prep and more, raised an $80M Series B led by Insight Partners  —  Jump, a Salt Lake City, UT-based provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for financial advisors and other financial services providers …

Sam Altman says Elon Musk's idea of putting data centers in space is 'ridiculous' (Lauren Edmonds/Business Insider)

Summary:

Lauren Edmonds / Business Insider:
Sam Altman says Elon Musk's idea of putting data centers in space is ‘ridiculous’  — Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch satellites that act as data centers into space.  — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said placing data centers in space isn't feasible right now.  — He called the idea “ridiculous” during an event in New Delhi.

Smart weapon that hits moving targets in some of worst conditions to be used in US Navy

Summary:
A new type of smart weapon that can hit moving targets in some of the...

Trump calls on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice or face "consequences," after she said corporations that "take a knee" to Trump would be held accountable (Sam Kim/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Sam Kim / Bloomberg:
Trump calls on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice or face “consequences,” after she said corporations that “take a knee” to Trump would be held accountable  —  Donald Trump called on Netflix to fire board member Susan Rice or “pay the consequences,” …

Sources: DOJ's review of Netflix's WBD takeover examines whether Netflix wields anticompetitive leverage over creators in violation of Clayton and Sherman Acts (Josh Sisco/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Josh Sisco / Bloomberg:
Sources: DOJ's review of Netflix's WBD takeover examines whether Netflix wields anticompetitive leverage over creators in violation of Clayton and Sherman Acts  —  The Justice Department's investigation of Netflix Inc.'s proposed $72 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. includes scrutiny …

Sam Altman says there is some "AI washing", where companies blame AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do, alongside "real displacement by AI" of some jobs (AJ Dellinger/Gizmodo)

Summary:

AJ Dellinger / Gizmodo:
Sam Altman says there is some “AI washing”, where companies blame AI for layoffs that they would otherwise do, alongside “real displacement by AI” of some jobs  —  Hold up, let him cook.  —  Sam Altman is starting to get the sneaking suspicion that companies might …

100-year-old mystery about log coffin that fell off cliff is solved

Summary:
Initially discovered in 1899, the nicknamed the “Princess of Bagicz” because the only wooden sarcophagus...

This Week In Techdirt History: February 15th – 21st

Summary:
Five Years Ago This week in 2021, we looked at how state laws around community broadband were harming communities during the pandemic, just as one Congressional representative introduced a new such law to do so nationwide. Minneapolis joined the list of cities banning facial recognition tech, while it was revealed that CBP’s use of the […]

Why Kubernetes 1.35 is a game-changer for stateful workload scaling

Summary:

With Kubernetes 1.35, the In-Place Pod Resize feature has graduated to GA, and Vertical Pod Autoscaling InPlaceOrRecreate update mode has

The post Why Kubernetes 1.35 is a game-changer for stateful workload scaling appeared first on The New Stack.

Anker's Weekend Sale Includes Big Savings on Newest Prime Chargers

Summary:
Earlier this month, Anker debuted its new Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with a launch discount on Amazon. This deal is still available this weekend, allowing you to clip an on-page coupon on Amazon to get the accessory for $119.99, down from $149.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station features Qi2.2 support, which lets a compatible MagSafe ‌iPhone‌ charge at up to 25W. It's the same speed as [...]

Claude Code comes to Roadmap, OpenClaw loses its head, and AI workslop

Summary:

I’m Matt Burns, Director of Editorial at Insight Media Group. Each week, I round up the most important AI developments,

The post Claude Code comes to Roadmap, OpenClaw loses its head, and AI workslop appeared first on The New Stack.

Beyond the vibe code: The steep mountain MCP must climb to reach production

Summary:

One thing I didn’t do last year was go to any Model Context Protocol (MCP) conferences, largely because I couldn’t

The post Beyond the vibe code: The steep mountain MCP must climb to reach production appeared first on The New Stack.

Top Stories: Apple Event on March 4, iOS 26.4 Beta, and More

Summary:
It looks like our first major Apple product announcements of 2026 are right around the corner, with Apple announcing a "special Apple Experience" for members of the media scheduled for March 4 where we're expecting to see them get hands-on time with several newly announced products.


In other Apple news this week, the first betas of iOS 26.4 and related updates include some new features and enhancements, while we heard a bit more about the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max coming later this year, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

Top Stories

Apple Announces Special Event in New York, London, and Shanghai on March 4

Court Orders Slavery Exhibit At George Washington’s House Restored After Trump Admin Pulled It Down

Summary:
The Trump administration’s project for erasing the parts of American history they find inconvenient continues unabated. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hit the occasional roadblock. In January, the administration removed portions of an exhibit at the former Philadelphia home of George Washington that made reference to 9 slaves he owned that spent time at […]

Cloudflare outage on February 20, 2026

Summary:
Cloudflare suffered a service outage on February 20, 2026. A subset of customers who use Cloudflare’s Bring Your Own IP (BYOIP) service saw their routes to the Internet withdrawn via Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

Open Letter To Tech Companies: Protect Your Users From Lawless DHS Subpoenas

Summary:
We are calling on technology companies like Meta and Google to stand up for their users by resisting the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) lawless administrative subpoenas for user data.  In the past year, DHS has consistently targeted people engaged in First Amendment activity. Among other things, the agency has issued subpoenas to technology companies to […]

Apple's Low-Cost Colorful MacBook: All the Rumors

Summary:
Apple has been developing a more affordable version of the MacBook, and it's rumored to be launching in under two weeks. This is going to be one of Apple's most unique Macs, because there hasn't really been anything quite like it before.


We've rounded up everything we know about the low-cost MacBook ahead of its March debut.

Design

Meta's flagship metaverse service leaves VR behind

Summary:
The company asserts it will continue to make VR headsets, though.

Trump Fires Court-Appointed US Attorney Hours After It Replaces His Illegally-Appointed Former Campaign Lawyer

Summary:
It’s all well and good that we have a system of laws and rules in place. For the most part, the bumpers on the bowling lane help keep a lot of stuff on the field of play (to mix metaphors), even if powerful politicians would rather have the rules apply to everyone else but them. […]

Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build

Summary:

Red Hat is perhaps the biggest name in enterprise Linux, but it’s also a major cloud-native player thanks to its

The post Red Hat takes on Docker Desktop with its enterprise Podman Desktop build appeared first on The New Stack.

Bondi Bragged About Forcing Facebook To Censor Speech. Now FIRE Is Suing.

Summary:
I seem to recall a years-long freakout among MAGA folks about the Biden administration pressuring social media companies to remove content. You may have heard about it. Anyway. In unrelated news FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), has filed suit against Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on behalf of […]

Jony Ive's First OpenAI Device Will Be Smart Speaker With Camera, 2027 Launch Planned

Summary:
OpenAI is working on several AI hardware devices in partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive, and the first product that comes out could be a smart speaker. The company is developing a smart speaker, a smart lamp, and considering AI glasses, according to The Information, with the speaker set to come out in early 2027.


OpenAI's smart speaker has an integrated camera and it is designed to learn information about who is using it and what's around them. It will include a facial recognition feature similar to Face ID, and users will be able to use the speaker to make purchases. The speaker will have AI integration, so users can ask it questions and ma [...]

Web scraper sued by Google claims Google is the one scraping the web

Summary:
SerpApi, a company that offers tools to scrape content on the web, is fighting back against Google's copyright lawsuit that accuses it of vacuuming up search results "at an astonishing scale." In a motion to dismiss filed on Friday, SerpApi argues that Google doesn't hold a copyright on its search results, alleging that the engine […]

Survey: Adoption of AI Software Testing Slowed by Trust Issues

Summary:

NanoClaw’s answer to OpenClaw is minimal code, maximum isolation

Summary:

Gavriel Cohen built NanoClaw, a lightweight alternative to OpenClaw, in a weekend after learning about security flaws in the popular agentic framework.

The post NanoClaw’s answer to OpenClaw is minimal code, maximum isolation appeared first on The New Stack.

Trump Says He’s Just Going To Make Some Shit Up To Justify Nationalizing The Election Process

Summary:
Trump couldn’t accept the fact that he lost the 2020 election. So he stood idly by (if you believe his narrative) or urged on (if you believe your own eyes and ears) his supporters to raid the Capitol building to seize the election from the electorate. If that meant killing his own vice president, so […]

Daily Deal: The Academy of Game Art Bundle

Summary:
The Academy of Game Art Bundle teaches you the basics of how to create video game art. You’ll learn how to use Inkscape to create logos, 2D backgrounds, pre-defined modules, UI designs, and characters. A course on using DragonBones will teach you how to animate your characters as well. The bundle is on sale for […]

96% of developers don’t trust AI code: Here’s a step toward the fix

Summary:

The narrative surrounding software development has shifted dramatically over the last six months. The industry has moved past the initial

The post 96% of developers don’t trust AI code: Here’s a step toward the fix appeared first on The New Stack.

The reason big tech is giving away AI agent frameworks

Summary:

As someone who had a front-row seat to the container orchestration wars, I am watching the same movie play out

The post The reason big tech is giving away AI agent frameworks appeared first on The New Stack.

Fake Data, Upcoming Book, and the Political Economy of AI

Summary:
The world is on fire – and I’ve often been at a loss for how to constructively contribute to public discourse. For decades, I have shared knowledge gained through fieldwork to offer a different perspective on complex sociotechnical matters. Too often these days, I find myself banging my head against the wall while navigating the […]

Newsmax Didn’t Like Its NewsGuard Rating, So The FTC Attacked NewsGuard, And Now NewsGuard Is Suing

Summary:
We’ve written a few times now about how the GOP’s “free speech warriors” have been waging an absolutely absurd campaign against NewsGuard, a company whose entire business model is… expressing opinions about the reliability of news sources. You know, speech. The kind of thing that’s supposed to be protected by that First Amendment thing the […]

The MacRumors Show: What's Coming at the 'Apple Experience'?

Summary:
We talk through everything to expect at Apple's upcoming "Experience" on March 4, on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show.

Three Upcoming Apple Products Seemingly Spotted in macOS 26.3 Code

Summary:
macOS 26.3 hints at Apple's rumored lower-cost MacBook, and two new Studio Display models, according to Macworld's Filipe Espósito.


Espósito found the following codenames within macOS 26.3's source code, and he revealed the upcoming products that they likely correspond with, based on previous reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and others.

The codenames:

• J700: Lower-cost MacBook


• J427: A new Studio Display


• J527: A new, higher-end Studio Display

Best Apple Deals of the Week: Get Up to $1,200 Off Samsung's Best Monitors and More

Summary:
This week's best Apple-related deals include multiple third-party retailer accessory sales from Samsung, Nomad, Dell, and Otterbox. We're also tracking one of the first big price discounts on the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery in our recap of the week's best deals below.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Samsung

• What's the deal? Save on Samsung monitors, TVs, and more


• Where can I get it?

Code Mode: give agents an entire API in 1,000 tokens

Summary:
The Cloudflare API has over 2,500 endpoints. Exposing each one as an MCP tool would consume over 2 million tokens. With Code Mode, we collapsed all of it into two tools and roughly 1,000 tokens of context.

Rumored Colors for Low-Cost MacBook Were Originally Tested for 2022 MacBook Air Redesign

Summary:
Apple tested color options for the 2022 MacBook Air redesign that are said to be similar to the finishes planned for its forthcoming low-cost MacBook, according to a Chinese leaker.


Apple is expected to announce its rumored low-cost MacBook at an event on March 4, with the device coming in a selection of bold color options that are believed to include yellow, green, and blue – as seen on Apple's invite graphic.

In a post on Weibo, the account known as "Instant Digital" says Apple originally planned to offer the same kind of light, playful color scheme for the MacBook Air with M2 chip.

Indeed, back in [...]

Department Of Education Forced To Back Off Illegal Plan To Be Racist, Sexist Assholes

Summary:
One recurring theme of this era: folks who actually choose to stand up to this bumbling kakistocracy of hateful failsons usually tend to win if they stick together. Those that prematurely bend the knee in abject cowardice (like say, CBS, countless law firms, or numerous university administrators) will hopefully be remembered for it. It happened […]

Why the era of relying on dozens of “purpose-built” databases is finally coming to an end

Summary:

What will drive the next wave of innovation in enterprise applications? Ask the experts, and you’ll likely hear a similar

The post Why the era of relying on dozens of “purpose-built” databases is finally coming to an end appeared first on The New Stack.

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Summary:
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone this year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that Apple will release its first foldable device in 2026.

Automating everything but changing how people work - Relative to your interests, Friday

Summary:

Enterprise AI apps (or lack thereof), ROI surveys, CFO budget pivots, agile’s stubborn relevance, platform engineering vs. private cloud, Heroku’s freeze, IRS tech cuts, and Europe hedging on AI tools

Related to your interests

AWS Just Turned “Deploy to AWS” Into a Five-Word Prompt

Summary:

When DevOps Meets the Cloud: A Real-World Transformation Story

Summary:

You Can Feel It Coming - Software Defined Talk

Summary:

This week, we discuss personal AI hype cycles, bottoms-up adoption, and “The Modern Stack” simplifying cloud. Plus, thoughts on new cars and the dogs that ride in them.

See the traditional podcast listing for links and more.

Progressive Delivery, with Heidi Waterhouse - Software Defined Interviews

Summary:

See the traditional podcast version for more and Heidi links.

Why it's great to be a Spring developer now, and how to make it even better - State of Spring, 2026

Summary:

This is a talk I give at the start of Spring workshops we do. Here is the recording. The point is to show people that being a Java and Spring developers is fantastic right now. Here’s the description:

Spring developers are in a strange position in 2026: everything is changing: AI, platform engineering, enterprise architecture. And yet Spring keeps getting stronger.

In this talk, Coté walks through why this is actually a great moment to be a Spring developer, especially in large organizations. He looks at:

• How AI code generation is changing Java and Spring development
• Why enterprise momentum still matters
• The role of platforms in making Spring teams faster
• Where private AI, model b

Why AI Makes Requirements a Runtime Artifact

Summary:

What to do About AI’s Forced Rethink of Reliability in Modern DevOps

Summary:

Management is always eager to "reduce costs."

Summary:

The real story lies “in collapsing headcount growth expectations, from 6% in 2025 to just 2% in 2026 with just 21% of CFOs planning staff increases of 4% to 9%, down from 31% last year,” Nauman Abbasi, vice president analyst in Gartner’s finance practice, said in the release. “This marks a structural pivot from labor expansion to optimization driven by automation and AI that deliver productivity gains without proportional increases in headcount.”

🔗 Most CFOs expect larger IT budgets, ‘collapsing’ staff growth: Gartner

Meanwhile: 6,000 execs struggle to find the AI productivity boom

Say you love business logic without saying "business logic."

Summary:

Model Eats the Software: Why the Marginal Cost of Enterprise Software Approaches Zero

More on agentic AI changing the software business from Jason Hoffman:

Andreessen specifically predicted that Salesforce would disrupt Oracle. Fourteen years later, Oracle is roughly 2.5x the size of Salesforce. Salesforce sells application logic – workflows, configurations, business rules. Oracle sells infrastructure – databases, middleware, cloud compute. The application layer was always the vulnerable part. The infrastructure layer was always the durable part. Software ate the world. Then it sat around all gluttonous and bloated. Frozen reasoning."

Also, it was the incumbents who did all the eating.

And, a proposal for using AI as the UI and business logic layer for enterprise apps:

First, right n

AI still not good at basic knowledge worker workflows, which is likely an apps problem

Summary:

Here is one account of AI being shit at multi-step activate outside of coding:

I think my request of “Hey Gemini, show me a list of all the articles I wrote over the last year and arrange them into categories by subject” is a straightforward one, and I came away from this experience surprised that Gemini shipped these features as bleeding edge AI to customers when it never really delivered for me.

I have the same experience, weekly. In general, using AI for this kind search and analytics has been bad and more time consuming than just doing it myself.

It is especially bad when you hook it up to other services like docs and email.

It works pretty well with plain text files. I think why it works there is that it writes scripts to search and chunk the text. That is, it’s doing non-AI work to search docs and others. Perhaps it’s good at orchestrating text work like

iPhone's Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Helped Rescue Skiers Caught in Lake Tahoe Avalanche

Summary:
Six skiers who survived the avalanche near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday used the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on the iPhone to get help, reports The New York Times. Emergency SOS via satellite lets ‌iPhone‌ users communicate with emergency responders via text when a cellular or Wi-Fi connection is not available.


The skiers were able to stay connected to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office for several hours while rescue efforts were coordinated. "One of my personnel was communicating with one of the guides over a four-hour period, giving information back to the Nevada sheriff's office and coordinating what rescues could be permitted," said Don O'K [...]

The Go team debates AI-generated contributions

Summary:

#​590 — February 20, 2026 Read the Web Version Go Weekly

M1 MacBook Air Out of Stock at Walmart as Lower-Cost MacBook Nears

Summary:
Apple's older MacBook Air with the M1 chip is now out of stock on Walmart's website in the U.S., amid rumors of a new lower-cost MacBook coming soon.

A colorful MacBook (concept)

The developer as conductor: Leading an orchestra of AI agents with the feature flag baton

Summary:

Last month, just a few weeks after Dynatrace finalized its acquisition of DevCycle, Michael Beemer of Dynatrace and Andrew Norris,

The post The developer as conductor: Leading an orchestra of AI agents with the feature flag baton appeared first on The New Stack.

Google Chrome Gets Built-In Split View and PDF Annotations

Summary:
Google has added three new features to the Chrome desktop browser, including split view for multitasking, PDF annotations, and a Save to Google Drive option.


Split view for Chrome is a built-in tool that supports using two tabs at the same time side-by-side. Google says that it provides a more streamlined, flexible way to work. There is a split view icon in Chrome that can be clicked to enter the new view.

With PDF annotations, the Chrome PDF Viewer can be used to highlight text, insert signatures, and add notes.

The Save to Google Drive feature is meant to make it easier for users to locate their downloads. PDFs can be saved to Google Drive from Chrome without redownloading and re-uploading [...]

Want an easy way to manage Podman containers? Here it is.

Summary:

You’ve heard of Docker Desktop, right? Of course you have. Docker Desktop is a user-friendly GUI app that simplifies managing

The post Want an easy way to manage Podman containers? Here it is. appeared first on The New Stack.

The essential shift every ITOps leader must make to survive an unrelenting stream of incidents

Summary:

High-profile IT incidents are becoming more frequent and more severe. A single hour of downtime for a revenue-generating service could

The post The essential shift every ITOps leader must make to survive an unrelenting stream of incidents appeared first on The New Stack.

AI agents are accelerating vulnerability discovery. Here’s how AppSec teams must adapt.

Summary:

It has never been easier to quickly and at scale find security vulnerabilities. Linus’s Law, Eric Raymond’s famous dictum about

The post AI agents are accelerating vulnerability discovery. Here’s how AppSec teams must adapt. appeared first on The New Stack.

Rubik’s WOWCube adds complexity, possibility by reinventing the puzzle cube

Summary:
Technology is a double-edged sword in the $399 Rubik's Cube-inspired toy.

Apple TV Sports Content Including F1, MLS, and Friday Night Baseball Coming to Bars and Restaurants

Summary:
Apple has inked a deal with EverPass Media to bring Apple TV sports content to EverPass customers in the United States. EverPass is a company that bundles premium sports content for restaurants, hotels, casinos, sports bars, and other businesses that want to air sporting events.


EverPass will now be able to offer Formula 1, Major League Soccer, and Major League Baseball content to its customers at no additional cost through the main EverPass Core content package. That package also includes Paramount+'s UEFA Champions League, Prime Video's Thursday Night Football, NBA, WNBA and [...]

How your LLM is silently hallucinating company revenue

Summary:

LLMs are accelerating work across engineering disciplines, from generating React components and building backend APIs to noodling with SQL. But

The post How your LLM is silently hallucinating company revenue appeared first on The New Stack.

Rising identity complexity: How CISOs can prevent it from becoming an attacker’s roadmap

Summary:

Identity has always been the thread that stitches enterprise IT together, but the nature of that identity has changed dramatically.

The post Rising identity complexity: How CISOs can prevent it from becoming an attacker’s roadmap appeared first on The New Stack.

Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro is mostly great

Summary:

Google on Thursday launched the latest version of its Gemini Pro model. While it’s not the best at every task,

The post Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro is mostly great appeared first on The New Stack.

Twilio’s A2H is a new protocol that helps agents talk to humans

Summary:

Over the last year or so, we’ve seen a proliferation of frameworks and protocols for agentic AI tools. There is

The post Twilio’s A2H is a new protocol that helps agents talk to humans appeared first on The New Stack.

iPhone 16e Long-Term Review: What to Know Before the iPhone 17e Launches

Summary:
As we approach the launch of the iPhone 17e, MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera decided to take a look back at the iPhone 16e. He goes over what it's been like using Apple's budget ‌iPhone‌ over the past 12 months, and whether it's worth choosing over one of Apple's more expensive models.

Apple Sued by West Virginia for Allegedly Allowing CSAM Distribution Through iCloud

Summary:
West Virginia's Attorney General JB McCuskey today announced a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of knowingly allowing iCloud to be used to distribute and store child sexual abuse material (CSAM). McCuskey says that Apple has opted to "do nothing about it" for years.

"Preserving the privacy of child predators is absolutely inexcusable. And more importantly, it violates West Virginia law. Since Apple has so far refused to police themselves and do the morally right thing, I am filing this lawsuit to demand Apple follow the law, report these images, and stop re-victimizing children by allowing these images to be stored and shared," Attorney General JB McCuskey said.

Prometheus and OpenTelemetry finally play nice

Summary:

The often-misunderstood controversies regarding Prometheus and OpenTelemetry arise more from technical incompatibilities that have since been resolved. Without going into

The post Prometheus and OpenTelemetry finally play nice appeared first on The New Stack.

Our Multi-Agent Architecture for Smarter Advertising

Summary:

When we kicked this off, we weren’t trying to ship an “AI feature.” We were trying to fix a structural...

The post Our Multi-Agent Architecture for Smarter Advertising appeared first on Spotify Engineering.

MLS 2026 Season Begins February 21 on Apple TV With Free Access for Subscribers

Summary:
The 31st Major League Soccer season is set to begin on Saturday, February 21, with games set to be available through the Apple TV subscription service. ‌Apple TV‌ subscribers in more than 100 countries can access MLS matches with no blackouts and no additional fees.


Apple used to charge $14.99 per month or $99 for the MLS Season Pass, but the Season Pass was removed for the 2026 season to give all ‌Apple TV‌ subscribers access for free. MLS is aiming to expand its fanbase and make content easier to access through its partnership with Apple.

Apple says that MLS on ‌Apple TV‌ will include Walmart Satu [...]

Rivian Releases Apple Watch App

Summary:
As expected, electric vehicle maker Rivian today released an Apple Watch app, providing R1S and R1T drivers with convenient features on their wrist.


The app lets you choose up to four one-tap controls for locking or unlocking doors, opening or closing the windows, opening the front or rear trunks, sounding the vehicle's alarm, and more. In addition, you can turn the Apple Watch's Digital Crown to adjust the vehicle's cabin temperature and battery charging target in the app.

Rivian also offers an Apple Watch complication, allowing you to view the vehicle's charge level at a glance on your watch face.
[...]

Dell's Sitewide Sale Discounts Alienware Monitors and More

Summary:
Dell has a big sale running this week on multiple product categories, and it includes accessories not only from Dell but also Alienware, Logitech, Bose, and JBL. We're primarily focusing on monitors in this sale, but you can also find up to $900 off laptops, PCs, and more.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Dell. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

In regards to the monitor deals, you'll find up to $200 off select monitors from multiple brands in this event. This includes popular Alienware gaming monitors, like the 27-inch Alienware 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor for $699.99, down from $ [...]

Selling SDKs in the era of many Claudes (Interview)

Summary:
Steve Ruiz joins us for a deep-dive on tldraw (a very good free whiteboard) and the business he's built selling SDKs that help others build very good whiteboards (and more) with tldraw's high-performance web canvas. Along the way, we discuss the excitement/fear we share about keeping our agents busy, how SDK and infra companies are affected differently by agentic software than SaaS companies, how Steve is approaching the coming era of internal tooling, what will happen when we equip LLMs with an infinite canvas, and more.

Test Automation Strategy for Growing Software Teams

Summary:

First I wrote the wrong book, then I wrote the right book (xpost)

Summary:
I’m not sure whether to say “thank you” or “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME”, but this one goes out to all the people who sent me advice on buying software last fall. This is the second in a two-part episode. The first part ended on a ✨cliffhanger!!!✨ — so if you missed the […]