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TechCrunch

February 2026

Xiaomi launches 17 Ultra smartphone, an AirTag clone, and an ultra slim powerbank

But the main attraction is the 200-megapixel telephoto camera that has a variable focal length of 75mm-100mm equivalent

Why China’s humanoid robot industry is winning the early market

Robotics was flagged as a priority under the country’s “Made in China 2025” plan, albeit originally focused on factory automation, rather than humanoids

More customers are asking: Can the robot run stably in real environments and actually take work off people’s plates? That practical pull is strengthened in China because policy and industrial strategy encourage automation upgrades, and the manufacturing ecosystem makes iteration extremely fast,
China has a more robust hardware supply chain — much of it built up through the EV sector, from sensors to batteries — and the world’s strongest manufacturing base, allowing companies to iterate far faster than Western competitors,
China’s leadership is best understood as a speed-to-scale advantage,
Because of the data scarcity problem, humanoids are still far away from autonomy. The hardware is currently ahead of the software — the robot body can handle a lot more dexterity today than years ago (though it has reliability issues, as we saw with the robots that broke down at humanoid marathons), but the brain is still nascent,
Early momentum is likely to be in industrial manufacturing, warehouse logistics, and retail, where tasks are repetitive, hours are long, and processes are clear — creating real demand and ideal conditions for humanoid robots to deliver value at scale,

OpenAI’s Sam Altman announces Pentagon deal with ‘technical safeguards’

Sam AltmanopenAI CEO
Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,
Sam AltmanopenAI CEO
We are asking the DoW to offer these same terms to all AI companies, which in our opinion we think everyone should be willing to accept,

Anthropic’s Claude rises to No. 2 in the App Store following Pentagon dispute

Its ranking has climbed in the last few days, from sixth on Wednesday to fourth on Thursday to second on Saturday (today)

OpenAI raises $110B in one of the largest private funding rounds in history

We are entering a new phase where frontier A.I. moves from research into daily use at global scale,
Andy Jassyamazon CEO
We have lots of developers and companies eager to run services powered by OpenAI models on AWS,... and our unique collaboration with OpenAI to provide stateful runtime environments will change what’s possible for customers building AI apps and agents.”

Memory shortage could cause the biggest dip in smartphone shipments in over a decade

Carl Peiyear, Nothing co-founder and CEO
As a result, some markets, particularly entry and mid-tier segments, are likely to shrink by 20% or more, and brands that have historically dominated these segments will struggle,
The memory crisis will cause more than a temporary decline; it marks a structural reset of the entire market,
We expect consolidation as smaller players exit, and low-end vendors face sharp shipment declines amid supply constraints and lower demand at higher price points. Although shipments will witness a record drop, smartphone ASP [average selling price] is projected to rise 14% to a record $523 this year,
Yang Wangprincipal Analyst
The impact is expected to continue through H2 2027, as it will take several quarters for memory supply expansion to materialize. Lower-end smartphones are likely to be affected the most, especially as LPDDR4 supply is shrinking faster than expected. OEMs are already responding with launch delays, streamlined portfolios, and specification trade-offs. We have also observed 10% to 20% price increases across some Android OEM portfolios in January 2026,
Brands now face a simple choice: raise prices by 30% or more in some cases, or downgrade specs. The ‘more specs for less money’ model that many value brands were built on is no longer sustainable in 2026,

Employees at Google and OpenAI support Anthropic’s Pentagon stand in open letter

They’re trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in,
Jeff Deanamerican computer scientist
Mass surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment and has a chilling effect on freedom of expression,
These latter two threats are inherently contradictory,

CISA replaces acting director after a bumbling year on the job

The move to replace Madhu Gottumukkala as the acting director of CISA, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security that oversees cybersecurity and technical protection across the federal government, comes after a tumultuous year serving as the agency’s top boss

Apple and Netflix team up to air Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix

Beyond live race coverage, the partnership includes cross-promotion of Netflix’s hit series, “Drive to Survive.” For the first time, the eighth season — which consists of eight episodes covering the 2025 Formula One World Championship — will be available to both Apple TV subscribers in the U.S. and Netflix users globally, significantly broadening its audience

ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users

The new weekly active user figure marks a jump of 100 million users from the 800 million that OpenAI reported in October 2025

Subscriber momentum accelerated meaningfully to start the year, with January and February on track to be the largest months for new subscribers in our history,

Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: What’s actually at stake?

Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes,
Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW,
[The... The Department] would have to wait six to 12 months for either OpenAI or xAI to catch up,
Pete Hegsethdefense Secretary
Department of War AI will not be woke,

Pentagon moves to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk

Donald Trumppresident
I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!"