All Updates
Page 1844 of 1900
February 18, 2026
Chunwan Panda Robot Auctions for 57K Yuan
Magic Atom's MagicPanda panda robot, which starred in the 2026 CCTV Spring Gala with a 100-unit swarm performance, sold at JD auction for 57,527 yuan. The Yibin venue showcase highlighted group intelligence and realistic panda expressions. Engineers upgraded the head to 3DOF and delivered 100 units in just 7 days.
Big Tech AI Climate Claims Lack Proof
A new report analyzed 154 specific claims by Big Tech on how generative AI benefits the climate. Only a quarter cited academic research, while a third offered no evidence at all. This underscores skepticism toward unsubstantiated environmental promises from AI companies.
OpenAI Pays Microsoft 20% Revenue Until 2032
OpenAI must pay Microsoft 20% of its total revenue until 2032 under renegotiated partnership terms from last fall. The agreement allows deferring some payments to reduce cash flow strain. This eases immediate financial pressure on OpenAI.
Kana Raises $15M for AI Marketing Agents
Kana, a new AI startup founded by leaders from Rapt and Krux, has emerged from stealth with $15 million in funding. The company is developing customizable, agent-based tools to empower marketers with flexible AI solutions.
Zuckerberg Testifies in Social Media Safety Trial
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in a landmark social media safety trial. The case, launched in late January, involves a young female plaintiff alleging addiction to Instagram, YouTube, and video streaming apps. This hearing marks a significant moment in accountability for social platforms.
80% Execs See No AI Productivity Gains
A survey of nearly 6,000 executives across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia reveals over 80% detect no impact from AI on employment or productivity. This indicates a significant gap between AI hype and tangible business outcomes. Firms are struggling to realize the promised productivity boom.
Google Launches $499 Pixel 10a with AI Boost
Google has debuted the entry-level Pixel 10a smartphone at $499. It features new AI software capabilities and minor hardware refinements. The iterative update is timed just before Apple's iPhone 17e reveal.
Pasqal Targets €200M Raise at Unicorn Status
French quantum startup Pasqal is negotiating a €200 million funding round. The raise would value the company at over $1 billion pre-money. This positions it as a unicorn in the quantum sector.
Office Bug Exposes Emails to Copilot
Microsoft disclosed a bug in Office that enabled Copilot AI to read and summarize paying customers' confidential emails. This incident bypassed the company's data protection policies. The issue highlights privacy risks in AI-integrated productivity tools.
Airbnb CEO: Embrace AI or Face Disruption
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky views AI as the company's most important growth driver, urging leaders to self-disrupt or be eliminated. AI now handles one-third of North American customer service via chatbots and optimizes search efficiency. Q4 2025 revenue hit $27.8B, up 16%, fueled by AI innovations.
OpenAI Targets 100K Indian Students in Education Push
OpenAI is expanding into higher education via partnerships in India. The initiative aims to reach over 100,000 students, faculty, and staff within the next year. This supports India's drive to scale AI skills nationwide.
Duckbill Raises $7.75M, Launches Skyway Cloud Platform
Cloud cost consultant Duckbill, famous for co-founder Corey Quinn's AWS critiques, has raised $7.75M. The funding supports the launch of Skyway, a financial planning and forecasting platform for enterprise cloud spending.
Chunwan Robots Trigger AI Crisis Memes
2026 Spring Festival Gala showcased advanced robots in performances like martial arts and dances, sparking 'intelligence crisis' jokes in Bilibili danmaku. Live stream hit 1.33 billion danmaku, boosting engagement with game references and memes. AI also aided visuals in shows like 《贺花神》.
AI Passwords Look Random But Crack Fast
Generative AI tools create seemingly complex passwords that are highly predictable. Experts reveal these can be cracked within hours despite appearances. This exposes flaws in AI's randomness generation for security.
World Labs Gets $200M Autodesk Funding for 3D World Models
World Labs secured $200M from Autodesk to integrate world models into 3D workflows. The partnership explores bidirectional compatibility between their technologies. Focus starts with entertainment use cases.
Olympians Embrace Chinese New Year via Alibaba Cloud AI
During Chinese New Year at Milan Winter Olympic Village, foreign athletes gathered at Alibaba Cloud's AI intelligent badge exchange station to experience authentic traditions. They wrote 'Fu' characters, posted New Year wishes in their native languages on a 'good luck wall,' fostering cultural exchange. The event highlights AI's role in immersive cultural interactions.
Tencent Yuanbao Surpasses 50M DAU, 114M MAU
Tencent announces Yuanbao has exceeded 50 million daily active users and reached 114 million monthly active users. During the recent 10 billion cash red envelope event, users completed over 3.6 billion lottery draws and 1 billion AI tasks in the creation tab. The app updated 159 features in 21 days and plans more, including chat red envelopes and live streams.
Ant's UI-Venus-1.5 Tops SOTA for GUI Agents
Ant Group open-sourced UI-Venus-1.5, a high-performance end-to-end GUI agent topping SOTA benchmarks. It unifies grounding, mobile, and web handling in one model, supporting 40+ mainstream Chinese apps and solving knowledge gaps, sim-to-real issues, and multi-model coordination. Resources include GitHub code, Hugging Face models, and a technical report.
Gaode Releases SpatialGenEval T2I Benchmark
Alibaba's Gaode team introduces SpatialGenEval, a comprehensive benchmark for spatial intelligence in text-to-image models, accepted to ICLR 2026. It uses long, information-dense prompts to evaluate 10 dimensions across spatial perception, reasoning, and interaction in 25 real-world scenarios. Tests on 23 SOTA models reveal significant deficiencies in current T2I capabilities.
Spring Festival Sci-Fi Hit Explores AI Awakening
'Xinghe Rumeng' stands out as the only VFX sci-fi blockbuster in Spring Festival releases, featuring star travel and an AI 'Good Dream System' for virtual realities. The film delivers bold visuals across diverse dream worlds and a tight plot on AI evolution gone awry. It cleverly mirrors real-world AI safety debates in an entertaining adventure format.