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Meta slashes employee stock awards by 5% as Zuckerberg redirects billions to AI infrastructure

Meta reduced annual stock awards by 5% for most employees, marking the second consecutive year of equity cuts. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reallocating resources toward artificial intelligence goals, with capital expenditure projected between $115 billion and $135 billion for 2026 as Big Tech companies compete in Silicon Valley's AI race.

3 Sources

Vinod Khosla warns IT services must adapt to AI or face extinction as industry leader rebuts

Vinod Khosla predicts the IT services and BPO industry could disappear by 2030 as AI agents take over routine tasks. He sees an era of abundance ahead where work becomes optional. But Ashok Soota of Happiest Minds Technologies pushes back, arguing AI is a powerful enabler that creates opportunities rather than replacing human expertise. The debate highlights growing tensions over AI's role in India's tech sector.

2 Sources

Yesterday

ByteDance expands US AI team with 100 roles as national security concerns persist

Chinese tech giant ByteDance is hiring for nearly 100 artificial intelligence positions in the US, signaling an aggressive push to compete with American AI companies. The expansion comes despite ongoing national security concerns from US lawmakers and follows the company's recent TikTok deal, raising questions about China's growing influence in the AI race.

2 Sources

Accenture ties leadership promotions to AI tools usage, tracking senior staff logins weekly

Accenture has introduced an AI-linked promotion rule requiring senior managers and associate directors to regularly use company AI tools to advance to leadership roles. The consulting firm is tracking weekly logins to platforms like AI Refinery, with CEO Julie Sweet warning that employees who fail to adapt could be exited. The policy exempts staff in 12 European countries and those on US government contracts.

4 Sources

Andrew Yang warns AI will eliminate millions of white-collar jobs within 12-18 months

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has issued a stark warning about AI's impact on employment. In a recent Substack post, he predicts millions of white-collar workers could lose their jobs to AI automation within the next 12-18 months, calling it the 'great disemboweling' of office employment. Yang warns of surging personal bankruptcies and broader economic disruption as companies race to replace human workers with AI systems.

3 Sources

Reliance unveils $110 billion AI investment plan to build India's computing infrastructure

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance announced a $110 billion investment over seven years to build AI computing infrastructure across India. The plan includes gigawatt-scale data centers in Gujarat with 120 megawatts coming online in late 2026. Ambani said India cannot afford to rent intelligence and aims to slash AI costs as dramatically as Jio reduced mobile data prices.

6 Sources

OpenAI closes in on $100 billion funding round with Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft backing

OpenAI is finalizing a record-breaking $100 billion funding round that could value the company at over $850 billion. Strategic investors including Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and SoftBank are expected to commit by month's end, with Nvidia pivoting from a $100 billion infrastructure deal to a $30 billion direct equity stake. The move comes as OpenAI prepares for an IPO later this year while facing massive infrastructure spending commitments.

7 Sources

18 Feb 2026

Anthropic to pay cloud providers $80 billion through 2029 as AI demand surges

Anthropic will pay Amazon, Google, and Microsoft at least $80 billion through 2029 for hosting its AI models on their cloud infrastructure. The company's revenue-sharing agreements show payments jumping from $1.3 million in 2024 to a projected $6.4 billion in 2027, with roughly half of gross profits from Amazon sales going back to the tech giant.

2 Sources

Figma delivers strong revenue growth outlook, easing Wall Street's AI disruption fears

Figma reported 40% revenue growth to $303.8 million in Q4 2025 and forecast 2026 revenue of $1.37 billion, surpassing Wall Street estimates by $80 million. The design platform's AI-powered Figma Make tool saw weekly users surge 70% quarter-over-quarter, with more than half of customers spending over $100,000 in annual recurring revenue using it weekly. The results ease investor concerns about AI threatening the software design platform's business model.

9 Sources

AI adoption weakens graduate jobs in Ireland as tech employment for young workers falls 20%

Ireland's finance department reveals AI adoption is already weakening employment opportunities for young graduates, particularly in tech and financial services. Employment among 15 to 29 year-olds in technology firms fell 20% between 2023 and 2025, while prime-age workers saw 12% growth. The findings suggest Ireland may be at the frontier of AI-driven labor market changes, with implications for other advanced economies.

3 Sources

Google unveils $15 billion AI infrastructure push in India with subsea connectivity and skills

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $15 billion investment to build AI infrastructure in India, establishing a new subsea cable gateway in Visakhapatnam and gigawatt-scale compute capacity. The initiative includes a $30 million science fund, partnerships with Karmayogi Bharat for 20 million public servants, and AI skills programs reaching 11 million students across India's multilingual landscape.

2 Sources

Palantir and Rackspace forge partnership to accelerate enterprise AI deployment and data migration

Palantir has partnered with Rackspace Technology to speed up enterprise deployment of its AI-driven software. The collaboration focuses on data migration and implementation services for Palantir's Foundry platform. Rackspace shares surged 263% on the announcement, while analysts highlight Palantir's strong positioning in the growing enterprise AI market.

2 Sources

Starboard Value Pushes Riot Platforms to Accelerate Bitcoin-to-AI Data Center Transition

Activist investor Starboard Value is urging Riot Platforms to rapidly transition from Bitcoin mining to AI data centers, citing potential annual EBITDA exceeding $1.6 billion. The push comes as crypto miners face declining profitability while demand for AI infrastructure surges, with Riot's Texas sites offering 1.7 gigawatts of power capacity ideal for high-performance computing.

5 Sources

Physical AI and robots could create trillion-dollar market by 2035, Barclays predicts

Barclays analysts project that AI-powered robots and autonomous machines could balloon into a trillion-dollar market by 2035, marking a shift from digital AI to physical AI. The report titled 'The Decade of the Robot' identifies autonomous vehicles, drones, and humanoid robots as key drivers, with companies like Tesla, Amazon, and Nvidia positioned to shape this emerging value chain.

2 Sources

Over 80% of Companies Report No Productivity Gains from AI Despite Billions in Investment

A survey of 6,000 executives across the US, UK, Germany, and Australia reveals that over 80% of companies see no impact on productivity or employment from AI, despite widespread adoption. The findings echo Robert Solow's productivity paradox from the 1980s, when computers initially slowed workplace efficiency before eventually delivering gains decades later.

3 Sources

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