TLDR 2026-02-25

You want AI to be more than a never-ending work in progress, and that means enabling no-code, low-code, and pro-code development without IT gatekeepers standing in the way. Yet that doesn't mean governance goes out the window.

Airia is the enterprise AI platform built to drive AI adoption by unifying innovation and security. Teams at Stryker, BuzzFeed, and ArcelorMittal use it to:

• Test prompts, LLMs, and agent variants in safe, prod-like environments
• End AI anxiety by controlling agent sprawl and implementing automatic guardrails
• Discover risks, orchestrate agents, and monitor threats in one place

Get a demo and make AI adoption a reality

Meta has agreed to buy 6 gigawatts' worth of AI computing power from AMD in a deal valued at more than $100 billion. AMD has agreed to give Meta warrants to buy up to 160 million AMD shares, roughly 10% of the company, for $0.01 apiece, as long as certain milestones are met. Meta said last week that it would buy several million of Nvidia's GPUs as well, a deal expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. The company plans to deploy tens of gigawatts of data center computing power this decade, and hundreds of gigawatts or more over time.

Anthropic has until Friday to comply with the Pentagon's demands to use its AI models for all lawful use cases, including mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons, which Anthropic doesn't allow its models to be used for. Failing to comply will mean the cancellation of Anthropic's contract. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he could also label the company a supply-chain risk or invoke the Defense Production Act to essentially force Anthropic to work more collaboratively with the Pentagon. Designating a company as a supply-chain risk would mean that businesses working with the Pentagon would have to certify that they don't use Anthropic's models in any of their work with the military.

Taara, a Google moonshot spin-off, plans to create urban data highways made out of light. Taara Photonics is a wireless communication platform based on optical phased arrays. The Taara Beam transmits data wirelessly with Class 1M eye-safe lasers in the unlicensed infrared band 193 THz. It can support speeds of up to 25 Gbps over a claimed range of up to 10 kilometers. The Taara Lightbridge Pro can do double that distance.

Over the past month, six American companies and a Chinese firm have expressed interest in building data centers in space. Experts warn that the projects could open governance loopholes, especially for countries with little say in how they are run. Orbital data centers could place critical infrastructure beyond regulatory reach for many developing countries and deepen digital dependence. New frameworks need to be built to prevent orbital compute from becoming an extension of existing terrestrial monopolies.

The heaviest users of AI in fintech aren't fintechs, they're fraudsters. If you watch Plaid's 2026 Fintech Predictions, you'll see why that won't change for a while. Plaid CEO Zach Perret, CTO Will Robinson, and Credit Product Lead Michelle Young share their predictions in the on-demand webinar. See what's coming

November was an inflection point with AI coding. Everyone now wants their own custom app to solve their business problem, and it's easier than ever to create one. Projects that should take weeks are being one-shotted by Claude Code. Developers should take advantage of this moment - in a few years, motivated people will be able to just do it themselves.

This post takes a look at the many interesting coding projects that developers, creatives, and entrepreneurs in China have been creating with AI tools over the past year. Tinkering culture has no borders, and companies are cashing in. Vibecoding is changing the landscape of technology in China. Highlights include a lighting app that became the most downloaded paid iPhone app in China, an app that suggests meet-up locations, and a tool that generates elaborate greeting messages based on occasion, style, and relationship with the intended recipient.

Stripe is reportedly considering buying all or some segments of PayPal's business. PayPal has struggled with growth in an increasingly competitive financial payments industry. Meanwhile, Stripe hit a $159 billion valuation on Tuesday, up from $91.5 billion a year ago. Stripe's co-founder and president, John Collison, said that the company isn't yet aiming for an IPO as that would sidetrack its current product and business growth.

Some tech firms have started tracking their workers' use of AI tools with an eye on productivity gains, and in certain cases, factoring it into performance reviews. There are jobs that aren't even considering candidates unless they demonstrate AI fluency. AI adoption hasn't been easy, as tech workers have many of the same feelings about AI as the broader population, including skepticism about how much time it is actually saving them. There's also the added anxiety about adopting a technology that will cause them to eventually lose their jobs.

You can invest too. But hurry. Get $11/share before February 26.

A good theory of computer chess will also explain how anomalous humans like Magnus Carlsen consistently beat other chess geniuses.

A Chinese blockade of Taiwan could choke the supply of computer chips and bring the US tech industry to its knees.

Paramount has increased its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery from $30 per share to $31 per share.

The AI community tends to say 'this is the worst it will ever be' in response to criticism, but in many aspects, this is also the best it will ever be.

Meta has started contacting vendors for help with administering stablecoin-backed payments and implementing a new wallet.

As the first engineer on TLDR's new Applied AI team, you'll build AI agents and composable Claude Skills to let non-technical teammates create their own AI workflows. Learn more.

Tesla's Robotaxi service still relies on both in-car human drivers and domestic remote operators to function.