Technology

Last October, 35 major donor families in TED's Audacious Project committed $1.03 billion to more than a dozen nonprofits after a year-long selection and pitch process; winners were announced this week.

U.S. airlines canceled many flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara after violence in the region, leaving travelers stranded. Airlines are issuing waivers and canceled-flight refunds are available, while hotel and short-term rental policies vary by company and property.

ACEA data show BYD new-car registrations in Europe rose to 18,242 in January 2026 from 6,884 a year earlier, while ACEA reported overall passenger-car registrations in the region fell.

Photos and reports show the 1970s Osborne Reef tire project failed to create stable habitat and dispersed tires damaged coral; cleanup has removed nearly 650,000 tires by 2023 and will continue through at least February 2028.

Authorities say an 18-year-old Pennsylvania student has been arrested and charged with more than 300 felonies after an alleged social media sextortion network targeted multiple minors; he is being held without bail.

A nor'easter called Winter Storm Hernando is forecast to strengthen into a bomb cyclone, with blizzard warnings from Delaware to Connecticut and across New York City. Major airports in the region are reporting widespread flight cancellations and officials report possible power outages and hazardous road conditions.

An iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite feature helped rescuers locate six skiers after a California avalanche by enabling messages when cell service failed.

Lauren Koong, Eileen Gu’s Stanford roommate, says Gu is exceptionally smart and hardworking, and the article describes how Gu balances Stanford coursework with an international skiing career while facing intense public attention and occasional safety concerns.

Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging Roblox's platform enabled grooming and exploitation of children; Roblox says it strongly disputes the claims and will defend itself.

Pixar released the Toy Story 5 trailer on Feb. 19, showing Woody with a receding hairline, and social media users responded with nostalgia and lighthearted jokes.

A.I. code generators can speed up some software projects but typically require close human oversight, and experts warn they can introduce code quality and security problems.

Reuters reports the US has launched a portal called freedom.gov that it says will let users access content blocked under some European rules; the domain appears to be administered by CISA while the State Department described digital freedom as a priority.

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey filed a lawsuit in Mason County Circuit Court alleging Apple did not deploy industry-standard tools to detect child sexual abuse material on iCloud; the complaint cites internal messages and seeks orders to require scanning. Undetermined at this time.

The Eganville Leader, a weekly community newspaper serving Renfrew County, has been sold to London Publishing Inc. and the Aylmer Express, which say they plan to keep operations largely unchanged.

Cube Wellness, a subsidiary of GBT Technologies, acquired 23 additional AI-enabled wellness machines, bringing its deployed and deployment-ready total to 36 and beginning onboarding for a university rollout.

Federal payments of about $235 million were released after a federal judge's Feb. 6 order, allowing work on the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey to resume next week.

A Pew survey found 64% of teens use AI chatbots, and education researchers say parents, schools and lawmakers each have roles in guiding children's use while product safeguards and legislation continue to develop.

Microsoft and other hyperscalers are stepping up investment in quantum computing, and Microsoft says machines with commercial value could be operating in data centers by 2029.

Chicago’s City Council unanimously codified the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism after student-led lobbying, while New York City recently reversed its prior adoption under Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Tim Stevens, founder of the Black Political Empowerment Project in Pittsburgh, reflected on Rev. Jesse Jackson's decades of civil-rights work as reports said Jackson died peacefully at age 84.

Dozens held a vigil after a shooting at a Pawtucket-area hockey game that left multiple people dead or injured, and teammates, coaches and families gathered to grieve.

A Change.org petition asking OpenAI to bring back GPT-4o has accumulated about 21,900 signatures after the company announced the model's deprecation; OpenAI cited low usage and earlier feedback said to have influenced newer models.

WordPress has added an AI Assistant to WordPress.com, integrated into the editor and Media Library and available at no extra cost for Business and Commerce plan sites.

The European Commission has opened a Digital Services Act investigation into Shein over the suspected sale of products the commission said could constitute child sexual abuse material; regulators will also examine the platform's recommendation system and design risks.

An annular solar eclipse, known as a 'ring of fire,' will occur on Feb. 17 and reach its peak during morning hours ET; the full ring will be visible only along a narrow path across parts of Antarctica while a wider partial eclipse will be seen from some southern hemisphere regions.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that Peter Steinberger, creator of the viral AI agent OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI to lead development of next‑generation personal AI agents; Altman said OpenClaw will continue as an open‑source project supported by OpenAI.

India is hosting a five-day AI Impact Summit in New Delhi with heads of state and major tech executives; themes are "people, progress, planet" and the summit is not expected to produce a binding agreement.

Chainalysis reports cryptocurrency payments to suspected human trafficking syndicates rose 85% in 2025, with hundreds of millions of dollars traced on public blockchains; most activity was linked to a criminal ecosystem in Southeast Asia while customers originated from the Americas, Europe and Australia.

The Department of War airlifted a next-generation nuclear reactor from March Air Reserve Base in California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and said the reactor will be moved to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville for testing and evaluation.

Route 66 marks its 100th anniversary and interest in the route has grown; Tripadvisor reports a 20% year‑over‑year rise and, with Choice Hotels, launched a 'Century of Route 66' interactive map highlighting stops across the eight states the highway crosses.