Author: Frank Salvato

Portugal’s parliament has preliminarily approved a bill that would restrict social media access for minors by requiring explicit parental consent for children aged 13 to 16 and continuing an outright ban for those under 13, moving the country toward being one of the first in Europe to legislate such limits amid concerns over online harms like cyberbullying and predatory behavior. The draft, backed by the ruling Social Democratic Party and passed in its first reading, calls for a public Digital Mobile Key system to verify age and consent and could require tech platforms to adopt compatible age-verification measures; it also…

A group of more than 40 mourning parents and advocates gathered outside Snapchat’s Santa Monica headquarters on February 12, 2026, to protest what they say is the tech company’s failure to protect young users from harm, with demonstrators painting the names of 108 children on the street to memorialize youths they allege died after obtaining fentanyl-laced pills through interactions on the social media platform and to demand stronger safety measures from Snap; the campaign against the company includes pending lawsuits asserting Snapchat’s design flaws contributed to these deaths and calls for the firm to disable certain features, while the state…

Despite law enforcement takedowns of several underground markets, personal information from data breaches continues circulating on the dark web where criminal actors trade stolen credentials, drug sales, and other illicit goods, keeping digital risks high for individuals and organizations alike. Dark web marketplaces such as Archetyp Market once hosted hundreds of thousands of users and facilitated illegal trading of drugs and potentially stolen data before being dismantled by European and U.S. authorities, underscoring how these hidden cornersof the internet persist and evolve even after enforcement actions. At the same time, major companies like Google are discontinuing consumer-facing dark web monitoring…

Amazon’s share price has tumbled for nine straight trading sessions, marking its worst losing streak since July 2006 and dragging the stock down roughly 18 percent as of mid-February 2026, amid mounting investor concern over the company’s aggressive capital spending plans on artificial intelligence infrastructure that could total about $200 billion this year, raising questions about cash flow, profitability and whether the long-term payoff of these investments will justify the steep near-term costs. Sources https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/amazon-shares-suffer-worst-losing-streak-since-july-2006-amid-concern-over-ai-spending-5985562https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazons-stock-just-clinched-its-worst-losing-streak-in-nearly-two-decades-its-giving-investors-aws-deja-vu-2f239fe3https://news.futunn.com/en/post/68927034/ai-cash-burn-sparks-concerns-amazon-enters-bear-market-longest Key Takeaways In-Depth The recent slide in Amazon’s share price represents a significant shift in market sentiment for one of the world’s largest technology and…

Tech workers across the artificial intelligence industry are sounding the alarm on grueling work conditions, burnout and job instability as hidden labor in AI development — such as data labeling, output evaluation, and content filtering — becomes a revolving door of high-pressure gigs with little support, contributing to both elevated turnover and declining quality in the products they help build; independent research also finds that the way AI is deployed in workplaces can intensify workloads, extend work hours, and blur work-life boundaries, spurring employee exhaustion and increasing the risk of turnover across sectors beyond just AI development. Sources https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/behind-the-burnout-and-high-turnover-rates-in-the-ai-industry-5979343https://dig.watch/updates/research-warns-of-ai-driven-burnout-riskshttps://www.thehrdigest.com/productivity-gains-aside-ai-increases-workloads-and-the-risk-of-burnout Key…

Legacy U.S. automakers and their global peers are scaling back electric vehicle (EV) investments and production plans in response to the expiration of key federal tax credits and weakening consumer demand, prompting financial writedowns, cautious production decisions, and strategic pivots that favor hybrids or traditional vehicles over all-electric models. Despite earlier commitments by companies like General Motors and Ford to electrify their lineups, the abrupt end of federal incentives—including the $7,500 EV tax credit phased out in September 2025—has dampened U.S. EV sales growth, contributed to inventory surpluses, and spurred automakers to reduce battery plant investments and trim EV output.…

Roku is gearing up to launch new streaming service bundles in 2026 as part of a broader strategy to improve profitability and growth after reporting a strong fourth-quarter performance in 2025, with net income of $80.5 million on $1.4 billion in revenue; the company is expanding its low-cost Howdy subscription to more platforms and adding premium partners like HBO Max to its offerings while forecasting total net revenue of $5.5 billion and continued double-digit platform growth alongside its efforts to attract budget-conscious viewers amid rising subscription costs and a shift toward ad-supported streaming. Source reporting indicates Roku is close to…

Figure Technology, a blockchain-based lending fintech firm listed on the Nasdaq, confirmed that it suffered a significant data breach after attackers successfully used a social engineering tactic to compromise an employee’s account, allowing unauthorized access to internal files. The breach, for which the cybercriminal group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility, resulted in roughly 2.5 gigabytes of data being exfiltrated and published on the dark web following a refused ransom demand. Stolen information reportedly includes sensitive customer details such as full names, home addresses, dates of birth, and phone numbers, prompting the company to notify affected individuals and offer free credit monitoring services.…

Meta is reportedly preparing to add real-time facial recognition technology to its AI-powered smart glasses this year with a feature dubbed “Name Tag,” allowing wearers to identify people and receive information about them via Meta’s AI assistant, sparking a fresh wave of debate over privacy, surveillance, and civil liberties as the company weighs how and when to roll out the controversial upgrade. According to reporting based on an internal memo and unnamed sources, Meta considered timing the launch to coincide with a period of political distraction to minimize backlash and has acknowledged safety and privacy risks associated with the capability;…

Airbnb has announced that its proprietary artificial intelligence system now handles roughly one-third of all customer support interactions in the United States and Canada through both chat and voice interfaces, a major expansion of automation in its operations that the company plans to scale globally over the next year as part of a broader AI strategy including enhanced search and planning features. Sources https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/airbnb-says-a-third-of-its-customer-support-is-now-handled-by-ai-in-the-u-s-and-canada/https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-q4-2025-financial-results/https://www.findarticles.com/airbnb-shifts-33-of-support-to-ai-in-us-and-canada/ Key Takeaways • Airbnb says its in-house AI now resolves about 33 percent of customer support requests in the U.S. and Canada, and this capability will expand internationally.• The company reports AI automation is part of…