Timef 02/18/2026

A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.

Kana, a new AI marketing startup from the founders of Rapt and Krux, has raised $15 million to build customizable, agent-based marketing tools.

Tax scams target Americans starting in January using personal data from brokers to create fake IRS emails and refund alerts that steal Social Security numbers.

Though crowded, the identity management market seems eager for new solutions, and Venice is finding traction.

With specs nearly identical to last year’s Pixel 9a, the new Pixel 10a doesn’t pack as much of a punch as prior A-series smartphones.

Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies.

OpenAI says its India education partnerships aim to reach more than 100,000 students, faculty and staff over the next year.

Whether by app or old-school antennas, budget-friendly options abound.

The creative company's monthly active users increased 20%, growth that was partially propelled by adoption of its AI tools.

The partnership will see the two companies exploring how World Labs’ models can work alongside Autodesk’s tools, and vice versa, starting with a focus on entertainment use cases. 

Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, and Ed Harris co-star in John Patton Ford's follow-up to "Emily the Criminal," "How to Make a Killing" with Glen Powell. Review.

Eight-pack Pokémon TCG: Phantasmal Flames boosters fall to $69.98 at Amazon, just $8.74 per pack after a 22% discount.

As of Feb. 18, the black Sonos Ace headphones have dropped to $319 at Amazon, 20% off their list price of $399.

On Feb. 18, 2026, Audible launches the Read & Listen mode within its app. Previously available in the Kindle app, Read & Listen lets you follow the text while listening to the audiobook.

The company is using edge models that take up only megabytes of space, can run on most phones with existing processors, and can work offline.

Tesla alumni Drew Baglino raises a large round to build a giga-scale factory, this time at his own startup.

The new lineup includes 30-billion and 105-billion parameter models; a text-to-speech model; a speech-to-text model; and a vision model to parse documents.

The startup is making solid-state transformers capable of intelligently aggregating power from a number of different sources before sending it to data center racks.

Interview with adult creator Naomi Noel about how she makes a substantial income with foot content on OnlyFans.

EV manufacturer Polestar has announced plans to launch four new electric cars in the next three years.

Benoît Richaud is working with 16 figure skaters from 13 countries at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. WIRED spoke to him about how he roots for all of them.

As of Feb. 18, Proton Drive is offering a deal of $1 for the first month of its Drive Plus 200 GB monthly plan, or 40% off the Drive Plus 200 GB annual plan.

Sporting a refined design and incredible integrated GPU performance, the Dell XPS 14 is the return to form I hoped it would be.

Razer Orochi V2 wireless gaming mouse drops to $29.99 on Amazon — its lowest price ever, with ultra-light design and long battery life.

Samsung’s 49-inch Odyssey G9 QD-OLED gaming monitor drops to $899 at Amazon — nearly its lowest price ever with a $366 discount.

As of Feb. 18, the Eufy 11S MAX robot vacuum is discounted to $139.99 at Amazon, 50% off its list price of $279.99.

“We would [all] love to have an AI boss who wouldn't yell at you or gaslight you. Claude as a boss is the nicest guy ever.”

Find the best TV deal. Save 31% on the Hisense 55-Inch Canvas TV at Amazon.

Find the best portable power station deal. Save 27% on the Jackery Explorer 300 at Amazon.

How to watch T20 World Cup for free. Live stream Sri Lanka vs. Zimbabwe in the 2026 T20 World Cup for free from anywhere in the world.

How to watch T20 World Cup for free. Live stream West Indies vs. Italy in the 2026 T20 World Cup for free from anywhere in the world.

How to watch college basketball for free. Live stream BYU vs. Arizona in 2026.

How to watch college basketball for free. Live stream Creighton vs. UConn in 2026.

Lego’s next release is a digital brick loaded with sensors that add new layers of interactivity to its play sets. WIRED got exclusive access to the Lego labs where the Smart Brick was born.

How to watch ice hockey for free. Live stream USA vs. Sweden in men's ice hockey for free from anywhere in the world.

Bamboo makes some of the softest bedding you can find. Here’s how it’s made and how it’s different from cotton and linen bedding.

Lego's February releases include a set for car enthusiasts, new Smart Play options for Star Wars fans, and options for Disney lovers, too.

NASA needs a near-flawless fueling and launch countdown test to give Artemis 2, an astronaut flight around the moon, the green light.

A scene in Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" inspired an infamous "Saltburn" moment, but it's not in Emerald Fennell's adaptation.

How to unblock porn for free in Kentucky. Unblock and watch Pornhub for free from anywhere in the world.

How to watch ice hockey for free. Live stream Canada vs. USA in the women's ice hockey final for free from anywhere in the world.

Go back to the golden days of gaming with this Retropian Color Retro Handheld Gaming Console, just $64.97 through Feb. 22.

How to watch ice hockey for free. Live stream Finland vs. Switzerland in men's ice hockey for free from anywhere in the world.

How to watch ice hockey for free. Live stream Canada vs. Czechia in men's ice hockey for free from anywhere in the world.

How to watch ice hockey for free. Live stream Slovakia vs. Germany in men's ice hockey for free from anywhere in the world.

Connections: Sports Edition is a New York Times word game about finding common sports threads between words. How to solve the day's puzzle.

Find the best power station deal at Amazon. Save 48% on the Anker Solix C2000 at Amazon.

Find the best coffee machine deal. Save 20% on the Breville Barista Express at Amazon.

Netflix has revealed 'Heartbreak High' Season 3's premiere date, dropping a trailer to tease the Australian series' final season.

Stephen Colbert has addressed CBS' denial that it refused to broadcast his interview with Rep. James Talarico, calling it "crap."

A wet to dry straightener like the SilkiPro rocks if your hair takes forever to dry. But the Shark Glam still might be a better value.

Answers to each clue for the Feb. 18, 2026 edition of NYT's The Mini crossword puzzle.

OpenAI has renamed its feature in Sora from "Cameo" to "Characters."

The New York Times' latest game, Pips, brings domino fun to your desktop. How to play Pips as well as hints in case you get stuck.

Find the latest Lowe’s promo codes and offers, including up to 40% off select major appliances and $5 off $50 with sign-up, here at WIRED.

Hints and answers to today's Hurdle all in one place.

The decision comes a month after Tesla discontinued Autopilot, its basic driver-assistance system.

YouTube went down globally on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Here's what caused the widespread outage.

Connections is a New York Times word game that's all about finding the "common threads between words." How to solve the puzzle.

The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.

Here's the answer for "Wordle" #1705 on February 18 as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.

YouTube went down globally on Tuesday. Here's what caused the outage,

YouTube is down for a lot of users. Here's what we know.

Paying US federal and state taxes online can be confusing, and one wrong move can result in penalties or extra money owed. We break it down so you can have the most worry-free tax filing possible.

Amnesty International says it found evidence that a government customer of Intellexa, a sanctioned surveillance vendor, used its Predator spyware against a prominent journalist in Angola.

Jack Altman and Benchmark announced today that he would be joining the firm as a general partner. 

Anthropic just released its latest model, Claude Sonnet 4.6. The model will now be the default model for free and Pro users.

The team, led by Tesla veteran Alan Clarke, is obsessed with efficiency.

Samsung is hinting that the next Galaxy phones will have some exciting new AI photo editing tools. New videos show exactly what users can do with photos.

Google announces dates for I/O 2026.

Charli XCX and John Cale's "House" from the "Wuthering Heights" soundtrack is a banger, but its placement in the film is baffling.

Chorde voice email for Gmail and Outlook is offering its lifetime Pro Plan for $39.99, an 80 percent discount on a tool that lets users send voice messages directly from their inbox.

Save on the KeySmart SmartCard three-pack that works with Apple Find My, supports wireless charging, and lasts up to eight months per charge, on sale for $69.97.

Your home photos on Zillow could help criminals plan break-ins. Learn how burglars use real estate listing sites and get removal instructions.

The first beta for Android 17 sounds pretty modest, but if you have a recent Pixel phone, it's yours to peruse.

An internal research study at Meta found that parental supervision may not help teens regulate their social media, and teens with trauma are more inclined to overuse social media.

Meta recently won a patent for an LLM that would simulate users' accounts and post, like, and comment on their behalf, including for the accounts of people who have died.

With excellent noise canceling, the QuietComfort Ultra 2 would love to join you on your next long haul flight.

As the AI hardware space heats up, the iPhone maker has multiple smart products in development.

Thrive Capital just raised $10 billion for its new fund-- nearly double the size of its last fund.

Security experts have urged people to be cautious with the viral agentic AI tool, known for being highly capable but also wildly unpredictable.

These Apple product launches, with iPhone, iPad and Mac represented, could happen at the company's March 4 event

Snapchat is launching creator subscriptions, a new feature that lets select creators set their own monthly prices, offer exclusive content, and build recurring revenue directly inside the app.

X is facing yet another EU investigation over Grok's nonconsensual sexualized image generation.

An Apple security update fixes CVE-2026-20700 zero-day vulnerability actively exploited by hackers targeting iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV devices.

Alpha School, founded in 2014, has become an example for the Trump administration's education plan. Classes there aren't taught by humans.

After Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian vice-skip Marc Kennedy of cheating last week, everyone’s become an expert in curling rules. They’re missing the point.

Apple's long-rumored smart glasses are nearing production, as are AI AirPods and a pendant-style device, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The new project, called Material Scale, will initially focus on climate tech startups in the apparel industry.

As of Feb. 17, get a pair of Bose Ultra Open Earbuds for $100 off at Amazon.

Anthropic has released a new version of its mid-size Sonnet model, keeping pace with the company's four-month update cycle.

A baby monkey named Punch at a Japan zoo went viral after clinging to a stuffed animal for comfort. Now, the internet is rooting for him.

A refurbished Apple MacBook Air (M1, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is on sale at Best Buy for just $499.99, normally $1,249.99.

As of Feb. 17, get $30 off the Anker Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station at Amazon.

"The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" examines the dreams and nightmares of a future powered by AI.

Mistral AI has agreed to buy Koyeb, a Paris-based startup that simplifies AI app deployment at scale and manages the infrastructure behind it.

The Sony XM-6 headphones are on sale at Amazon for $368, down from the list price of $459.99. That's a 20% discount.

The popular handheld gaming console may not be so easy to find in the coming year, Valve warned shoppers.

Isaac 0 from Weave is a robot that will fold your laundry, and you might be able to get it now.

Mesh aims to mass-produce optical transceivers for AI data centers.

The runway coach dished on his diagnosis and co-star Tyra Banks.

When we talk about the cost of AI infrastructure, the focus is usually on Nvidia and GPUs -- but memory is an increasingly important part of the picture.

Best Buy is offering $100 gift cards for DoorDash for only $85 for a limited time. Other gift card amounts are also on sale.

EU lawmakers found their government-issued devices were blocked from using the baked-in AI tools, amid fears that sensitive information could turn up on the U.S. servers of AI companies.

The Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are on sale at Amazon for $179.99, down from the list price of $229.99. That's a 22% discount.

The WordPress AI assistant doesn't need precisely tailored prompts, either.

The Dell 15 DC15250 laptop is on sale at Amazon for only $449.99. That's 25% off and its best price so far in 2026.

Australia was the first country to issue a ban in late 2025, aiming to reduce the pressures and risks that young users may face on social media, including cyberbullying, social media addiction, and exposure to predators.

Fire TV's new interface simplifies its layout and navigation and adds Alexa+.

Walmart has the Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 46mm) on sale for only $229. That's 47% off its usual retail price of $429.

As of Feb. 17, get $150 off the Dyson Solarcycle Morph.

The DJI Neo drone is on sale at Amazon for $149, down from the list price of $199. That's a 25% discount.

The ASUS 34-inch ROG Strix curved OLED gaming monitor is on sale for $799 at Amazon. That's $200 off its usual cost.

Apple's AR glasses probably aren't coming very soon, new report says.

How to watch Champions League for free. Live stream Bodo/Glimt vs. Inter Milan in the Champions League for free.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu," starring Pedro Pascal, hits theaters May 22.