Monday, February 23, 2026

Data center developers are seeking credit ratings even while facilities are under construction to unlock new capital; S&P, Moody's, and others expand coverage (Michelle Chan/Financial Times)

Michelle Chan / Financial Times:
Data center developers are seeking credit ratings even while facilities are under construction to unlock new capital; S&P, Moody's, and others expand coverage  —  Agencies are rushing to rate the debt of projects still under construction  —  Data centre developers are seeking credit ratings …



How Buddy Rizer, an official in Virginia's Loudoun County, helped build the world's largest data center market, with ~200 buildings spanning ~49M square feet (David Uberti/Wall Street Journal)

David Uberti / Wall Street Journal:
How Buddy Rizer, an official in Virginia's Loudoun County, helped build the world's largest data center market, with ~200 buildings spanning ~49M square feet  —  Virginia's Loudoun County is a giant data-center market thanks in part to a radio DJ-turned county executive director for economic development



South Korean trade data: chip exports rose 134% YoY, while computer peripherals rose 129% in the first 20 days of February, extending gains driven by AI demand (Heesu Lee/Bloomberg)

Heesu Lee / Bloomberg:
South Korean trade data: chip exports rose 134% YoY, while computer peripherals rose 129% in the first 20 days of February, extending gains driven by AI demand  —  South Korea's exports extended their growth momentum in early February, driven by resilient semiconductor demand even as trade uncertainty persists over US tariff policy.



Sunday, February 22, 2026

Turkey launches a review of how social media platforms handle children's data as it prepares new rules that include identity verification and age restrictions (Turkish Minute)

Turkish Minute:
Turkey launches a review of how social media platforms handle children's data as it prepares new rules that include identity verification and age restrictions  —  Turkey's data protection watchdog has opened a review of how six major social media platforms process children's personal data …



Tim Cook's increased mentions of Visual Intelligence hint it will be a major part of Apple's new wearables; sources: Apple considers a deep red iPhone 18 Pro (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Tim Cook's increased mentions of Visual Intelligence hint it will be a major part of Apple's new wearables; sources: Apple considers a deep red iPhone 18 Pro  —  Apple CEO Tim Cook is signaling that Visual Intelligence will be the defining feature of the company's push into wearable AI devices.



Analysis: the crypto industry has spent $288M+ on the 2026 US midterms so far, over double the 2024 cycle; crypto PAC Fairshake is the US' fifth most-funded PAC (Molly White/Citation Needed)

Molly White / Citation Needed:
Analysis: the crypto industry has spent $288M+ on the 2026 US midterms so far, over double the 2024 cycle; crypto PAC Fairshake is the US' fifth most-funded PAC  —  With Trump faltering and their policy agenda incomplete, the crypto industry has moved at least $288 million toward the midterms …



India's AI Summit highlighted the limits of the country's AI ambitions, as the US and its tech companies largely dismissed India's push for global AI governance (Krishn Kaushik/Financial Times)

Krishn Kaushik / Financial Times:
India's AI Summit highlighted the limits of the country's AI ambitions, as the US and its tech companies largely dismissed India's push for global AI governance  —  The world's most populous country continues to struggle to find its place in an industry dominated by the US and China



Docs: Israeli AI chip startup Hailo is pursuing an urgent IPO via a SPAC merger at a valuation of less than $500M; it was last valued at $1.2B in 2024 (Meir Orbach/CTech)

Meir Orbach / CTech : Docs: Israeli AI chip startup Hailo is pursuing an urgent IPO via a SPAC merger at a valuation of less than $500M; ...