AI News for February 16, 2026 — 7min.ai

[NEWS] OpenAI hires OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger to build 'next generation' AI agents: OpenAI hired Peter Steinberger, creator of viral AI agent OpenClaw, to lead personal agent development.
[NEWS] ByteDance adds Seedance 2.0 safeguards after Disney cease-and-desist and Hollywood backlash: ByteDance pledged to strengthen safeguards on its Seedance 2.0 AI video generator after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing the company of stealing copyrighted characters.
[NEWS] Anthropic and Pentagon clash over Claude military usage, $200M contract at risk: The Pentagon is threatening to pull its $200M contract with Anthropic over the company's resistance to allowing unrestricted military use of Claude.
[OPINION] Stanford AI economist says productivity liftoff has begun, US productivity jumped 2.7% in 2025: Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson argued in a Financial Times op-ed that the AI productivity J-curve is finally visible.
[NEWS] AI-driven DRAM shortage hammers profits across industries, Musk says Tesla may build its own fab: A global DRAM shortage driven by AI data center buildouts is constraining production at Tesla, Apple, and dozens of other companies.
[NEWS] UK to extend Online Safety Act to AI chatbots, threatening fines or bans: UK PM Keir Starmer will announce that all AI chatbot providers must comply with the Online Safety Act's illegal content rules or face fines and potential bans.
[NEWS] NPR host David Greene sues Google, alleging NotebookLM voice cloned his: David Greene, longtime host of NPR's "Morning Edition," is suing Google, claiming the male podcast voice in NotebookLM was based on his cadence, intonation, and filler words.
[NEWS] Google hides health disclaimers under AI Overviews, experts warn of harm: Google only shows safety disclaimers for AI-generated medical advice after users click "Show more" and scroll past all additional content, the Guardian found.
[NEWS] Trump trade advisor says Big Tech must 'internalize' all AI data center costs: White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said data center builders must "internalize" the full costs of electricity, water, and grid strain their AI infrastructure creates.
[NEWS] Elon Musk attacks Anthropic philosopher Amanda Askell, says childless people lack 'stake in the future': Elon Musk said Anthropic's resident philosopher Amanda Askell, who shapes Claude's personality and moral guardrails, is unqualified because "those without children lack a stake in the future." Askell responded: "I think it depends on how much you care about people in general vs.

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