Flapping Airplanes on the future of AI: 'We want to try really radically different things'

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  February 16, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Flapping Airplanes on the future of AI: 'We want to try really radically different things': "We're exploring a different set of tradeoffs." Read More How Ricursive Intelligence raised $335M at a $4B valuation in 4 months: The reason why this nascent startup had VCs lining up is the founders.They are so famed in the AI world, everyone tried to hire them. Read More African defensetech Terra Industries, founded by two Gen Zers, raises additional $22M in a month: Terra Industries, the African defense company, announced Monday that it had secured an additional $22 million in funding to further expand the business.  Read More Be the first to know when news breaks Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox. Sign up for News Alerts! A message from Microsoft and NVIDIA It all starts here at NVIDIA GTC 2026 See the breakthroughs redefining AI across industries. Join Microsoft at NVIDIA GTC to explore physical AI, AI factories, and agentic AI and experience the ideas driving the next era of innovation. Mark your calendar now for March 16–19 in San Jose. Register here for 20% off your conference pass. Register now Afternoon Must-Reads OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI: OpenAI said OpenClaw will live on as an open source project. Read More After all the hype, some AI experts don't think OpenClaw is all that exciting: "From an AI research perspective, this is nothing novel," one expert told TechCrunch. Read More As AI data centers hit power limits, Peak XV backs Indian startup C2i to fix the bottleneck: C2i has raised $15 million as it tests a grid-to-GPU approach to reducing power losses in AI data centers. Read More The enterprise AI land grab is on. Glean is building the layer beneath the interface.: In this week's episode of the Equity podcast, Glean CEO Arvind Jain explains the company's shift from enterprise search tool to middleware layer for enterprise AI. Read More Have money, will travel: a16z's hunt for the next European unicorn: According to a16z, it has eyes around the world in order to spot companies as early as local funds might. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Momentum and deals start at Disrupt — Save up to $680 now At Disrupt, founders find momentum, VCs discover their next investment, and operators take their next leap. October 13–15 in San Francisco, 10,000 tech leaders converge at San Francisco's Moscone West to connect and hear from 250+ industry-defining voices across 200+ sessions. Save up to $680 on your pass by February 27. Or save up to 30% when you bring a group. Register Now You missed these chats from Disrupt: Kindred talks home-swapping platform for travelers, Chef Robotics introduces AI into commercial kitchens, and Character.AI addresses chatbot safety with teens. Watch on Cheddar.com Watch on Streaming Last but Not Least Anthropic and the Pentagon are reportedly arguing over Claude usage: The apparent issue: whether Claude can be used for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107