Market Overview - The US Q4 GDP growth was only 1.4%, significantly below expectations, with government shutdown dragging down growth by 1 percentage point [11] - The December core PCE inflation exceeded expectations, rising to 3% year-on-year, prompting market reactions [11] - Major US stock indices experienced volatility but closed higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and the Nasdaq leading gains [2][4] - Gold prices surged over 2% to exceed $5100 per ounce, while silver rose by 8% [2][4] Key News - The US Supreme Court ruled that Trump's global tariffs were illegal, potentially leading to refunds of over $175 billion in tariffs [8] - Trump announced plans to impose a 10% global tariff using alternative legal tools, indicating that previously collected tariffs may not be refunded [9][10] - The US Treasury Secretary stated that tariff revenues are expected to remain "basically unchanged" this year [9] - The US manufacturing and services PMIs for February fell short of expectations, reaching multi-month lows [12] Company and Industry Insights - Anthropic launched the Claude security tool, which caused a significant sell-off in cybersecurity stocks, with the Global X cybersecurity ETF dropping 4.9% [13] - Google announced a doubling of its cloud backlog to $240 billion, emphasizing the rapid growth and importance of AI technologies [12] - The Hong Kong stock market saw a divergence in tech stocks, with AI companies experiencing significant gains while traditional internet giants faced outflows [15]

Group 1 - OpenAI is revising its expansion expectations, indicating a total computing expenditure target of approximately $600 billion by 2030, significantly reduced from the previously stated $1.4 trillion infrastructure commitment by CEO Sam Altman [1] - The company anticipates total revenue exceeding $280 billion by 2030, a substantial increase from $13.1 billion in 2025, with contributions from consumer and enterprise businesses expected to be roughly equal [1] - OpenAI is providing investors with a lower and clearer spending plan to address skepticism regarding its ambitious expansion goals [1] Group 2 - ChatGPT currently supports over 900 million weekly active users, an increase from 800 million in October of last year, with both weekly and daily active user numbers reportedly reaching historical highs [2] - Despite a slowdown in user growth last fall, the product has rebounded, indicating strong user engagement [2] - OpenAI has entered a "red alert" status in response to competitive pressures from Google and Anthropic, focusing on improving chatbot functionalities [2] Group 3 - OpenAI's adjusted gross margin is projected to decline to 33% by 2025, with the company expecting to achieve positive cash flow only by 2030 [1] - The company is finalizing a potential large-scale financing round exceeding $100 billion, with approximately 90% of the investment coming from strategic investors [1] - NVIDIA is reportedly discussing an investment of up to $30 billion, which could lead to a pre-money valuation of OpenAI reaching $730 billion [1]

Anthropic released Claude Code a year ago, forcing other rivals to play catch-up. https://t.co/nmYCLc29nP ...

Anthropic’s Claude Code has gone from being a side project to a billion-dollar business https://t.co/eWKTn7V0oX ...

Economic Impact of Tariffs - The ruling on tariffs is expected to have minimal impact on the economy, with some companies potentially benefiting from reduced tariffs [2][3] - The uncertainty surrounding tariffs may hinder companies from hiring and investing at previous rates [4] Market Overview - Current market levels are high relative to historical averages, with the S&P trading over 20 times earnings and the NASDAQ even higher [5][6] - Stocks are considered expensive, necessitating strong earnings to meet high expectations [6] Software Sector Insights - There is a significant bifurcation in the software sector, with some high-quality companies trading at reasonable valuations while others are trading at inflated multiples [7][8] - Many software companies are facing dramatic downside risks due to high forward earnings multiples, with some trading at 40 to 100 times forward earnings [9] NASDAQ and Tech Trade - The future of the NASDAQ may depend on the performance of semiconductor and memory stocks, particularly in relation to data center spending [11][12] - Strong demand for data center spending is expected to continue, potentially supporting stock performance in that sector [12] AI Impact on Employment - The rise of AI is leading to layoffs in software companies, raising concerns about its broader negative impact on the economy [13]

Anthropic-funded group backs candidate attacked by rival AI super PAC https://t.co/dZhB94X2pb ...

⚡️ NEW: Anthropic introduced Claude Code Security, a web tool that scans code for vulnerabilities and suggests fixes, now in limited research preview. https://t.co/rtqQ0gvSW7 ...

OpenAI and Anthropic spent more on lobbying in 2025 than ever. They’re pushing for friendly treatment and less regulation amid rising tensions—at least for Anthropic—with the Trump administration. Read more: https://t.co/i4t03C3QRG📸: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images https://t.co/YGlvE6V0xd ...

Core Insights - Google is exploring ways to expand its AI chip market to better compete with market leader Nvidia, leveraging its financial strength to build a broader AI ecosystem [2][8] - The company's chips are gaining wider adoption for AI workloads, including clients like the startup Anthropic, but Google faces challenges such as manufacturing partner capacity constraints and limited interest from cloud computing competitors [2][3] - To expand its potential market, Google is increasing financial support for its data center partner network to provide computing power to a broader customer base [2][3] Investment and Partnerships - Google is reportedly negotiating to invest approximately $100 million in cloud computing startup Fluidstack, which has a valuation of about $7.5 billion [2][3] - Google has also provided financial guarantees for projects related to Hut 8, Cipher Mining, and TeraWulf, which are transitioning from cryptocurrency mining to data center development [3][9] - Discussions are ongoing about potentially restructuring the TPU team into an independent department to explore investment opportunities, although this poses challenges due to Google's reliance on Nvidia chips [3][10] TPU Development and Market Position - Google has been selling TPU computing power through its cloud services since 2018 and is also selling TPU chips directly to external customers [10] - The TPU team has gained importance, evidenced by the promotion of Amin Vahdat to Chief Technology Officer of AI Infrastructure, reporting directly to CEO Sundar Pichai [5][10] - The seventh generation TPU, named Ironwood, was launched in April last year, specifically designed for AI inference tasks [5][10] Supply Chain Challenges - Google may face obstacles in increasing TPU shipments due to tight advanced capacity at TSMC, which may prioritize Nvidia as its largest customer [11] - The company is also affected by a global shortage of storage chips, which are critical components of AI chips [11] - Interest in Google's TPU has grown among AI developers seeking cost-effective computing power to reduce dependence on Nvidia [11]

This live blog is refreshed periodically throughout the day with the latest updates from the market.To find the latest Stock Market Today threads, click here. Happy Friday. This is TheStreet’s Stock Market Today for Feb. 20, 2026. You can follow the latest updates on the market here in our daily live blog. Update: 4:00 p.m. ET Closing Bell The U.S. markets are now closed for the week. Here's how we closed it out: Nasdaq: +0.90% S&P 500: +0.69% Dow: +0.47% Russell 2000: +0.00% Update: 2:54 p.m. ET Cyb ...