OpenAI told investors it plans about $600 billion in compute spending by 2030, replacing the $1.4 trillion figure previously discussed by Sam Altman. The company projects over $280 billion in 2030 revenue, nearly evenly split between consumer and enterprise, while Nvidia confirmed talks on a potential $30 billion investment separate from a September $100 billion framework.

On February 20, 2026, Nvidia was reported to be close to finalizing a $30 billion investment in OpenAI, far below the $100 billion commitment it had made a year earlier. The funding is part of a $100 billion round that could push OpenAI's valuation to $830 billion and make it one of the most highly valued private firms globally. The reduced commitment has unsettled markets, especially as OpenAI is expected to channel much of the new capital back into Nvidia hardware, raising questions over circular financing and long-term sustainability.

x402 has gone live on the XRP Ledger, enabling AI agents to pay for services directly in XRP and RLUSD without using API keys or traditional accounts. Payments are handled per request using the x402 HTTP 402 "Payment Required" standard, with settlement occurring on-chain. Separately, phase two of Dubai's Real Estate Tokenization Project on the XRP Ledger has started, adding controlled secondary market trading for tokenized properties.

On February 19, 2026, Chainalysis outlined how on‑chain cryptocurrency flows linked to darknet markets and fentanyl precursor suppliers can anticipate overdose trends by three to six months. The firm reported that darknet market inflows neared $2.6 billion in 2025, while mid‑2023 saw a sharp drop in payments to fentanyl precursor suppliers that aligned with declining opioid deaths in the U.S. and Canada. Larger crypto transfers above $500 also showed a strong relationship with stimulant‑related hospitalizations in Canada, underscoring blockchain’s dual role as both a facilitator of illicit activity and a tool for public health forecasting and law enforcement.

Vitalik Buterin set 2026 as a target to reclaim computing self-sovereignty, detailing moves to privacy tools and trials of running language models on a personal laptop. The article argues local-only hosting cannot meet training and persistent inference needs at scale, and instead points to decentralized compute networks as a way to combine independence with elastic capacity.

OpenAI plans to establish new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru while CEO Sam Altman is in New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit. The company aims to deepen its engagement with India's developer ecosystem, enterprises, and policymakers as the country becomes one of its fastest-growing markets. Bengaluru will focus on talent and startups, while Mumbai will position OpenAI closer to major financial and media clients.

Kite AI (KITE) is redefining the Agentic Internet, reaching an all-time high of $0.246 in mid-February 2026 after a 55% weekly surge. With $33M in funding from PayPal Ventures and Coinbase Ventures, and a mainnet launch slated for Q1 2026, analysts are forecasting a potential rally toward $0.70.

Developers are deploying AI agents to monitor and secure smart contracts after crypto platforms lost over $3.4 billion to hacks in 2025. OpenAI's EVMbench now tests whether these systems can detect, fix, or even exploit live blockchain vulnerabilities. Early findings show AI is more effective at exploitation than safe remediation, raising concerns it could empower both defenders and attackers across decentralized finance.