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.

According to the Supreme Court, the justices ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not permit President Donald Trump to impose global tariffs after declaring national emergencies. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissenting. The blocked duties included 25% on most Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on most Chinese goods, with a baseline of at least 10% applied to nearly all trading partners.

On February 18 2026, Nvidia confirmed a multiyear, multigenerational agreement with Meta to provide Blackwell and Rubin GPUs alongside Grace and future Vera CPUs for AI data centers. The partnership covers training and inference systems, networking, and hyperscale data centers, with Meta planning to deploy millions of GPUs and expand Grace now while targeting large-scale Vera CPU rollout from 2027.

On February 16, 2026, Bitmine reported holding 4,371,497 ETH priced at $1,998 each, valuing its Ethereum treasury at about $8.7 billion and representing 3.62% of the 120.7 million ETH supply. Including 193 Bitcoin, equity stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings, and $670 million in cash, the company's total assets reached $9.6 billion. Bitmine disclosed that 3,040,483 ETH is staked, generating an annualized $176 million in rewards, with potential to rise to $252 million once MAVAN is fully deployed in early 2026.

Iran has partially closed the Strait of Hormuz during Revolutionary Guard drills under security precautions, according to state media. About 13 million bpd—roughly 31% of global seaborne crude—transit the passage, based on Kpler data, while the IEA's Monday report projects a 3.73 million bpd global oil surplus in 2026.

Spain moved to request a formal probe into X, Meta and TikTok, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez saying on Tuesday the cabinet will invoke Article 8 to examine alleged AI-enabled child sexual abuse material. The step aligns with wider EU scrutiny, including a 120 million euro fine against X in December and new investigations underway in France, Britain and Ireland.

On February 17, 2026, European stock benchmarks climbed, with STOXX600 at 619.45 (+0.15%) and broad gains across the FTSE 100, DAX, CAC 40, SMI, IBEX 35, and PSI20. According to UK labor data, unemployment rose to 5.2%, pushing GBP/USD to 1.359 and helping lower gilt and euro‑area yields, while EU figures showed 0.3% Q4 2025 growth.

On February 16, 2026, European equities ended higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 up 0.14% to 618.56, even as Pinewood Technologies plunged nearly one-third after Apax withdrew its £575 million bid. NatWest rose 4.7% on a £750 million buyback, while mining stocks such as Rio Tinto and BHP edged lower.

Amazon shares have declined for nine consecutive trading days, matching a streak that ended in July 2006, and are down 18%, erasing about $463 billion in market value. Investors are reacting to the company's plan to spend $200 billion this year on AI infrastructure, outlined on the Feb. 5 earnings call, as February losses approach about 17%.