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%.

Mercedes reported a 57% drop in 2025 earnings before interest and taxes, heavily impacted by about $1.2 billion in tariff expenses and weaker performance in China. Revenue declined 9.2% to €132.2 billion, while net profit fell 48.8% to €5.3 billion and free cash flow from the industrial business dropped to €5.4 billion. The cars division saw double‑digit declines in revenue and profit, but vans and financial services remained profitable, and the company outlined cost‑cutting and product launch plans through 2027.

SoftBank recorded a quarterly profit of ¥248.6 billion, coming in under the ¥336.7 billion market expectation and reflecting uneven performance across its business lines. For the April–December period, net income jumped to ¥3.17 trillion, largely supported by a ¥3.6 trillion rebound in Vision Fund gains and sizeable investment profits. Over 2025, SoftBank committed $40 billion to OpenAI through its Vision Fund structure while simultaneously selling major stakes in T-Mobile and Nvidia and announcing multi‑billion‑dollar deals in DigitalBridge and ABB’s robotics unit to deepen its AI and ASI exposure.