Good morning. It's Tuesday, February 17, and we're covering Wisconsin data center protests, OpenClaw security concerns, India’s ChatGPT surge, and more.

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📈 India Hits 100M Weekly ChatGPT Users
Sam Altman said India now has 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, making it the company’s second-largest market after the U.S. The disclosure came ahead of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. OpenAI opened a local office in August 2025 and introduced lower-cost plans, including a sub-$5 tier. Globally, ChatGPT is nearing 900 million weekly users.

💼 IBM Triples Entry-Level Hiring Plans
IBM said it will triple US entry-level hiring in 2026, focusing on roles requiring human judgment and customer interaction. Chief HR officer Nickle LaMoreaux said some routine tasks are now automated, but jobs are being rewritten around oversight of AI and client work. The move contrasts with CEO Arvind Krishna’s 2023 remarks that AI could replace 30% of roles over five years.

🧑‍⚖️ David Greene Sues Google Over AI Voice
David Greene is suing Google, alleging a male voice in its NotebookLM podcast feature mimics his cadence and speech patterns. Greene, a former host of Morning Edition, said listeners flagged similarities in tone and filler words. Google told The Washington Post the voice is based on a paid professional actor. The case echoes prior disputes over AI voices resembling public figures.

🦞 Kimi Launches Browser-Based Kimi Claw
Kimi.ai introduced Kimi Claw, a browser-native version of OpenClaw integrated into kimi.com. The tool offers access to 5,000+ community skills via ClawHub, 40GB of cloud storage, and live data search. Users can also connect third-party OpenClaw setups and link them to apps like Telegram. Beta access opened February 15, 2026 for Allegretto-tier members and above.

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Journalist Ann Davis Vaughan reports that Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens has mobilized opposition to large AI data centers, including a nearly 1.3 gigawatt campus approved in August 2025 for Vantage Data Centers in Port Washington as part of the OpenAI–Oracle Stargate initiative. Berens argues the projects will raise power bills, strain water supplies, and enrich tech billionaires, while utilities and companies say they’ve made binding commitments to fund grid upgrades and avoid shifting costs to ratepayers. The clash has escalated into recalls, packed town halls, and national policy debates over how AI infrastructure should pay its way. Labor leaders point to a construction boom, with Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 118 logging 3 million man-hours in 2025, while tech firms argue the projects will expand the tax base and fund public services.

The backlash has drawn national attention, with the White House reportedly drafting a voluntary infrastructure compact, Anthropic pledging to cover 100% of grid upgrade costs, and industry veterans warning that local opposition can derail projects at the ballot box. The fight in Wisconsin underscores a widening trust gap between AI developers and host communities. → Read the full article here. (Paywall)

After AI agents on Reddit-style site Moltbook appeared to discuss organizing in private, prominent figures like Andrej Karpathy flagged the moment as a potential sci-fi milestone. Researchers soon found the posts were likely written or manipulated by humans, exploiting unsecured credentials in Moltbook’s Supabase backend. The incident cast fresh scrutiny on OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent framework created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger.

Though OpenClaw has amassed over 190,000 GitHub stars and enables agents to automate tasks across messaging platforms, security experts warn that prompt injection and credential exposure could make it risky for real-world use. The episode underscores a broader tension in agentic AI: more autonomy often means more attack surface. → Read the full article here.

China-based robotics firm Robotera released a February 15, 2026 video of its L7 humanoid robot performing a traditional Chinese sword dance to mark the Lunar New Year. Developed with Tsinghua University, the 5.6-foot (171 cm), 65-kg robot features 55 independently moving joints and is built from titanium and carbon fiber.

The performance highlights whole-body coordination, real-time balance control, and precise torque management—capabilities required to execute jumps, spins, and controlled blade movements without instability. Beyond spectacle, the demo doubles as a proof-of-capability pitch for industrial and service applications, where fine motor control and dynamic balance are critical. → Read the full article here.

💾 Memory Chip Crunch Hits Tech (Paywall): Apple, Tesla and others warn DRAM shortages are squeezing profits and production in 2026, driving up prices and deepening a global supply crisis.

😤 ByteDance AI Video Sparks Hollywood Fury: Seedance 2.0’s hyper-real clips drew Disney and Paramount cease-and-desists over copyright fears, prompting ByteDance to tighten safeguards.

💵 Anthropic Revenue Surges in India: CEO Dario Amodei said India run-rate revenue doubled in four months as Claude Code grows; Anthropic opened a Bengaluru office, touting local deals

💰 Ricursive Lands $335M Fast: Ex-Google Brain leaders Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini raised $335 million at a $4 billion valuation in four months to build AI that automates chip design.

🛡️ Anthropic Resists Pentagon AI Terms: The Defense Department wants broad “lawful use” of Claude, but Anthropic is pushing back over limits on autonomous weapons and surveillance.

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Matthew Berman & The Forward Future Team

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