This former Microsoft PM thinks she can unseat CyberArk in 18 months

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories to start your morning

View this email online in your browser  February 18, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 This former Microsoft PM thinks she can unseat CyberArk in 18 months: Though crowded, the identity management market seems eager for new solutions, and Venice is finding traction. Read More Microsoft says Office bug exposed customers' confidential emails to Copilot AI: Microsoft said the bug meant that its Copilot AI chatbot was reading and summarizing paying customers' confidential emails, bypassing data protection policies. Read More OpenAI pushes into higher education as India seeks to scale AI skills: OpenAI says its India education partnerships aim to reach more than 100,000 students, faculty and staff over the next year. Read More Be the first to know when news breaks Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox. Sign up for News Alerts! A message from Fidelity Stop Guessing What Fundraising Requires Cap table. Pitch deck. Investor updates. Diligence. The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips you with the core materials founders can use to raise with confidence. Download the Kit  Morning Must-Reads Kana emerges from stealth with $15M to build flexible AI agents for marketers: Kana, a new AI marketing startup from the founders of Rapt and Krux, has raised $15 million to build customizable, agent-based marketing tools. Read More U.S. court bars OpenAI from using 'Cameo': OpenAI has renamed its feature in Sora from "Cameo" to "Characters." Read More Tesla dodges 30-day suspension in California after removing 'Autopilot': The decision comes a month after Tesla discontinued Autopilot, its basic driver-assistance system. Read More Jack Altman joins Benchmark as GP: Jack Altman and Benchmark announced today that he would be joining the firm as a general partner.  Read More Ford turns to F1 and bounties to build a $30,000 electric truck: A combination of 3D-printed Lego-like parts, Formula 1 thinking, and a bounty program will help the company hit that target. The team, led by Tesla veteran Alan Clarke, is obsessed with efficiency. Read More A message from Snyk Agentic security for AI-powered software AI-native applications are dynamic, unpredictable, and moving at machine speed. Evo by Snyk introduces a new era of "agentic security"—using specialized AI agents to discover, test, and protect your AI ecosystem. Meet Evo Last but Not Least World Labs lands $200M from Autodesk to bring world models into 3D workflows: The partnership will see the two companies exploring how World Labs' models can work alongside Autodesk's tools, and vice versa, starting with a focus on entertainment use cases.  Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

Apple is reportedly cooking up a trio of AI wearables

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  February 17, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Apple is reportedly cooking up a trio of AI wearables: As the AI hardware space heats up, the iPhone maker has multiple smart products in development. Read More Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6: Anthropic has released a new version of its mid-size Sonnet model, keeping pace with the company's four-month update cycle. Read More Meta's own research found parental supervision doesn't really help curb teens' compulsive social media use: An internal research study at Meta found that parental supervision may not help teens regulate their social media, and teens with trauma are more inclined to overuse social media. Read More Be the first to know when news breaks Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox. Sign up for News Alerts! A message from Microsoft and NVIDIA It all starts here at NVIDIA GTC 2026 See the breakthroughs redefining AI across industries. Join Microsoft at NVIDIA GTC to explore physical AI, AI factories, and agentic AI and experience the ideas driving the next era of innovation. Full conference passes for March 16–19 in San Jose are sold out, but single-day passes are still available. Get yours now. Register now Afternoon Must-Reads Amazon Fire TV's new interface is now rolling out in the US: Fire TV's new interface simplifies its layout and navigation and adds Alexa+. Read More WordPress.com adds an AI Assistant that can edit, adjust styles, create images, and more: The WordPress AI assistant doesn't need precisely tailored prompts, either. Read More Cohere launches a family of open multilingual models: Cohere's Tiny Aya models support over 70 langauges Read More European Parliament blocks AI on lawmakers' devices, citing security risks: EU lawmakers found their government-issued devices were blocked from using the baked-in AI tools, amid fears that sensitive information could turn up on the U.S. servers of AI companies. Read More Just 8 months in, India's vibe-coding startup Emergent claims ARR of over $100M: Indian vibe-coding platform Emergent was launched just eight months ago, and it now says it's generating annual recurring revenue of more than $100 million, thanks to surging demand by small businesses and non-technical users. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events The ultimate founder bootcamp: TechCrunch Founder Summit Founders and VCs, this conference is built for you. Join 1,100 founders and investors of all stages for a highly curated, all-day summit in June, designed to connect capital and companies. From tactical workshops to candid Q&A and curated meetings, it's where scale, growth, and deal flow happen. Save up to $300 on your pass. Or save up to 30% with a group. Register Now You missed these chats from Disrupt: Kindred talks home-swapping platform for travelers, Chef Robotics introduces AI into commercial kitchens, and Character.AI addresses chatbot safety with teens. Watch on Cheddar.com Watch on Streaming Last but Not Least Running AI models is turning into a memory game: When we talk about the cost of AI infrastructure, the focus is usually on Nvidia and GPUs -- but memory is an increasingly important part of the picture. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107