Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+ gets new personality options

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  February 25, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+ gets new personality options: Users will be able to choose from Alexa styles like Brief, Chill, or Sweet, Amazon says. Read More An accountant won a big jackpot on Kalshi by betting against DOGE: A tax accountant saw Elon Musk fans bidding up a Kalshi prediction market and saw a sure bet to make easy money. Read More OpenClaw creator's advice to AI builders is to be more playful and allow yourself time to improve: Peter Steinberger talks about the creation of his viral AI agent OpenClaw and how being more "playful" makes for a better way to learn AI coding. 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  Afternoon Must-Reads Jira's latest update allows AI agents and humans to work side by side: Atlassian is unveiling "agents in Jira," which gives users the ability to assign and manage work given to AI agents the same as humans. Read More Gemini can now automate some multi-step tasks on Android: Gemini on Android will be able to automate tasks involving rideshare requests, or grocery or food delivery, says Google. Read More Harbinger acquires autonomous driving company Phantom AI: It's the Los Angeles trucking startup's first acquisition — the latest in a series of moves to spin up new revenue streams. Read More Alphabet-owned robotics software company Intrinsic joins Google: Nearly five years after graduating into an independent Alphabet company, Intrinsic is moving under Google's domain. Read More Inside the story of the US defense contractor who leaked hacking tools to Russia: The former boss of a U.S. hacking tools maker was jailed for selling highly sensitive software exploits to a Russian broker. This is how we first learned of his arrest, reported the story, and some of the unanswered questions we still have. Read More A message from Stripe Complimentary pass to Sessions with code s26techcrunch100 Join Stripe at Sessions 2026—the internet economy conference—happening April 29–30 in San Francisco. Join fellow business leaders, founders, and developers to explore the latest in financial technology, global commerce, and strategies for growth. Register with code s26techcrunch100 for a complimentary pass. 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 3 days left: Save up to $680 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket: Just 3 days left to save up to $680 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket. Offer ends on Friday, February 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss unparalleled, curated networking and valuable insights from 250+ tech leaders, and discover 300+ breakout innovations. Register now. 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

About 12% of U.S. teens turn to AI for emotional support or advice

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

View this email online in your browser  February 25, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 About 12% of U.S. teens turn to AI for emotional support or advice: General purpose tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok are not designed for this use, making mental health professionals wary. Read More India's AI boom pushes firms to trade near-term revenue for users: ChatGPT and rivals are testing whether India's massive AI user boom can translate into paying customers as free offers wind down. Read More 3 days left: Save up to $680 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket: Just 3 days left to save up to $680 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket. Offer ends on Friday, February 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss unparalleled, curated networking and valuable insights from 250+ tech leaders, and discover 300+ breakout innovations. Register now. 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 HSBC HSBC CIB Survey Reveals Trade Trends in Tech Sector Tech firms are setting the pace in global trade preparedness, with 91% confident about international growth in the next two years. 79% have made or considered changes to where assembly or processing takes place to mitigate tariffs. Liquidity is a top priority, as 71% have seen an increase in short-term financing to address working capital needs. Download the report Morning Must-Reads Jira's latest update allows AI agents and humans to work side by side: Atlassian is unveiling "agents in Jira" which gives users the ability to assign and manage work given to AI agents the same as humans. Read More Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+ gets new personality options: Users will be able to choose from Alexa styles like Brief, Chill or Sweet, Amazon says. Read More Harbinger acquires autonomous driving company Phantom AI: It's the Los Angeles trucking startup's first acquisition — the latest in a series of moves to spin up new revenue streams. Read More Adobe Firefly's video editor can now automatically create a first draft from footage: Adobe Firefly is getting a new feature called Quick Cut that uses AI to edit footage to create a first draft of the final video based on user instructions. Read More Y Combinator grad and AI insurance brokerage Harper raises $47M: Harper is an AI-native insurance brokerage that just raised a $45 million combined Series A and seed, after a member of YC's Winter 2025 cohort. Read More 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  Last but Not Least Americans now listen to podcasts more often than talk radio, study shows: Recent findings also show that video podcasting -- while popular -- is not necessarily replacing audio shows. 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