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eBay buys Depop for $1.2 billion

Etsy has sold Depop, a gen-Z thrifting marketplace, to eBay in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. Etsy acquired Depop in 2021 for $1.6 billion.

Etsy said it will focus on its core marketplace. eBay said it will take Depop to improve its position in consumer to consumer fashion commerce. Depop had 7 million active buyers with 90% of them under age 34 and 3 million active sellers. 

Figma posts strong Q4, outlook

Figma reported better-than-expected earnings and something rare occurred--the stock went up. Figma shares saw a 18% after hours bounce to recoup some of the 35% year-to-date decline.

Figma reported a fourth quarter net loss of $226.6 million, or 44 cents a share. Non-GAAP earnings were 8 cents a share, two pennies a share better than estimates. Revenue in the fourth quarter was $303.8 million, up 40% from a year ago.

For the first quarter, Figma projected revenue between $315 million to $317 million, up about 38% from a year ago. The company said 2026 revenue will be between $1.366 billion to $1.374 billion, up about 30%.

CEO Dylan Field said:

"Our growth and momentum show that our strategy is working. As AI gets better, Figma gets better—and we’re shipping faster than ever. In 2025, we expanded from 4 to 8 products and launched over 200 features, including new AI-native functionality."
 

Lecture: 'This is not the AI we were promised'

The Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize Lecture was delivered by 2025 winner Professor Michael John Wooldridge. The talk is worth a listen. Key themes:

  • The paradox of modern AI. Modern AI systems appear as articulate, confident experts, yet they frequently fail basic tests of rational intelligence.
  • Risk of a "Hindenburg-style disaster." Wooldridge argues that intense commercial pressure is forcing tech companies to release tools before their flaws are understood. He suggests that a high-profile failure—such as a deadly self-driving car update or an AI-powered financial collapse—could shatter global trust in technology, much like the Hindenburg disaster ended the era of airships.
  • LLMs struggle with simple tasks. AI can be incredibly effective at complex tasks but fail catastrophically at simple ones. He describes these systems as "glorified spreadsheets" rather than conscious entities.
  • Anthropomorphism is dangerous. Pursuing humanlike AI is a "dangerous path" that misleads users into trusting them as reliable peers.
  • What's next? Researchers are creating a field of experimental AI just to understand the unpredictable nature of systems already built.

India AI Summit a parade of tech giants

The list of technology giants forming partnerships, building infrastructure and developing AI ecosystems is pretty long at this point. Why? The India AI Summit is underway. Here's an aggregation of developments via Techmeme to get the headlines at a glance. 

Google I/O 2026 dates set

Google I/O will be held May 19 and May 20 at the in Mountain View, CA. The event will feature a new Android as well as updates on XR and smart glasses. Google has a partnership with Warby Parker so it's likely we'll see some product launches. You can also expect Gemini updates. I'll be at Google Cloud Next, which kicks off a month before.  

Mistral AI buys Koyeb to ramp Mistral Compute

Mistral AI will acquire cloud provider Koyeb in a move to accelerate its Mistral Compute service. In a blog post, Koyeb said:

“The Koyeb platform will continue operating. In the coming months, we’re expecting to transition to become a core component of Mistral Compute and will double down on our Inference, Sandboxes and serverless capabilities for MCP Servers.

As we join Mistral AI and prepare for this transition, we're going to focus on customers on the Pro plan and above.”

SaaS and which vendors have moats vs. LLMs

Nicolas Bustamante, CEO of Fintool, penned an article on X on the AI-driven (actually more like Anthropic) software sell off and included a grid of what categories of SaaS will take the biggest hit. The article is worth a read to gauge the nuance of what SaaS vendors will be disrupted. Bustamonte riffs on the 10 moats of vertical software and what LLMs will do to each.

More:

Google Cloud, Unilever ink 5-year AI pact

Google Cloud and Unilever announced a five-year partnership that will revolve around bringing AI to consumer product goods. Unilever will use Google Cloud's enterprise AI stack for brand discovery, measurement and marketing. Unilever will build an AI-first digital backbone and develop agentic workflows using Google Cloud.

 

Infleqtion trades under "INFQ" Feb. 17

Infleqtion will start trading under the ticker "INFQ" after the company completed its SPAC deal with Churchill Capital Corp. X.

The deal will add a new pure play quantum computing company to the stock market. Infleqtion specializes in neutral atom quantum systems. Infleqtion's product portfolio includes quantum computers, quantum clocks, RF receivers and inertial sensors.

The stock is worth watching, but SPACs historically have made a big debut, tanked and then recovered. Here's a look at IonQ's stock trading history following its SPAC debut. IonQ went public via a SPAC deal in 2021 and Rigetti and D-Wave followed with similar SPAC deals in 2022.

Here's a look at how those quantum computing SPAC deals have fared over the years. Bottom line: Infleqtion may turn out to be a great quantum company, but there's no rush. You're likely to have multiple entry points.

Quantum SPACs
Source: Google Finance