Huddersfield: Flanagan; Carr, Gagai, Milne, Halsall; Lolohea, Russell; Patolo, Woolford, Rogers, O’Donnell, Hewitt, Powell.
Interchanges: Burgess, King, Rush, Cozza.
Wakefield: Jowitt; Pratt, Scott, Hall, Walmsley; Trueman, Sinfield; McMeeken, Smoothy, Hamlin-Uele, Nikotemo, Vagana, Pitts.
Interchanges: Rodwell, Storton, Tevaga, Smith.
Referee: Jack Smith.
Spanish officials on Tuesday announced they are launching an inquiry into potential criminal violations by X, Meta and TikTok over respective users’ creation and distribution of AI-generated child sex abuse materials. Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA
Feb. 17 (UPI) — Spanish authorities plan to investigate social media giants X, Meta and TikTok over the distribution of child sex abuse materials on their respective social media platforms, the government announced Tuesday.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said there is a pending investigation by state prosecutors into the alleged spread of artificial intelligence-generated material.
“These platforms are jeopardizing the mental health, dignity and rights of our sons and daughters,” Sanchez said in a translated post on X.
“The state cannot allow this,” he said. “The impunity of the giants must end.”
The Spanish government said it is looking at options for holding tech firms accountable for “potential criminal liability of increasingly widespread practices in the digital environment, such as the generation and dissemination of sexual content and child sexual abuse through deepfakes and the manipulation of real images to create others with explicit sexual content, thereby undermining the dignity of the victims,” as reported by The Guardian.
A recently produced report suggested that social media platforms enable the creation and rapid distribution of offensive content that enables their makers to elude detection and potential criminal prosecution.
Meanwhile, the respective social media sites profit from such activities, officials said.
Sanchez said Spain’s Council of Ministers will invoke Article 8 of the Organic Statute of the Public Ministry to ask it to investigate the alleged crimes that the three tech firms might be committing via the creation and distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse materials using their respective AI tools.
The Spanish probe into the social media giants arose after French authorities raided X’s offices in Paris over similar accusations, but X officials there have denied any wrongdoing.
X recently added Grok AI, which is the creation of Elon Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence company. Musk also owns X.
TikTok offers AI tools, while Meta AI is integrated into Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp platforms.
The issue raises the matter of free speech laws in the European Union and the United States.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is among European regulatory bodies leading the European Commission’s inquiry into X over the use of the Grok AI tool to generate deepfake and sexualized images of real people, including children.
The investigation is to determine if X is complying with European laws regarding personal data and how algorithms might protect lawbreakers.
French President Macron and Brazilian leader Lula expected to attend summit aimed to outline global AI governance and collaboration.
India is hosting an artificial intelligence summit this week, bringing together heads of state and tech executives with hot-button issues on the agenda, including job disruption and child safety.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday afternoon inaugurate the five-day AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, which aims to declare a “shared roadmap for global AI governance and collaboration”.
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“This occasion is further proof that our country is progressing rapidly in the field of science and technology,” and it “shows the capability of our country’s youth”, he said in an X post on Monday.
Touted as the biggest edition yet, the Indian government is expecting 250,000 visitors from across the sector, including 20 national leaders and 45 ministerial-level delegations.
It comes at a pivotal moment as AI rapidly transforms economies, reshapes labour markets and raises questions around regulations, security and ethics.
From generative AI tools that can produce text and images to advanced systems used in defence, healthcare and climate modelling, AI has become a central focus for governments and corporations across the world.
The summit, previously held in France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, has evolved far beyond its modest beginnings as a meeting tightly focused on the safety of cutting-edge AI systems into an all-purpose jamboree trade fair in which safety is just one aspect.
India – the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing digital markets – sees the summit as an opportunity to project itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South.
Officials said the country’s experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, including digital identity and payment platforms, offers a model for deploying AI at scale while keeping costs low.
“The goal is clear: AI should be used for shaping humanity, inclusive growth and a sustainable future,” India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among the world leaders who are attending the summit.
Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft President Brad Smith and AMI Labs Executive Chairman Yann LeCun are also expected to attend.
The summit has the loose themes of “people, progress, planet” – dubbed the “three sutras”.
Like previous editions, the India AI Impact Summit is not expected to result in a joint binding political agreement. It is more likely that the event could end with a nonbinding pledge or declaration on goals for AI development.
Last year’s edition, the Paris AI Action Summit, was dominated by United States Vice President JD Vance’s speech in which he rebuked European efforts to curb AI’s risks by warning global leaders and tech industry executives against “excessive regulation” that could hobble the rapidly growing AI industry.
AI summits have evolved since the first meeting in November 2023, barely a year after the launch of ChatGPT, which stoked excitement and fear about the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence.
That meeting at a former code-breaking base north of London was attended only by official delegations from 28 countries and the European Union, along with a small number of AI executives and researchers, and was focused on keeping AI safe and reining in its potentially catastrophic risks.
Seth Hays, author of the Asia AI Policy Monitor newsletter, said talk at the summit would likely centre around “ensuring that governments put up some guardrails, but don’t throttle AI development”.
“There may be some announcements for more state investment in AI, but it may not move the needle much, as India needs partnerships to integrate on the international scene for AI,” Hays told the AFP news agency.
Trump made remarks about Venezuela on Friday outside the White House. (AFP)
Caracas, February 15, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – US President Donald Trump is considering a visit to Venezuela, though he did not specify when the trip might take place or what agenda it would entail.
“I’m going to make a visit to Venezuela,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday.
The US President addressed the press ahead of a trip to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to meet soldiers who participated in the January 3 military attacks against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
Questioned by a journalist, Trump stated that Washington recognizes the Venezuelan government led by Acting President Delcy Rodríguez as the country’s legitimate authority.
“We are dealing with them, and they have done a great job,” he stated. The White House refused comment on whether the recognition was the administration’s official stance.
In 2019, the first Trump administration recognized the self-proclaimed “interim government” headed by Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate authority, prompting the Maduro government to sever diplomatic ties. The US later transferred its recognition to the defunct opposition-controlled National Assembly whose term expired in January 2021.
Since the January 3 attacks, Caracas and Washington have fast-tracked a diplomatic rapprochement, with US Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu arriving in the Caribbean nation in early February. An official recognition of the Rodríguez acting government could pave the way for the restructuring of Venezuela’s sizable foreign debt.
In his Friday press remarks, Trump further described relations with Venezuelan leaders as being “as good as one could hope for,” and added that “the relationship with Venezuela today is a 10.”
Trump additionally highlighted progress in Venezuela’s oil sector.
“Oil is flowing, and other nations are paying a lot of money for it, and we are handling it. We are refining it,” he said. Since January, the White House has imposed control of Venezuelan oil exports, with proceeds deposited in bank accounts in Qatar before being partly rerouted to Caracas under US-set conditions.
Earlier last week, Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez emphasized in an NBC interview that Maduro remains the country’s legitimate president. She also disclosed that she has spoken twice with Trump and has had “more frequent” contact with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and expressed “gratitude” for the “respectful and courteous” nature of the talks.
Venezuela’s acting president went on to announce that she has likewise been invited to visit the US. “We are considering going once we establish cooperation and can move forward with everything,” she said.
The invitation reportedly arose during a recent visit to Caracas by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was hosted by Rodríguez at Miraflores Palace on Wednesday.
Wright and Rodríguez later toured the Petroindependencia crude upgrader, a mixed venture between Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA and Chevron, in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
The Trump administration official announced that Chevron would invest US $100 million to modernize operational facilities, with the goal of “doubling [Petroindependencia’s] productive capacity within 12 to 18 months and quintupling it within five years.” Petroindependencia has a current output of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Following Wright’s Venezuela visit, the US Treasury Department issued two general licenses, 49 and 50, aimed at boosting conditions for Western multinational corporations to operate in Venezuela’s energy sector.
The first license allows for the negotiation and signing of future investment contracts, contingent upon the potential issuance of a specific license. The second waiver authorizes Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell, and Repsol to conduct transactions and operations related to hydrocarbon projects with PDVSA or any other Venezuelan public entity.
Repsol (Spain) and Eni (Italy), like Chevron, participate in oil and gas joint ventures in the South American country, whereas the UK-headquartered Shell and BP are set to lead offshore natural gas projects alongside Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company (NGC) in Venezuelan waters.
However, GL50 requires that any contracts fall under US jurisdiction and mandates that all payments to “blocked” entities—as sanctions against PDVSA and Venezuela’s banking system remain in place—be made to accounts designated by the US Treasury.
It also explicitly prohibits transactions involving any person or entity linked to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, or China, as well as vessels sanctioned by Washington.
The Trump administration has loosened restrictions against the Venezuelan energy sector, including allowing the import of US diluents, inputs and technology, following a recent pro-business overhaul of the country’s Hydrocarbon Law. The reform granted expanded benefits for private corporations, including reduced fiscal responsibilities and expanded control over operations and sales.
Upon leaving Caracas, Energy Secretary Wright claimed that “structural reforms” would continue in Venezuela, with changes to “labor laws, the court system and the banking system.”
Edited and with additional reporting by Ricardo Vaz from Caracas.
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News SpaceX IPO Would Set Record As First Trillion‑Dollar Offering As More Giants Line Up
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks lead a new class of super-sized private companies eyeing public markets.
The US IPO market has never seen a trillion-dollar debut. That may soon change as a wave of mega-valued private companies considers tapping public markets, which are eager for fresh stock.
Behind the headlines about the potential Elon Musk IPO from the newly merged SpaceX and xAI is a class of potential mega-sized deals currently valued in the hundreds of billions, supported by a thriving ecosystem for funding big companies in private markets.
SpaceX’s private market valuation is estimated at $1.25 trillion, placing it ninth in the S&P 500. That’s just below Tesla’s $1.5 trillion valuation and ahead of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway ($1.1 trillion) and Walmart ($1.05 trillion).
If Musk succeeds in taking SpaceX public this year, it will likely sell about 10% of its equity in the IPO, raising $125 billion. That figure would handily exceed Saudi Aramco’s IPO proceeds of $29.4 billion, the largest global IPO ever, and Alibaba’s IPO proceeds of $21.8 billion, still the largest ever in the US since its 2014 debut.
“There is no precedent for an IPO this large,” Morningstar passive strategies analyst Zachary Evens said in an email to Global Finance. “I am interested to see if index providers make exceptions for mega IPOs since they will instantly reshape the market.”
Nasdaq is considering a special “fast entry” rule that would allow a company to join its flagship index after its first 15 trading days, he said.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is currently valued at about $500 billion. That’s roughly double Alibaba’s $236 billion enterprise value, the current record holder for a US IPO, when it went public in 2014.
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI service, is valued at about $374 billion — also bigger than Alibaba — and business software specialist Databricks tips the scales at $134 billion.
These companies also dwarf the $81 billion valuation of Facebook at its 2012 IPO or the $75.5 billion market cap of Uber Technologies at its 2019 IPO.
To be sure, it’s possible that the sky-high valuations of these private companies could take a big hit amid uncertainty on Wall Street about whether unprecedented spending on AI will pay off. The window to take companies public slammed shut in April of last year after the launch of the US’s Liberation Day tariff regime. And it could do so again if the recent tech selloff driven by AI jitters continues.
While the companies are part of an ecosystem that developed and grew in the years following the Financial Crisis, they’ve never experienced a severe recession or a bubble burst, such as the dot-com meltdown of 2000-2001.
Still, after a sluggish IPO market in recent years and the dwindling number of listed companies due to take-private and other merger deals in the marketplace, brokers remain hungry for more public stock, said Mark Lehmann, vice chair of the commercial bank at Citizens Financial Group.
“There’s a whole host of people who will want exposure to these companies,” he said, including institutions, wealthy individuals, and retail investors.
Kaush Amin, managing director and head of private market investing at US Bank, said that valuations of some AI companies assume widespread use of their products within five to ten years. That’s much faster than the 70 years it took for the Industrial Revolution to diffuse across the U.K. and the 25 years it took for the internet to take hold across the economy.
Some pockets of the tech sector are very overvalued because the numbers may not reflect the infrastructure support AI needs and how long it may take to build and be adopted across the economy. There’s a need for capex funding, data centers, chip purchases, and power purchases. This all takes time and money.
Other than Nvidia or other large strategic players – maybe Softbank, for example – there aren’t many players out there that can write big enough checks, Amin said.
While the debate continues over how these and other unicorns will fare after going public, the private capital ecosystem continues to grow.
Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen, a private markets brokerage, and folded the business into its investment portfolio for its wealthy clients. The deal will also enable the bank to help sell private stock earned as part of a client’s compensation package. Charles Schwab has similar plans with its acquisition of Forge Global.
David Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of OpenVC, which helped create the NYSE OPEN Venture Capital Unicorn Index, said investors are eager to secure stakes in companies before they go public – but they should be aware that fees may be much higher in some cases and that once an IPO debuts, it may fall flat.
“Sometimes, by the time these companies go public, all the juice has already been squeezed for investors,” said Shapiro. This is a reason to invest in companies before they go public — to realize bigger gains. The companies in the index alone add up to an addressable market of about $2 trillion or more, at last check.
“People are hungry for these assets,” he said.