Tech Brew Ride Home - New Pixel

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

New pixel phone. A bunch of new AI models including Gemini’s entry into the music AI space. Everybody is trying to make AI fetch happen in India. And Matthew Ball’s state of the gaming industry report doesn’t paint as gloomy a picture as our own headlines might have suggested this year. The Pixel 10A is a little too much like last year’s phone (The Verge) Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 (TechCrunch) Google’s AI music maker is coming to the Gemini app (The Verge) Adani bets $100 billion on data centres to power India’s AI ambitions (Reuters) Nvidia secures multibillion-dollar Meta deal as it battles chip rivals (FT) Global game content sales rose 5.3% to $195.6bn in 2025 (GamesIndustry.biz) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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GoogleFi Wireless is not subject to data traffic deprioritization during times of high network usage. Welcome to the TechBrewrite home for Wednesday, February 18th, 2026. I'm Brian McCullough today. New Pixel Phone, a bunch of new AI models, including Gemini's entry into the music AI space. Everybody is trying to make AI fetch happen in India. And Matthew Ball's State of the Gaming Industry Report doesn't paint as gloomy a picture, as our own headlines might have suggested this year. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech.

Google this morning unveiled the $499 Pixel 10A, offering the same. tensor G4 chip as the 9A, 8 gigabytes of RAM, and an 11% brighter display in 128 gigabyte, and 256 gigabyte offerings shipping March 4th, quoting the verge. Google's mid-range pixels have been our top pick for budget Android phones for a while. They offer good cameras and most of what you need at a budget-friendly price. But this year's upgrade feels so minimal, I'd liken it more to a Pixel 9A plus or a Pixel 9B. The $499 pixel 10A is supposed to be a slightly worse pixel 10, but it's more like a slightly better pixel 10A. And that's a bit of a bummer.

Very few of the features that make the pixel 10 series compelling trickled down to the 10A this year. You don't get all the good stuff that makes the pixel 10 series more compelling. There's still last year's TensorFlow G4 chip and 8 gigabytes of RAM, which isn't enough to power the more advanced AI features Google launched on the Pixel 10, like Magic Q or Pixel. Screenshots, the latter of which debuted on the Pixel 9. Do you care? Maybe not. I like Magic Q, though. And my guess is that skyrocketing RAM prices play a role here. It could explain the lack of additional AI features, but I can't blame RAM prices for what otherwise feels like a more meh update. So what do you get for the Pixel 10A? You also get the Tens' SOS satellite communications in case you get lost out in the woods and a bear is chasing you and you need to

point your phone at the sky and tell someone that a bear is chasing you and that you need help. The Pixel 10A also borrows a couple of new AI tricks like Auto Best Take, not just Best Take, which automatically selects the best picture from a bunch, like the one where everyone in a group shot is facing the camera. This worked well during a quick test at Google's office. Similarly, it offers Google's camera coach, which walks you through some ideas on how to take the best picture of a subject. I tested this with a fake orchid, and the suggestions on how to frame it were almost certainly better than anything I'd have thought of because I am not a great photographer, and usually just pull out my phone for a quick picture of my kids doing something silly.

You'd be hard-pressed to spot the design differences, so I'll lay them out for you. Google says it's its most durable pixel A-series phone yet. The display is stronger thanks to the new Gorilla Glass 7i covering and gets a bit brighter, 11% to 3,000 nits at its peak, like when you're trying to see the screen in the sun. It has the same IP68 waterproofing. The bezel around the screen is slightly narrower, 10% narrower, to be exact. The cameras are all the same as last year, but the 13 megapixel and 48 megapixel sensors on the back now lie fully flush with the frame instead of sticking just a hair above it.

Even the colors look similar to last year, but the berry color is the best. You won't find that shocking, bright color on any other phone, and it's the one you should buy. Other colors include lavender, fog, which is gray, and obsidian, which is black. Google's also launched a little bit of the phone. fog and berry pixel buds 2a so you can match. The Pixel 10A also doesn't have pixel snap. Google's version of MagSafe that lets you use any magnetic strap-on charger or accessory. That's a bummer because I love that and I think it should be here. Still, you get a wee bit faster wired and wireless charging, wired charging jumps from 27 watts to 30, and wireless

charges at 10 watts instead of 7.5. Pre-orders for the 10A begin today, and it hits shelves on March 4th. It will be available with 128 gigabytes or 256 gigabytes of storage. A lot of people buy Pixel A series phones for the pure Android experience and frequent updates. I don't think they really care about having every last AI or hardware feature Google makes, but it just doesn't feel like Google brought enough of the Pixel 10 to the Pixel 10A this year. That's why it's more like a 9A2.0, end quote. Also worth noting, though, if you're a Pixel Stan, that Google has expanded QuickShare port with Airdrop to the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold after launching it for the Pixel 10 back in November.

Anthropic yesterday launched Claude Sonnet 4.6 with improvements in coding, computer use, instruction following, and more. It features a 1 million token context window. It's in beta, quoting TechCrunch. Anthropic has released a new version of its mid-sized Sonnet model keeping pace with the company's four-month update cycle. In a post-announced the new model, Anthropic emphasized improved. improvements in coding, instruction following, and computer use.

Sonnet 4.6 will be the default model for free and pro-plan users. The beta release of Sonnet 4.6 will include a context window of 1 million tokens twice the size of the largest window previously available for Sonnet. Anthropic described the new context window as enough to hold entire code bases, lengthy contracts, or dozens of research papers, and a single request. Their release comes just two weeks after the launch of Opus 4.6, with an updated Haiku model likely to follow in the coming weeks. The launch comes with a new set of record benchmark scores,

including OS World for computer use and sui bench for software engineering, but perhaps the most impressive is its 60.4% score on ARC AGI2, meant to measure skills specific to human intelligence. The score puts Sonnet 4.6 above most comparable models, although it still trails models like Opus 4.6, Gemini 3 Deepthink, and one refined version of GPD 5.2, end quote. Google has rolled out Liria 3, a generative music model that can make 30-second tracks with nano-banana-made cover art into beta in the Gemini app in eight languages.

Quoting the Verge, Google has given Gemini the ability to spit out AI-generated music courtesy of DeepMind's latest audio model. Beta access to Learia 3 is rolling out in the Gemini app, enabling users to generate 30-second tracks based on text, images, and videos without a lot of the video. having to leave the chatbot window. The new music-making tool is available globally starting today in English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese, with plans to expand it in the future. Access is limited to Gemini app users who are 18 years or older. Lyria 3's text-to-music capabilities allow Gemini app users to make songs by describing

specific genres, moods, or memories, such as asking for an Afrobeat track for my mother about the greatest times we had growing up. The music generator can make instrumental audio and songs with lyrics composed automatically based on user prompts. Users can also upload photographs and video references, which Gemini then uses to generate a track with lyrics that fit the vibe. Gemini will add custom cover art generated by Nanobanana the songs created on the app, which aims to make them easier to share and download. Google is also bringing Leary up to YouTube's a Dreamtrak tool, which allows creators to make custom AI soundtracks for shorts. Dreamtrak and Lyria were initially demonstrated with the ability to mimic the style and voice of famous performers.

Google says it's been very mindful of copyright in the development of Lyria 3 and that the tool is designed for original expression not for mimicking existing artists. While prompted for a specific artist, Gemini will make a track that shares a similar style or mood, according to Google, and uses filters to check outputs against existing content. Liria has been around since 23, but access to the AI music maker was previously limited to Google Cloud Vertex platform. This expansion to the Gemini

app makes Liria more accessible, but arrives significantly behind platforms like TikTok and Microsoft's co-pilot introducing their own AI music makers, end quote. Studies and play. Come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time,

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have joined its global startup program. Top VC firms in India like KOSLA and a cell are set to commit investments from 300 million to 500 million each into India's AI ecosystem. Indian IT giant InfoSys is partnering with Anthropic to develop AI services for telehealth. with plans to expand to finance, manufacturing, and software development. And Microsoft says it is on pace to invest $50 billion by 2030 to help expand AI across the global south after unveiling $17.5 billion worth of AI investments in India in 2025. But it's not just big U.S. money trying to make AI catch fire in India, quoting Reuters. Adani Enterprises said on Tuesday that it will invest $100 billion to build renewable-powered

AI-ready data centers by 2035, positioning India as a contender in the global AI race. AI-ready data centers would be a critical nerve center of the AI-driven environment, and it's natural that large groups with deep pockets will get future ready by setting up such data centers, said Amberish Baliga, an independent market analyst. Top firms, including Reliance and Adani Group, are moving quickly to capture the vast opportunities as businesses align themselves with what is seen as a major disruptor ahead, he added. Adani said the investment is expected to trigger an additional $150 billion across related industries, including server manufacturing and sovereign cloud platforms. Together, this is projected to create a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India over the decade. It added, having been on the periphery of the AI boom so far, due to the absence of any significant chip manufacturing capability,

data centers represent India's best chance of making a mark on the global stage. The investment will develop a model linking renewable energy, power grid resilience, and AI computing, according to Adani. For decades, we imported technology. Now we are building the backbone, Chairman Gautum Adani said in a post on X, India will not follow the AI century. India will shape it. The ports to power conglomerate will build on its existing two-gagawatt data center capacity and scale it to five gigawatts to create the world's largest integrated data center platform. It said, without providing a timeline. Additionally, Adani will invest $55 billion to expand its renewable energy portfolio, which will include one of the world's largest battery energy storage systems, end quote. Meta has committed to buying millions of Nvidia Blackwell and Ruben GPUs in a multi-year deal.

A source says meta's in-house AI chip strategy didn't really get off the ground because of various technical challenges. Quoting the FT, NVIDIA, which for the past three years has been the chief beneficiary of the massive global spending spree on AI infrastructure, is facing increasingly forceful moves by its customers to reduce their dependency on its hardware. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have all announced new in-house chips in recent months, while OpenAI has co-developed a chip with Broadcom and struck a significant deal with AMD. Meta has also invested in developing several AI chips in-house. Mark Zuckerberg has outlined plans to achieve a lower cost of computing by deploying its own

processors, which are optimized to the company's unique workloads, according to him. However, the chip strategy had suffered some technical challenges and rollout delays, according to one person familiar with the matter. Meta, already a big Nvidia customer, has now committed to buy Nvidia's next generation Vera Rubin chips. It is also the first big tech group to say it will buy standalone central processing units from Nvidia to run its AI models. The decision by Nvidia chief Jensen Wong to offer its CPUs separately, rather than as part

of a single integrated product, including its graphics processing units, marks a major shift in its sales strategy. GPUs are capable of the massive parallel processing required for training the biggest AI models, but tech groups are increasingly shifting toward inference workloads, the process of running AI models. The question of why meta are deploying Nvidia's CPUs at scale is the most interesting thing in this announcement, said one analyst. We are in the training era, and now we are moving toward more inference era, which demands a completely different approach, end quote. Matthew Ball's State of the Video Game Industry 2026 report is out, and despite all of the bad headlines I've reported to you on here about the industry of late, among the numbers Matt

reports, global video game content sales grew 5.3% year-on-year to $195.6 billion in 2025. Job losses across the industry actually fell 40% to only 9,200 people, quoting games industry. The report noted that while the industry saw three years of growth and a new revenue high in 2025, funding continued to decline. There were 40 deals in total in the last three months of 2025 with less than $100 million of pre-seat investments in the industry and over $200 million in early stage funding. Layoffs continued to affect the industry with 9,200 people losing their jobs last year, but this was 40% less than 2024, though the four-year total of Laos did reach nearly 44,000 people. The report noted an increasing reliance on outside partners

for core creative work, including art, game design, and engineering. Outsourcing companies said that 60 to 95% of work in areas like animation, audio, and environmental design could be outsourced. The report also examined worldwide consumer spending on video game content for consoles and PCs, consumers spending on consoles reached $41.6 billion, 2.3% above the $41.1 billion in 2020. The report noted that 119% of net spending growth since then went to platform services like PlayStation Plus, Xbox GamePass, and Nintendo Switch Online. However, total spending on console game sales and transactions was down nearly 11% year-on-year. For PC, global consumer spending grew 30% since 2020, reaching $40.7 billion in 2025 up from 30%.

31.4 billion. China accounts for 20% of global player spend, with Epilon's CEO Matthew Ball suggesting that if a gamemaker wants to match global growth, they must win China or grow 1.6 times the market elsewhere. Overall, Chinese publishers have captured roughly half of the global growth in player spending since 2019. One platform that saw major growth in 2025 was Roblox becoming the, quote, singular driver of the total video game market and capturing 67% of net growth. By the end of For the 2020, Roblox had more daily active users than PlayStation, Switch, or Xbox. In 2025, this was up another 69%. The platform has also reached over 10 billion in terms of monthly engagement hours, more than Steam, PlayStation, and Fortnite combined. Looking ahead,

Ball suggests that the five biggest revenue growth areas for video games in 2020s will be non-core markets, advertising, direct-to-consumer, and alternative payment channels, external development, and Roblox, end quote. So, of course, I couldn't resist prompting the new AI music model to come up with a theme song for this podcast with lyrics. Here you go. Long day is over now you're on the ride home. Let the traffic fade get lost inside the sound.

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