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Matthias Bastian
Matthias Bastian View the LinkedIn Profile of Matthias Bastian
Feb 16, 2026
AI in practice
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Read full article about: Manus new "Agents" mode arrives on Telegram first despite Meta owning WhatsApp

Manus launches its AI agent on Telegram, letting users run complex tasks directly in chat. Telegram is the first supported platform, with more on the way. Users connect via QR code, and it's available to everyone regardless of subscription tier.

Manus Agents brings the full web version's capabilities to chat, according to Manus: multi-step tasks, research, data processing, and document creation. Users can send voice messages, images, and files, and choose between two models: Manus 1.6 Max for complex tasks and Manus 1.6 Lite for quick queries. Manus says the agent can't access other Telegram chats. More details are on the Manus website.

The Telegram-first launch is notable given that Meta acquired the startup in late 2025. The deal is still under review by Chinese authorities, which could explain the choice. It's also possible that Meta wants Manus to test the feature somewhere not tied to its brand in case things go sideways. Agent technology remains fragile, especially around cybersecurity—something the hyped AI agent software OpenClawd recently showed the hard way.

Comment Source: Manus
Jonathan Kemper
Jonathan Kemper View the LinkedIn Profile of Jonathan Kemper
Feb 16, 2026
AI research
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Alibaba's free Qwen3.5 signals that China's open-weight model race is far from slowing down

Chinese AI labs keep shipping new models at a rapid clip. Today it’s Alibaba’s turn with Qwen3.5, which tries to match top Western models using a hybrid architecture that combines linear attention and mixture-of-experts while keeping just 17 billion parameters active per query. And yes, it’s open weight.

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Matthias Bastian
Matthias Bastian View the LinkedIn Profile of Matthias Bastian
Feb 16, 2026
AI in practice
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Read full article about: OpenClaw developer Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI to build AI agents

Peter Steinberger, the developer behind the open-source project OpenClaw, is joining OpenAI. His focus will be on building the next generation of personal AI agents. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called Steinberger a "genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people." Altman expects this work to quickly become a core part of OpenAI's product lineup.

OpenClaw, Steinberger's original hobby project, which blew up over the past few weeks, will "live in a foundation as an open-source project" and will be supported by OpenAI, Altman says, calling the future "extremely multi-agent."

Steinberger writes in his blog that he spoke to several large AI labs in San Francisco but ultimately chose OpenAI because they shared the same vision. Steinberger's goal: building an agent that even his mother can use. Getting there, he says, requires fundamental changes, more security research, and access to the latest models.

What I want is to change the world, not build a large company and teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone.

Peter Steinberger
Comment Source: Steinberger Blog | Altman via X
Maximilian Schreiner
Maximilian Schreiner View the LinkedIn Profile of Maximilian Schreiner
Feb 15, 2026
AI in practice
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Anthropic still won't give the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI models

The Pentagon wants unrestricted access to AI technology. Anthropic is demanding guarantees against autonomous weapons control and domestic surveillance. A $200 million contract hangs in the balance.

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Matthias Bastian
Matthias Bastian View the LinkedIn Profile of Matthias Bastian
Feb 15, 2026
AI and society
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Developer targeted by AI hit piece warns society cannot handle AI agents that decouple actions from consequences

An AI agent wrote a hit piece on a developer who rejected its code. Days later, the agent is still running, a quarter of commenters believe it, and no one knows who’s behind it. The case shows how autonomous agents turn character assassination into something that scales.

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Matthias Bastian
Matthias Bastian View the LinkedIn Profile of Matthias Bastian
Feb 15, 2026
AI in practice
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Bytedance's Seedance 2.0 is so good at copying Disney characters the company calls it a "virtual smash-and-grab"

Bytedance’s Seedance 2.0 can generate Disney characters, replicate actors’ voices, and recreate entire fictional worlds with stunning realism. Hollywood is fighting back with cease-and-desist letters and calls for legal actio, but the case highlights a growing problem: copyright law was built for a world where copying took effort.

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