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- Viral Summit Moment Between AI Rivals, Gemini 3.1 Pro’s Massive Reasoning Leap and more...
Viral Summit Moment Between AI Rivals, Gemini 3.1 Pro’s Massive Reasoning Leap and more...
And everything else you need to catch up on that happened this week yet!
What's Up in AI
February 21, 2026
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Welcome Back, AI Geeks!
It’s time to stay updated with What’s Up in AI.
A viral photo op and a benchmark shake-up went viral this week. While rival leaders like Sam Altman and Dario Amodei sparked headlines beside Narendra Modi, Google quietly tightened its grip on performance benchmarks.
In today’s issue:
🔒️ Viral Summit Moment Between AI Rivals
🧠 Gemini 3.1 Pro’s Massive Reasoning Leap
⚡ 5-4-3-2-1 hits you just can't miss
📰 What Else Happened in AI
😂 Your AI-Powered Laugh
Read time: 6 mins
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#1 LATEST IN AI TODAY📎
What Happened (Feb 2026):
Google launched Gemini 3.1 Pro, delivering a major reasoning upgrade and state-of-the-art benchmark results — without raising API pricing.
What You Need to Know:
3.1 Pro scored 77.1% on ARC-AGI-2, up from 31.1% on 3 Pro, beating Opus 4.6 (68.8%) and GPT-5.2 (52.9%).
It now leads across science, competitive coding, agentic search, and MCP usage benchmarks.
Pricing remains identical to 3 Pro, with a 1M token context window, undercutting comparable frontier models.
Why It Matters:
Google just raised performance while holding price steady — a move that pressures rivals in both capability and economics.
#2 LATEST IN AI TODAY📎
What Happened (Feb 2026):
At the India AI Impact Summit, a group photo with Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned into a viral moment when OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei declined to link hands, subtly highlighting tensions between the rival AI leaders.
What You Need to Know:
Modi formed a hand-linked chain with tech leaders like Sundar Pichai and Altman — but Altman and Amodei raised fists instead of holding hands.
Altman later said he was “confused” and unsure what was happening when Modi grabbed his hand.
The moment follows Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad criticizing ChatGPT ads and OpenAI hiring the creator of OpenClaw — both adding friction between the companies.
Why It Matters:
The AI rivalry is no longer just technical — it’s public, political, and symbolic.
BRAIN BOOST 🧠
What did that viral summit moment actually signal? |
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QUICK HITS 💥
It’s time for some quick hits that you’ll love. Let’s go in…..5-4-3-2-1 👇️
5- TOP AI TOOLS OF THE DAY
🔍 Scrunch audits how AI interprets your website so you can optimize visibility and reach more customers the smart way. Try now!
🧠 Gemini 3.1 Pro is Google’s flagship model delivering state-of-the-art reasoning, deeper understanding, and top-tier performance. Try now!
📸 Pomelli turns product photos into ready-to-use marketing assets so you can launch campaigns faster. Try now!
📊 SearchSeal tracks how AI platforms talk about your brand with daily monitoring, competitor insights, and sentiment analysis. Try now!
💼 Contra Payments lets you earn commission-free with global contracts, automated invoicing, and 100% take-home pay built for the AI economy. Try now!
4-AI JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Anthropic – Machine Learning Research Engineer (San Francisco, CA)
Palantir Technologies – AI/ML Engineer (Denver, CO / USA Remote)
Qualcomm – AI Systems Engineer Test (San Diego, CA)
SAP – Applied AI Scientist (Walldorf, Germany / Hybrid)
Want us to search for tech related jobs in your country/city ? Post a request 🔍
3-THINGS IN TREND
AI hype has caused some unexpected stocks to skyrocket in value — including a Japanese toilet maker
A user on X claims to have vibecoded a fully functioning Roblox game in 4 days using Claude Opus 4.6.
Reuter’s shared Sam Altman and Dario Amodei’s tense moment on stage during the India AI Impact Summit.
2-USEFUL LINKS
Researchers at Miguel Hernández University of Elche in Spain have created a hierarchical localization method that sharply improves robot positioning in dynamic environments. It tackles the tough “kidnapped robot” problem—when a machine loses track of its location after being moved, shut down, or displaced.
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN AI 📰
🛒 Reddit Turns Posts Into Purchases
Reddit is testing AI shopping tools. They convert community recommendations into buyable product carousels with prices and links.
🛡️ Insurance for AI Voices
ElevenLabs secured the first policy covering AI voice agents. Certification allows enterprises to insure AI driven actions.
🎬 Theater Chain Rejects AI Film
AMC Theatres pulled a contest winning AI film from previews. It was removed before its planned two week run.
🏭 Emanate Emerges From Stealth
Emanate launched with autonomous revenue agents. The company targets the $5T U.S. industrial supply chain.
📺 AI Chat Comes to the Big Screen
YouTube is testing its conversational AI on TVs. Viewers can ask questions about a video and get answers without leaving the screen.
Funding 💰️
GET AN AI-POWERED LAUGH 😁
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And that’s a wrap!
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Team What’s Up in AI