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Greetings! Your latest quick tech update is here:
☀️ On this day: On February 19, 1878, Thomas Edison was granted a patent for the phonograph. This groundbreaking invention was the first device capable of recording and reproducing sound, marking a major milestone in audio technology and laying the foundation for the modern music and recording industries.
What’s happening:
👗 Etsy sells Depop to eBay for $1.2B
🔎 Perplexity backs away from ads in AI search
⌚ Meta revives smartwatch project with AI focus
🎬 OpenAI hires Instagram’s longtime Hollywood dealmaker
💾 RAM shortage to force product cuts and company failures
+ 📊 Daily poll and results
+ 📈 Trending tools and resources
AI Guide
Speed Doesn’t Replace Strategy.
AI can surface the numbers in seconds, but numbers alone don’t create clarity.
In fact, many leaders have more financial data than ever yet less clarity about what to do next.
The real challenge isn’t reporting. It’s interpretation. Context. Judgment.
BELAY created the free guide The Future of Financial Leadership to explore why automation is a tool — not a replacement — for experienced financial oversight.
Inside, you’ll learn how the right human support brings structure to your numbers, confidence to your decisions, and focus to your growth strategy.
At BELAY, our U.S.-based Financial Experts help leaders move beyond dashboards and into decisive action.
Because insight doesn’t drive a business forward. Leadership does.
Hand-picked news:
👗 Etsy sells Depop to eBay for $1.2B ↗️LINK
Etsy is selling secondhand fashion app Depop to eBay for $1.2 billion in cash, five years after acquiring it for $1.62 billion during the resale boom.
Depop generated about $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2025, with seven million active buyers, most under age 34, and strong U.S. growth.
The sale allows Etsy to refocus on its core marketplace as it faces slowing revenue growth and rising competition from platforms like Amazon, Temu, and Shein.
🔎 Perplexity backs away from ads in AI search ↗️LINK
Perplexity, an early adopter of in-chat ads alongside AI answers, is reportedly stepping back from advertising, warning that ads embedded in responses can undermine user trust.
The move highlights a growing divide in AI monetization strategies, as some companies experiment with ad-supported models while others position themselves as ad-free alternatives.
OpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT, while Anthropic publicly criticized the approach during the Super Bowl and reaffirmed its commitment to staying ad-free.
⌚ Meta revives smartwatch project with AI focus ↗️LINK
Meta is reportedly restarting its smartwatch project, internally called “Malibu 2,” with plans to launch a device this year featuring Meta AI integration and health tracking.
The company had paused earlier smartwatch efforts in 2022 amid Reality Labs cost cuts, shifting focus to smart glasses and other wearables after significant layoffs.
A smartwatch would expand Meta’s wearable lineup beyond VR headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses, as it continues investing heavily in AI-powered hardware.
🎬 OpenAI hires Instagram’s longtime Hollywood dealmaker ↗️LINK
OpenAI hired Charles Porch, Meta’s former celebrity partnerships chief, as VP of global creative partnerships to strengthen ties with the entertainment industry.
Porch previously helped bring major figures to Instagram and managed high-profile cultural moments, and his hire follows OpenAI’s reported $1B Disney deal tied to its Sora video platform.
His initial focus will be a “listening tour” with creative communities, as OpenAI works to build trust in Hollywood amid ongoing skepticism about AI’s impact on the industry.
💾 RAM shortage to force product cuts and company failures ↗️LINK
Phison CEO Pua Khein-Seng warned that the worsening global RAM shortage could push companies to scale back product lines in late 2026, and some may fail if they cannot secure enough memory.
AI data centers are consuming most of the world’s RAM supply, driving prices up sharply and squeezing consumer electronics makers, with potential ripple effects across PCs, GPUs, and other devices.
With three companies controlling about 93% of the DRAM market and prioritizing profitability over rapid expansion, supply constraints could impact the broader tech industry for years.
From our partner
Ray Dalio: "The S&P Fell 28% Last Year." Wait, What?
He's measuring in gold, not dollars. And that's the point.
The dollar dropped 10% in 2025. So, yeah, your portfolio went up in dollars, but, Dalio says your real return isn’t so exciting.
And the decline is reportedly advancing as macro conditions don’t improve.
So, what investments offer protection against that currency risk?
Well.. billionaires have an answer. And now 70,819 everyday investors have joined in.
This unexpected asset class outpaced the S&P 500 overall with low correlation since 1995.*
Not real estate or PE. Post war and contemporary art. Seriously.
Plus– Art trades globally ;)
And now, you don’t need to be a billionaire–
Masterworks makes it easy to FRACTIONALLY invest in blue-chip art, with a track record of 26 net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% on works held over a year.
See why investors moved $1.3 billion into 500+ offerings:
*According to Masterworks data. Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. See important disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.
Today’s Poll:
Which AI monetization model do you prefer?
Vote and find out about the result tomorrow.
Yesterday’s Poll Result:
Do camera-enabled AirPods feel like the future… or too much?
A) The future of tech - 56% 🏆
B) A step too far - 44%
Emergent: Emergent lets you turn an idea into a fully deployed web or mobile app in minutes, without needing to write code.
ElevenLabs: Free AI voice generator app designed for content creators, influencers and professionals.
Gamma: Create unlimited presentations, websites, and more in seconds. Everything you need to quickly create and refine content with AI.
Generative AI for Beginners by Microsoft (free course): 21 Lessons teaching everything you need to know to start building Generative AI applications
