Byte-Sized: Your AI Industry News Summary

AI Goes Global: China, India & OpenAI Scale Up (February 20, 2026)

David Pawlan David Pawlan February 20, 2026 3 min read
AI Goes Global: China, India & OpenAI Scale Up (February 20, 2026)

Good morning,

China is exporting AI infrastructure, Google is pushing Gemini forward again, and OpenAI is stacking capital at historic scale. At the same time, Claude is embedding deeper into enterprise workflows, and crypto security is getting its own benchmark moment.

Letโ€™s dive in ๐Ÿ‘‡

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๐ŸŒ Global AI Expansion

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China pushes AI abroad with Seedance

China is expanding its AI ambitions through a new international push built around its Seedance platform, aiming to offer countries an alternative to US-dominated AI ecosystems. The effort focuses on exporting not just models, but full-stack infrastructure, including cloud services, hardware partnerships, and governance frameworks.

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ General Catalyst commits $5B to India

General Catalyst commits $5 billion to India over the next five years, doubling down on AI, fintech, and healthcare innovation. The capital injection underscores Indiaโ€™s growing role as both a talent hub and end-market for AI-native companies. Expect more cross-border AI funding as global funds compete for exposure to high-growth regions.

๐Ÿ’ฐ OpenAI reportedly nears $100B deal

OpenAI is reportedly finalizing a $100 billion deal that would value the company north of $850 billion. If completed, this would rank among the largest private financings ever and further consolidate OpenAIโ€™s lead in capital intensity. The scale reflects how AI labs are increasingly capital platforms, not just software companies.

๐Ÿง  Models, Benchmarks & Enterprise Integrations

๐Ÿ”ต Google releases Gemini 3.1 Pro

Google has released Gemini 3.1 Pro with improvements in reasoning, coding, and multimodal performance. The model is positioned as a stronger enterprise-grade upgrade, competing directly with Claude and GPT variants on complex tasks. Google continues to tighten integration across Workspace and developer tooling, reinforcing its distribution advantage.

๐Ÿ›ก๏ธ OpenAI launches EVMbench

OpenAI launches EVMbench to evaluate AI systems on blockchain vulnerability detection and exploitation. The benchmark targets smart contract security, measuring how well models can identify and exploit flaws in Ethereum Virtual Machine code. It signals a shift toward domain-specific evaluation suites beyond generic reasoning tests.

๐Ÿ“Š Claude comes to PowerPoint

Claude is now available directly inside Microsoft PowerPoint for Pro users, embedding AI drafting into slide workflows. This reflects a broader trend of AI moving from standalone chat interfaces into productivity layers. Enterprise adoption increasingly hinges on these native integrations rather than model benchmarks alone.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Day

โ†’ Gemini 3.1 Pro โ€“ Googleโ€™s latest pro-tier model with upgraded reasoning.
โ†’ Architect โ€“ AI tool focused on structured design and technical planning workflows.
โ†’ Claudebin โ€“ Lightweight interface to experiment with Claude models.

โšก Quick Hits

โ†’ US plans Peace Corps revamp to compete in AI race.
โ†’ Pennsylvania legislature outlines AI implementation and regulation roadmap.
โ†’ Microsoft unveils glass chip storing data for 10,000 years.
โ†’ Reddit tests new AI-powered shopping search feature.
โ†’ Meta launches $65M campaign to shape state AI regulation.

๐Ÿงพ TLDR

China is exporting AI infrastructure, venture capital is flooding into India, and OpenAI is approaching unprecedented valuation territory. Google is strengthening Geminiโ€™s enterprise push, OpenAI is building domain-specific benchmarks, and Claude is embedding directly into productivity tools. The competitive frontier is shifting from raw model performance to capital scale, global distribution, and deep workflow integration.

Cheers,
David