Tech and Space News in Brief: Steam Machine Delay, Google's Revenue Milestone, Cybersecurity Threats, AI Chatbot Stance, and Space Program Advancement
Washington D.C. – The tech and space sectors saw a flurry of activity this week, ranging from delays in gaming hardware to significant financial milestones and cybersecurity concerns.
Valve announced a delay in the release of its Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller, citing the ongoing RAM crisis as a factor impacting both the shipping schedule and pricing plans, according to The Verge on February 5, 2026. The company stated it needed to revisit its plans after initially announcing the hardware in November.
Meanwhile, Google's parent company, Alphabet, reported a record-breaking annual revenue exceeding $400 billion for the first time. The milestone, announced as part of its Q4 2025 earnings report on Wednesday, highlighted a 15 percent year-over-year increase, driven by growth in its cloud business and YouTube, which saw its annual revenue balloon past $60 billion in ads and subscriptions, according to The Verge on February 4, 2026.
In cybersecurity news, Microsoft released an urgent Office patch after researchers discovered Russian-state hackers were actively exploiting a critical vulnerability. Ars Technica reported on Wednesday that the threat group, known by various names including APT28 and Fancy Bear, wasted no time in exploiting the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-21509. The hackers compromised devices within diplomatic, maritime, and transport organizations in more than half a dozen countries less than 48 hours after the patch was released. According to researchers, the group reverse-engineered the patch and developed an advanced exploit that installed previously unseen backdoors.
Anthropic, another player in the tech world, announced its AI chatbot, Claude, would remain free of advertisements. This decision sets it apart from rival OpenAI, which began testing ads in a low-cost tier of ChatGPT last month. "There are many good places for advertising. A conversation with Claude is not one of them," Anthropic stated in a blog post, as reported by Ars Technica on Wednesday. The company emphasized that including ads would be incompatible with its vision of Claude as a genuinely helpful assistant. Anthropic also launched a Super Bowl ad campaign mocking AI assistants that interrupt conversations with product pitches.
In space exploration, a US House committee unanimously passed a reauthorization act for NASA on Wednesday, signaling a step toward creating a "commercial" deep space program, Ars Technica reported. The legislation, which still requires approval from the full House and the Senate, provides the space agency with a general sense of direction from legislators. While distinct from appropriations bills that provide funding, these reauthorization bills play a crucial role in establishing space policy. The legislation contained no major surprises. The Senate is expected to consider the bill later this month.
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