A series of high-profile events unfolded on Monday, February 16, 2026, including the court appearance of a suspect in the Bondi Beach terror attack, the muted debut of India's first AI company on the public market, and the fallout from the release of the Epstein files. Additionally, ByteDance announced it would be tweaking safeguards on its new AI model, and Netflix prepared for a significant live event.
Naveed Akram, the man accused of killing 15 people in the Bondi Beach attack, appeared in a Sydney court via video link from prison, according to Sky News. The 24-year-old, who wore a green prison-issued jumper, sat mostly in silence during the hearing. His lawyer stated it was too early to indicate how Akram would plead to the charges.
Meanwhile, in the financial sector, Fractal Analytics, India's first AI company to IPO, experienced a less-than-stellar first day on the public markets, as reported by TechCrunch. The stock listed at 876 per share, below its issue price of 900, and closed at 873.70, down 7 from its issue price. This gave the company a market capitalization of about 148.1 billion (around 1.6 billion), a step down from its recent private-market highs. The company had previously raised about 170 million in a secondary sale in July 2025, at a valuation of 2.4 billion.
The latest tranche of the Epstein files, containing over three million documents, has also generated significant news. Al Jazeera reported that the release, which appeared to be a clumsy attempt at a cover-up by the US Department of Justice, has revealed an intricate web of global elites. The fallout in Europe has led to resignations, but there has been limited accountability in the US for the politicians named in the files, including Donald Trump.
In the tech world, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, announced it would be improving safeguards on its new AI video generation model, Seedance 2.0, according to The Verge. This move comes after Hollywood groups spoke out against the model, which has been used to generate videos like fight scenes between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Disney and Paramount allege that Seedance 2.0 is distributing and reproducing their intellectual property.
Finally, Netflix prepared for a significant live event, as described by The Verge. The sprawling CBS Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles was abuzz with activity, two hours before the event, with people warming up their voices to sing and other preparations underway.
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