Main by morning: Pentagon crashes Alibaba stock, battle over Warner Bros. continues

Alibaba shares led the selloff in China's technology sector after the Pentagon put some of the country's largest companies on a list of firms that promote the military. Warner Bros. Discovery is discussing a possible resumption of talks with Paramount amid a deal already signed with Netflix. The AI boom is triggering a structural shortage of DRAM memory, driving up prices and threatening the margins of tech giants. These and other topics are in our review of key events for the morning of February 16.

Shares of Alibaba fell by 3%, BYD and Baidu - by about 1%, after the Pentagon included these companies in the list of organizations promoting the army of China - and then a few minutes later, without explanation, withdrew the list. The document was labeled "unpublished," Bloomberg points out .

The agency also delisted two Chinese leaders in memory chip production, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies.

The document itself has no immediate serious legal consequences, but the Pentagon uses it to limit the ability of companies to enter into contracts with the military or receive research funding, Bloomberg writes. In addition, the inclusion in the list serves as a warning to U.S. investors and may precede tougher trade restrictions, the agency admits.

Alibaba said it "is not a Chinese military company and is not involved in any civil-military integration strategy." A spokesperson for Baidu "categorically rejected the inclusion" on the list, which "has no credible basis." BYD did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg.

Warner Bros. Discovery is considering resuming negotiations on the sale of the studio and streaming service HBO Max to Paramount Skydance after receiving an updated offer, Bloomberg reports. Paramount is ready to cover a $2.8 billion penalty to Netflix, support debt refinancing and compensate shareholders for the risks of a deal breakdown, which could trigger a new round of bidding with Netflix, with which Warner Bros. has already signed an agreement for $27.75 per share.

The Board of Directors has not yet made a decision, but is under pressure from shareholders, some of whom consider Paramount's offer more favorable. Both companies have made it clear that they are ready to raise bids, but investors are wary of overpaying: Netflix shares have fallen significantly amid the uncertainty surrounding the deal.

A global shortage of DRAM memory chips is rapidly intensifying amid a boom in data centers for AI: Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and other giants are buying up Nvidia gas pedals with huge amounts of memory, squeezing out smartphone, PC and car makers, Bloomberg writes. Prices for certain types of DRAM have risen 75% in a month, with companies renegotiating contracts quarterly, and Apple, Tesla, Cisco and others warning of margin pressure. Memory makers - Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron - are ramping up production of expensive HBM memory for AI, further reducing the supply of regular DRAM memory.

Analysts talk about structural imbalances and a possible "supercycle" of demand: in 2026 the capex of hyperscalers may exceed $650 billion, while capacity expansion will take years. Sony is considering delaying the new PlayStation, Nintendo and smartphone makers are considering raising prices, and the share of memory in the cost of low-cost devices could triple. The companies warn: electronics will become more expensive, and the deficit will remain at least until the end of the year, the agency concludes.

Peter Steinberger, founder of viral open source assistant OpenClaw, will join OpenAI, and his project will be spun off into an independent fund that OpenAI will continue to support, Reuters reports. According to OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, Steinberger will focus on developing "the next generation of personal agents." OpenClaw, which launched in November 2025, has quickly gained popularity - it has more than 100,000 stars on GitHub and 2 million visitors in a week.

At the same time, the project faced criticism: Chinese regulators warned of cybersecurity risks if the agent is not properly configured. Steinberger emphasized that it is important for him to keep OpenClaw open and to scale the idea, and he considers OpenAI the best platform for further development.

ByteDance said it will strengthen intellectual property protection measures in its AI video generator Seedance 2.0 after threats of lawsuits from U.S. studios including Disney and Paramount Skydance, Reuters reports. The occasion was the viral videos created by the model, including those featuring images of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. According to Reuters, Disney sent the company a demand to stop using characters from Star Wars and Marvel, accusing Seedance of reproducing and creating derivative works with Spiderman, Darth Vader and other heroes.

ByteDance did not disclose specific steps, but said it will prevent unauthorized use of images and content by users.

- Japan's broad Topix index fell 0.6 percent, while the Nikkei 225 was little changed.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.5%. Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges do not hold trading due to holidays in China.

- The Korea Exchange also has a day off as well

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 percent.

- The U.S. stock market is closed in honor of Presidents' Day.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor