Daily Tech & GNSS News Digest - February 11, 2026

The software sector’s AI-driven selloff deepened as investors continued to dump shares amid fears that artificial intelligence tools will cannibalize traditional SaaS business models, wiping out approximately $830 billion in market value since late January. Meanwhile, Waymo announced a record $16 billion funding round at a $126 billion valuation to fuel global robotaxi expansion. In GNSS news, SpaceX detailed Starlink’s potential as a GPS alternative in an FCC filing, while Baltic and North Sea nations announced enforcement measures against persistent GNSS jamming attributed to Russia.

Tech News

Software Stocks Face ‘SaaSpocalypse’ as AI Disruption Fears Deepen

Wall Street’s selloff of software stocks extended into a sixth consecutive session on February 11, with the S&P 500 software and services index losing nearly 4% in a single day as fears about AI disruption reached fever pitch. The sector has now shed approximately $830 billion in market value since January 28, when Anthropic unveiled Claude Cowork plugins enabling AI-powered document authoring and file organization for specialized sectors including legal, finance, and data marketing.

The carnage has been indiscriminate. Year-to-date losses include ServiceNow down 28%, Salesforce down 26%, and Intuit plunging more than 34%. Thomson Reuters and LegalZoom each fell over 15% in a single session as investors fled legal-tech exposure. “We call it the ‘SaaSpocalypse,’ an apocalypse for software-as-a-service stocks,” said Jeffrey Favuzza at Jefferies.

Some investors see opportunity in the wreckage. The Sycomore Sustainable Tech fund bought Microsoft shares amid the downturn, noting the software giant now trades at less than 23 times estimated earnings—its lowest valuation in three years. BTIG’s chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky suggests the sector is “probably oversold enough for a bounce,” though uncertainty about AI’s ultimate impact on software business models remains intense.

Waymo Raises Record $16 Billion at $126 Billion Valuation

Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo closed a $16 billion funding round—the largest investment ever in an autonomous vehicle company—valuing the robotaxi pioneer at $126 billion post-money. The valuation represents more than double the $45 billion figure from Waymo’s October 2024 Series C round of $5.6 billion.

The financing was led by new investors Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and Dragoneer Investment Group, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. Alphabet maintained its position as majority investor.

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told Bloomberg that the company will use the funds to expand its robotaxi fleet to more than a dozen new cities internationally in 2026, including London and Tokyo. Domestic expansion targets include Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and Washington. The company currently operates in six US metropolitan areas—Austin, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami—providing over 400,000 rides weekly after tripling annual volume to 15 million rides in 2025.

Big Tech AI Spending Fuels Mixed Market Reaction

The same week that software stocks cratered, investors snapped up shares of companies positioned to benefit from Big Tech’s unprecedented AI infrastructure buildout. Nvidia surged 7.8% on Friday—its best day since April—adding roughly $325 billion in market value, the fourth-largest single-day gain for any stock ever.

The rally followed confirmation that Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft collectively plan to spend between $635 billion and $665 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, a 67-74% jump from $381 billion in 2025. The concentration of spending is historically unprecedented: during the 1990s telecom boom, peak annual spending hit roughly $200 billion (inflation-adjusted) across dozens of companies. This year, just four tech giants are projecting more than three times that amount.

Additional Headlines

EU Tech Crackdown Continues: The EU warned TikTok it may be in breach of the Digital Services Act, demanding changes to “addictive features” that could harm users’ physical and mental wellbeing.
Waymo Safety Under Scrutiny: NHTSA launched an investigation after a Waymo robotaxi struck a child near a school at approximately 6 mph, causing minor injuries—the latest in a series of incidents including a software recall over illegal school bus passing.
Asian Markets Rally: Asian stocks extended their rally to fresh records as the tech rebound gathered pace, easing pressure on markets after AI spending concerns rattled investors earlier in the month.

GNSS News

SpaceX Touts Starlink as GPS Alternative in FCC Filing

SpaceX submitted detailed comments to the Federal Communications Commission outlining how its Starlink low-Earth orbit satellite constellation currently provides—and could significantly expand—positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities. The filing responds to the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry (WT Docket No. 25-110) seeking to promote resilient PNT alternatives amid growing concerns about GPS vulnerabilities to jamming and spoofing.

According to SpaceX, Starlink terminals can currently deliver nanosecond-level timing accuracy and meter-level positioning using time-of-arrival measurements from the satellite constellation. The company notes that its network already supports applications requiring precise timing—such as cellular network synchronization—without relying on external GPS sources. SpaceX emphasized that Starlink employs end-to-end encryption, making its timing and positioning information resistant to spoofing or tampering.

SpaceX confirmed it has been developing a dedicated PNT system for its cellular Starlink service, currently in public beta and scheduled to launch through T-Mobile in July. The company stated that PNT functionality can be delivered within existing Ku- and Ka-band spectrum allocations without requiring new spectrum assignments. However, academic researchers note that Starlink’s current timing irregularities in the Ku band present challenges for accurate pseudorange-based navigation.

Baltic and North Sea States Announce GNSS Jamming Enforcement Measures

Coastal nations of the Baltic and North Seas, along with Iceland, issued an open letter declaring they will no longer tolerate violations of international maritime law, specifically citing Russia’s persistent disruption of GNSS signals in the region. The announcement represents a significant escalation in response to interference that has compromised maritime safety across Northern European waters.

The UK Royal Institute of Navigation released a companion report on GNSS interference impacts, compiling survey data from more than 100 sector experts and 300 vessel captains. The findings document widespread concern over both intentional jamming and unintentional signal disruptions, with captains reporting frequent navigation degradation in waters near Russian territory.

The enforcement announcement coincides with broader European investment in resilient navigation. Thales’s €55 million expansion of anti-jam and inertial navigation manufacturing in France, announced last week, reflects growing government demand for GPS-independent positioning capabilities in contested environments.

Key Takeaways

AI Disruption Reshapes Software Valuations: The software sector’s $830 billion selloff reflects genuine uncertainty about AI’s impact on SaaS business models, with investors fleeing traditional software while piling into AI infrastructure beneficiaries like Nvidia.
Autonomous Vehicles Enter Scale Phase: Waymo’s record $16 billion raise and plans to expand to 20+ cities globally in 2026 signal that robotaxi technology is transitioning from pilot to mass deployment, even as safety incidents draw regulatory scrutiny.
LEO PNT Gains Momentum: SpaceX’s detailed FCC filing positioning Starlink as a GPS alternative, combined with Baltic nations’ enforcement action on GNSS jamming, underscores accelerating demand for resilient positioning and timing solutions beyond traditional GNSS.