Daily Tech & GNSS News Digest - February 13, 2026

Quantum computing dominated Bloomberg’s tech coverage as European pioneers discussed real-world applications more than a year after Google’s Willow chip breakthrough. Market volatility remained elevated with Nomura’s Julia Wang warning that AI-driven turbulence has more room to run, while Big Tech’s unprecedented $650 billion AI infrastructure spending fueled record bond market activity. In GNSS news, Thales announced a €55 million investment to expand resilient navigation manufacturing in France, addressing growing demand for GPS-independent positioning in contested environments.

Tech News

Quantum Computing Race Heats Up Post-Willow

Bloomberg’s Tech Europe devoted extensive coverage to the global quantum computing race, exploring how the technology is progressing from laboratory research toward practical applications. More than a year after Google unveiled its Willow chip in December 2024—demonstrating calculations that would take classical supercomputers septillions of years—investors are betting quantum computing could transform drug discovery, machine learning, cybersecurity, finance, and defense.

Bloomberg’s Tom Mackenzie spoke with leading European quantum pioneers including Nu Quantum CEO Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Phasecraft CEO Ashley Montanaro, and Riverlane CEO Steve Brierley about the technology’s trajectory. In October 2025, Google ran an algorithm called “Quantum Echoes” on Willow that executed 13,000 times faster than possible on the world’s best supercomputer, further validating the technology’s potential.

However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has tempered expectations, saying quantum computers that are “practically useful” remain 5-10 years away—comparing the technology’s current state to where artificial intelligence was a decade ago. Venture capital continues flooding into the sector despite the long timeline to commercialization.

Nomura Warns AI Market Volatility ‘Still on the Way’

Nomura International’s Julia Wang told Bloomberg that markets are navigating “uncharted territory” when it comes to AI technology, warning that “a lot of volatility is probably still on the way.” Her comments came as investors grappled with contradictory impulses—simultaneously fearing AI’s potential to disrupt traditional businesses while bidding up shares of AI infrastructure beneficiaries.

The market’s AI anxiety has spread rapidly across sectors. What began as a software selloff triggered by Anthropic’s automation tools has now extended to wealth management, insurance brokerages, and private credit firms. Earlier in February, Nomura Research Institute dropped at least 6% in a single session as Asian software stocks tumbled on AI disruption fears.

Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott noted that some of the most popular trades of recent years—including long positions in software, crypto, and gold—have suddenly collapsed, with AI now being described as “an existential threat to SaaS.” The whipsaw nature of AI-driven market moves reflects genuine uncertainty about which business models will survive the transformation.

Big Tech AI Spending Fuels Record Bond Issuance

The four largest US technology companies have forecast combined capital expenditures reaching approximately $650 billion in 2026—a staggering tide of cash earmarked for AI data centers and infrastructure. Google parent Alphabet said it’s poised to spend as much as $185 billion on data centers this year, more than its investment over the past three years combined, while Amazon promised an even bigger outlay of $200 billion.

To fund this buildout, companies are tapping debt markets at unprecedented scale. Alphabet raised $20 billion in its biggest-ever US dollar bond sale, after racking up one of the largest order books of all time. JPMorgan forecasts US investment-grade issuance will reach a record $1.81 trillion in 2026, surpassing the prior record of $1.76 trillion set in 2020.

The scale of AI infrastructure investment is historically unprecedented. During the 1990s telecom boom, peak annual spending reached roughly $200 billion (inflation-adjusted) across dozens of companies. This year, just four tech giants are spending more than three times that amount.

Tech Selloff Slows as Stocks Churn

US stocks churned on February 13 as the tech selloff showed signs of stabilizing. Wall Street got a degree of relief from relatively tame inflation data, which spurred bigger bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts and pushed bond yields lower. While most stocks gained, weakness in tech giants kept a lid on the broader market.

Emerging market stocks rallied for a fourth consecutive day, led by South Korean tech names. Samsung and SK Hynix propelled the Kospi to fresh records as investors remained confident in AI hardware demand despite the software sector carnage. The MSCI emerging market equity index rose 0.6% on Thursday.

Additional Headlines

AI Borrowing Boom Concerns: Bloomberg Intelligence’s Robert Schiffman warned that the surge in tech bond issuance could face a “bond blowback” if AI spending doesn’t deliver expected returns.
Memory Shortage Continues: The memory chip squeeze that hit Cisco’s margins shows no signs of easing, with major producers unable to meet AI-driven demand.
Wall Street Debates Software Bottom: More analysts are calling software stocks oversold, but fundamental questions about SaaS business model durability remain unanswered.

GNSS News

Thales announced a major €55 million investment to strengthen its industrial sites in Châtellerault and Valence, France, positioning the company to meet growing demand for GPS-independent navigation solutions. The investment, to be deployed between 2025 and 2028, will quadruple production capacity for inertial navigation systems and establish new manufacturing lines for anti-jamming technology.

The expansion responds to increasing GNSS jamming and spoofing threats across Eastern Europe and other contested regions. Thales is deploying a complete range of resilient navigation solutions combining its TopAxyz inertial navigation systems, TopStar-M multi-constellation GNSS receivers with encrypted signals, and TopShield anti-jamming systems. These technologies enable reliable navigation even in environments where GPS signals are compromised.

The investments are supported by France’s Directorate General of Armaments under the OMEGA program for military GNSS equipment modernization. At Valence, mass production of TopStar-M receivers and TopShield systems will begin in 2026, while a new production line for inertial MEMS sensors will establish the site as France’s sovereign MEMS technology hub for defense applications. More than 800 employees currently work at the two sites, with 150 new hires planned by 2028.

Trimble Brings Lane-Level Precision to Lucid Gravity EVs

Trimble’s positioning technology is now powering centimeter-level navigation in the Lucid Gravity electric SUV, making it the first EV to feature a resilient positioning engine capable of maintaining accuracy in tunnels, parking garages, and dense urban environments where standard GPS frequently fails.

The integration combines Trimble RTX satellite-delivered corrections with ProPoint Go technology, fusing satellite data with 6-axis inertial sensors to narrow positioning error from meters to centimeters. The system feeds directly into Lucid’s Hands-Free Driving Assist system, ensuring the vehicle maintains precise lane-level awareness on highways. Accurate altitude data also enables smarter battery range estimation based on real-world terrain.

The Trimble solution became standard on new Lucid Gravity vehicles in late January 2026, with existing vehicles receiving the capability via over-the-air software update. The partnership demonstrates growing demand for high-precision positioning in automotive applications as advanced driver assistance systems require increasingly accurate location awareness.

Key Takeaways

Quantum Computing Approaches Inflection Point: More than a year after Google’s Willow breakthrough, quantum computing is attracting significant investment as practical applications in drug discovery, finance, and cybersecurity come into clearer focus—though commercial deployment remains 5-10 years away.
Big Tech AI Spending Reshapes Capital Markets: The $650 billion in combined 2026 AI infrastructure spending by four tech giants is driving record bond issuance and raising questions about debt market capacity to absorb the AI buildout.
Resilient PNT Enters Manufacturing Scale-Up: Thales’s €55 million factory expansion and Trimble’s Lucid Gravity integration signal that resilient positioning technology is transitioning from specialized defense applications to mainstream automotive and infrastructure markets.