The great computer science exodus (and where students are going instead)

Plus the rest of this week's biggest stories

View this email online in your browser  February 21, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 The great computer science exodus (and where students are going instead): Students are losing some interest in computer science broadly but gaining interest in AI-specific majors and courses. Read More A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger that launches directly from Bluesky's app: Social network Bluesky now offers private messaging by integrating the startup Germ's E2E encrypted messenger natively in its app. Read More Lucid Motors slashes 12% of its workforce as it seeks profitability: The layoffs affect hundreds of full-time workers in the US, according to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Less than a week to save up to $680 at Disrupt 2026 At Disrupt, founders find momentum, VCs discover their next investment, and operators take their next leap. October 13–15 in San Francisco, 10,000 tech leaders converge at San Francisco's Moscone West to connect and hear from 250+ industry-defining voices across 200+ sessions. Save up to $680 on your pass before February 27, 11:59 p.m. PT. Or save up to 30% when you bring your community. Register Now This Week's Must-Reads Meta's own research found parental supervision doesn't really help curb teens' compulsive social media use: An internal research study at Meta found that parental supervision may not help teens regulate their social media, and teens with trauma are more inclined to overuse social media. Read More Great news for xAI: Grok is now pretty good at answering questions about Baldur's Gate: A new report from Business Insider reveals that high-level engineers at xAI were pulled off other projects to make sure Grok could answer detailed questions about the video game Baldur's Gate. Read More FBI says ATM 'jackpotting' attacks are on the rise, and netting hackers millions in stolen cash: The FBI says hacks that trick ATMs into spitting out cash on demand are rising, with hundreds of attacks in the past year alone netting hackers millions in stolen bills. Read More OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI: OpenAI said OpenClaw will live on as an open source project. Read More At a critical moment, Snap loses a top Specs exec: As Snap readies the public release of its long-awaited VR glasses, one of the key executives on the project has left the company. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Beyond the Agentic AI Hype: How Leading Enterprises Make It Actually Work Join this free webinar to learn what it really takes to deploy agentic AI in production and drive real enterprise impact beyond experimentation. Register Today Be the first to know when news breaks Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox. Sign up for News Alerts! Last but Not Least Mastodon, a decentralized alternative to X, plans to target creators with new features: Mastodon is looking to grow its open source, decentralized social network with new features aimed at creators. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107