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the elder scrolls

Older Americans are spending more time on their phones than younger cohorts, per new data

Some members of the TikTok generation are (very slightly) less glued to their phones than other adults, it turns out.

2/13/26 8:31AM

When new forms of technology and media have cropped up throughout history, charges of overdependence have often been leveled at their younger consumers.

Dating back as far as the popularization of the novel (tricky as that might be to believe in today’s “post-literate society”), followed by the halcyon days of the radio, now the mobile phone has proved no exception to the rule.

However, young Americans, regularly accused of mindlessly scrolling through never-ending brainrot on their devices, may feel vindicated by new data that suggests the tables may have turned in recent times. Per figures from mobile app intelligence provider Apptopia, 17- to 25-year-olds in the US have actually spent less time on their phones than adults aged 36 and over of late — albeit marginally.

American phone use chart — Sherwood News

Per the latest batch of quarterly data, the younger cohort clocked some 350 minutes of daily phone use, compared with 352 minutes for the 36 and older demographic. Though the actual difference might be slim, this has now been the case since the end of 2024 and will likely still come as a shock to many. As far as reasons for the surprising switch go, Apptopia’s Adam Blacker flagged young Americans’ efforts to “disengage from technology” and the rise of home device “companion apps” among older users as potential factors.

Meanwhile, broader monthly figures released by the mobile app data tracker showed that the average American now spends 6.3 hours a day on their phone, up some 51 minutes from the 5.5-hour total recorded at the start of 2023. Clearly, the way we use our phones is shifting — from the way we now mostly watch, rather than scroll, social media to our growing penchant for apps that aren’t games. But the amount of time we spend on them is only going in one direction... no matter how old you are.

Jon Keegan2h

FT: Meta considering “tens of billions” in new capital to fund AI

Just days after Google announced a monster $85 billion upsized equity raise, the extremely profitable Meta is seeking to sell “tens of billions of dollars” in stock, according to a new report from the FT.

Meta is planning on spending between $125 billion to $145 billion on AI capex this year alone.

Shares dropped more than 5% on the news.

Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal

Rani Molla

Meta is supercharging its subscription businesses

The free-app giant never really cared about recurring revenue. Now, it’s launching paid plans for all sorts of stuff.

Jon Keegan7h

FT: Anthropic staff helping the NSA use Mythos for offensive cyberattacks

Anthropic’s Mythos AI model was deemed too dangerous to release to the public, with the company citing its ability to orchestrate novel cyberattacks.

And that’s just what the National Security Agency is doing, with the help of Anthropic staff embedded at the agency, according to a report from the Financial Times.

Only a small number of companies and US allies have been given access to the advanced model, which means America’s adversaries have not had the chance to shore up their defenses against the AI model’s new offensive capabilities.

The arrangement is especially unusual as the Pentagon has deemed Anthropic’s AI a national security supply chain risk — effectively blacklisting it for defense work — in response to the company’s refusal to allow its technology to be used for any legal application, which could include autonomous killing or mass surveillance. Anthropic is currently suing the US government to fight the determination.

US National Security Agency using Anthropic’s Mythos for cyber attacks

Rani Molla8h

Longtime Tesla bear JPMorgan upgraded Tesla and raised its price target to $475 from $145

For more than a decade, JPMorgan was Wall Street’s most stubborn Tesla skeptic, anchored by auto analyst Ryan Brinkman’s strict focus on traditional car fundamentals and near-term delivery numbers.

But JPM recently handed coverage of the stock to a new analyst, Rajat Gupta, who is throwing that playbook out the window. In a note Friday, the firm upgraded Tesla to “neutral” from “underweight” and raised its price target 228% to $475 from $145. (The analyst consensus on FactSet is $403.) Instead of focusing on the company’s struggling vehicle business, the new analyst is orienting himself more toward Tesla’s idea of the future, now modeling Tesla’s physical AI and robotaxi fleets all the way out to the year 2040.

Here are the main reasons for the capitulation:

Looking past the car lot: Gupta argues that Tesla “is at the forefront of physical AI, entering uncharted TAMs” and therefore “deserves the benefit of the doubt to be valued on LT earnings potential” rather than near-term speed bumps.
Unmatched vertical integration: Tesla’s control over everything from battery cells to custom silicon gives it a massive moat. JPM notes this starting point advantage is “unmatched at an industrial level scale” and “still somewhat under-appreciated and misunderstood.”
The AWS flywheel effect: Deploying Optimus robots inside its own factories “should not only lower COGS for the base automotive business, but more importantly, help validate the product at an industrial scale.” Gupta called it “a classic flywheel effect, somewhat analogous to AWS and Kiva at AMZN.”

For Tesla bulls who have argued for years that this is an AI company and not a carmaker, JPM’s sudden $3.9 trillion valuation model is the ultimate validation.

Anthropic ponders self-improving AI

Anthropic says Claude already writes 80% of its code. A new post asks what happens when the models can improve themselves — and whether anyone could stop them.

Jon Keegan8h