• Comcast’s NBCUniversal sued Group Black, a firm created to direct ad dollars to Black-owned media.
• The suit alleges Group Black owes NBCU $35.8 million, stemming from an ad partnership.
• “We dispute the claims made by NBCUniversal and intend to respond through the appropriate legal process,” Group Black said.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal has sued Group Black, a firm created to direct ad dollars to Black-owned and Black-led media, alleging it owes the media giant $35.8 million in unpaid invoices and guaranteed payments.

The suit, filed February 11 in New York Supreme Court, stems from a partnership that gave Group Black exclusive rights to sell ads in Black-led shows on NBCU’s streamer, Peacock, with Group Black and NBCU sharing the revenue.

“We dispute the claims made by NBCUniversal and intend to respond through the appropriate legal process,” Group Black said in a statement. “Group Black remains focused on its mission and serving its partners.”

NBCU has said that more than 30 brands signed on to the partnership in its first year, which began in September 2023. Group Black had predicted that NBCU would be its largest source of revenue in 2024, according to a board document dated November of that year, which was submitted in a separate court case.

NBCU’s lawsuit alleged that Group Black failed to fulfill the terms of the contract in the months after it began in September 2023, despite selling more than $30 million worth of advertising.

The suit alleged that in 2024, Group Black agreed to shift its revenue share to zero to pay down the shortfall. NBCU says in the lawsuit that it repeatedly demanded payment, and that Group Black cofounder Bonin Bough had acknowledged the company’s liability multiple times, emailing at one point that he took it “very seriously.”

The partnership ended in September 2025.

Group Black has faced internal and market challenges

Group Black was launched in 2021 after the George Floyd protests that led to a national reckoning and prompted big advertisers like Coca-Cola and Walmart to increase their spending on Black-owned media. In the years that followed, the company faced a mix of internal struggles, executive departures, and broader market challenges. It pivoted last summer to focus on a wider audience with the launch of a new venture, Portrait Media Group.

Group Black has faced other legal action alleging nonpayment. Two companies owned by Essence Ventures, part of a venture led by a second Group Black cofounder, Richelieu Dennis, sued Group Black in 2024, alleging it owed them about $20 million. Group Black said in a court filing that Essence loaned it money but otherwise denied the allegations in the suit. The suit is ongoing.

In another case, Audiomob, an ad agency that provided mobile app advertising inventory for Group Black to sell to its clients, demanded about $181,000 from Group Black for invoices it alleged the company had failed to pay. The suit was terminated in August after Audiomob sought dismissal, saying Group Black had made a “partial payment” of the money owed, per court filings.

• Ukraine’s internal security agency carried out two drone attacks inside Russia on Monday night, an official said.
• The SBU attacks targeted a major Black Sea oil terminal and a plant making components for explosives.
• They mark Ukraine’s latest long-range strikes as it continues to target Russian military and energy sites.

Ukraine carried out long-range drone attacks overnight against a key Black Sea oil terminal and a plant making components for explosives located deep inside Russia, a security official told Business Insider on Tuesday.

The twin attacks mark Ukraine’s latest long-range strikes and come as Kyiv’s forces continue to target facilities inside Russia that directly and indirectly help the country sustain its full-scale invasion.

Drones struck the Tamannaftogaz oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar region, hitting one of the largest ports in the Black Sea region, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said. They were only authorized to speak on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The attack on the port, the second in less than a month, caused a fire at the facility, the source said, adding that the earlier Ukrainian drone strikes on January 22 damaged several tanks and pipelines at Tamannaftogaz, causing an estimated $50 million in losses. The facility is recognized as an important piece of Russian oil logistics in the Black Sea.

The source said that the SBU, Ukraine’s main internal security agency, “systematically” targets Russia’s energy and export infrastructure, striking at a major revenue source fueling Moscow’s war efforts against its neighbor.

Since August, Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russia’s energy sector, striking oil refineries, terminals, tankers, and platforms across the country, and in the Black, Caspian, and even the Mediterranean seas.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly described the deep-strike campaign as “long-range sanctions” on Moscow. The attacks have led to a slight decline in Russian oil refining over the past year.

The deep strikes have also targeted other infrastructure associated with Russian military operations, including factories, weapons storage facilities, and air bases.

Overnight, for instance, Ukrainian drones struck the Metafrax Chemicals plant in the Perm region more than 1,600 kilometers (roughly 1,000 miles) inside Russia.

The sanctioned plant — one of the largest producers of methanol in Russia and Europe — is used to make chemical components for explosives and other military-related materials, the SBU source said. Several blasts were reported at the facility.

In a translated statement, the source said “the SBU continues to systematically work on enterprises that provide the Russian military-industrial complex with raw materials and components for the production of weapons.”

“The destruction of such objects reduces the pace of ammunition production, complicates the supply of resources for the army, and directly affects the reduction of the intensity of hostilities against Ukraine,” they added.

Neither Russia’s defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to a request for comment on the attacks. Moscow said its air defenses shot down 334 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over the past 24 hours.

The two attacks overnight on Monday were carried out by the SBU’s Alpha group, an elite unit considered to be among the best of Ukraine’s special forces.

The Alpha group is regularly behind long-range drone attacks against Russian targets. Forces within the unit also carry out ground operations, including in eastern Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that it had carried out an attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, which is not far from the Tamannaftogaz terminal that the SBU targeted.

“The defense forces of Ukraine will continue to systematically carry out measures aimed at weakening the combat potential of the Russian aggressor,” the military said in a statement published to the Telegram messaging app.

• Tesla eliminated the option to purchase Full Self-Driving with a one-time fee over the weekend.
• Previously, Tesla offered FSD as an $8,000 one-time purchase option.
• Musk has said he plans to hike FSD subscription prices as its capabilities improve.

Tesla has shifted its Full Self-Driving feature to a subscription model.

Over the weekend, the company removed the option to purchase the feature in the US via a one-time flat fee of $8,000.

For years, Tesla owners have been able to purchase the service with a one-time payment that would allow them to use it for the full lifespan of their vehicle. Now, the driver-assist feature is available only via a $99-per-month subscription.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced in January that the change would take effect the following month. In the past, Musk has said that Teslas would serve as “appreciating assets,” suggesting owners could benefit as the software became increasingly more autonomous.

The decision to remove lifetime FSD purchases comes shortly after the carmaker stopped offering Autopilot as a free feature for new Tesla purchases. Previously, Autopilot acted as a free driver-assist feature on the expressway, while FSD was an additional paid feature for navigating city streets.

Tesla first introduced FSD in 2016, and the pricing has swung dramatically over time. In its early days, FSD cost around $5,000, later climbing to a peak of $15,000. In 2024, Tesla reduced the upfront price to $8,000. The carmaker first introduced a subscription option in 2021 for $199 per month, but the price was later lowered to $99 per month.

Musk said in a post on X last month that the carmaker will raise FSD subscription prices as its “capabilities improve.”

Tesla’s move to a more subscription-focused model reflects a broader industry trend. Under an executive performance plan approved last year, Musk’s compensation depends in part on reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions.

Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gkay@businessinsider.com or Signal at 248-894-6012. Use a personal email address, a nonwork device, and nonwork WiFi; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

• ElevenLabs set “ruthless” sales quotas for its representatives, one of its execs said.
• VP Carles Reina said sales reps are expected to meet quotas equivalent to 20 times their base salary.
• He said ElevenLabs adopts a small team model for higher sales success.

At $11 billion AI startup ElevenLabs, the message to sales reps is simple: Hit 20x your base salary, or you’re out.

Speaking on the 20VC podcast on Friday, Carles Reina, VP of sales at the voice-cloning startup, talked through its “ruthless” quotas.

“So if I pay you $100,000 a year, your quota is $2 million. That’s it. If you don’t achieve your quota, then you’re going to be out, right?” Reina said. “And we’re ruthless on that end.”

ElevenLabs — which was recently valued at $11 billion after closing a $500 million funding round — operates in micro-teams of five to ten people each, according to CEO and cofounder Mati Staniszewski, who spoke on a separate 20VC podcast episode in September.

Reina said he prefers to operate in smaller teams that hit their quotas, and pay them more.

Small teams have become a growing trend in tech, with AI startups touting their ability to scale with far fewer employees by working alongside AI agents.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman wrote in January that a team of 15 people using AI can rival a team of 150 who aren’t.

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg said on a Meta earnings call in July that he has “gotten a little bit more convinced around the ability for small, talent-dense teams to be the optimal configuration for driving frontier research.”

Reina said the “ruthless” quota has been successful at ElevenLabs, saying on the 20VC podcast that more than 80% of reps hit their sales quota.

ElevenLabs did not respond to a request for a comment.

He added that the firm compensates both the account executive and customer success manager if they upsell a company within the first 12 months.

“I’m paying double, but I don’t care,” Reina said. “It makes perfect sense because then I have these two people busting their ass to make sure that they actually can make more money, which is fantastic for me as a company.”

The push for higher performance isn’t limited to AI startups.

In April, Google said it was restructuring its compensation structure to increase rewards for top performers. “High performance is more important than ever,” Google’s head of compensation told staff at the time.

• Peter Steinberger joined OpenAI, but before that he got feedback on OpenClaw from Mark Zuckerberg.
• OpenClaw, an AI agent, manages tasks and actions for users.
• Lex Fridman called OpenClaw a major AI moment on his podcast episode interviewing Steinberger.

OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joined OpenAI, according to an X post by Sam Altman on February 15. But before that, Steinberger got feedback on his product from Mark Zuckerberg.

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent that can autonomously handle tasks like managing email, booking flights, and interacting with apps and services on a user’s behalf.

“Many people are calling this one of the biggest moments in the recent history of AI, since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022,” Lex Fridman said about OpenClaw on the February 11 episode of his podcast, where he interviewed Steinberger.

Steinberger discussed acquisition offers from both OpenAI and Meta on the podcast, saying he also considered raising venture capital but ultimately ruled it out. “Been there, done that,” he said of starting a company, adding that it would take time away from building and could create conflicts of interest between a commercial product and the open-source project.

Instead, he narrowed his choice to the two AI labs, which he said made very different pitches. He said OpenAI lured him with compute power and access to cutting-edge infrastructure, while Meta’s approach was more personal — Zuckerberg spent a week using OpenClaw and sent detailed feedback.

“Mark basically played all week with my product and sent me like, ‘Oh, this is great.’ Or, ‘This is shit. Oh, I need to change this.’ Or, like, funny little anecdotes,” Steinberger said of Zuckerberg, adding that he hopped on a WhatsApp call with the Meta CEO where they debated about Claude Code and Codex.

“And then I think afterwards he called me eccentric but brilliant,” Steinberger said.

Just before the call, Zuckerberg said he was coding, Steinberger told Fridman on the podcast.

“He didn’t drift away in just being a manager; he gets me,” Steinberger said. “That was a good first start.”

Steinberger said he appreciated Zuckerberg testing the product on Fridman’s podcast.

“People using your stuff is kind of like the biggest compliment, and also shows me that they actually care about it,” Steinberger said.

Steinberger acknowledged on the podcast that he was leaning toward one company but declined to say which. His choice, it seems, was OpenAI.

• OpenAI hired the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger.
• The news made waves in the AI community.
• Some AI leaders took to X to celebrate the news, and others expressed concern.

OpenAI announced on Sunday it had hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw. Within hours, the news sent ripples across the AI community, drawing praise from some executives, jabs from rivals, and a flood of memes from engineers watching the talent wars unfold.

Steinberger wrote in a blog post shared on X Sunday that he was “joining OpenAI to work on bringing agents to everyone.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman amplified the news, writing that “the future is going to be extremely multi-agent.”

In response to the news, several OpenAI leaders welcomed Steinberger. Thibault Sottiaux, an engineering lead on OpenAI’s Codex team, wrote that “@steipete is proof you can just build things.”

Another Codex engineer posted that one of the “neat” parts of OpenAI’s culture is how many former founders work there.

Steinberger told Lex Friedman in a podcast last week that both Mark Zuckerberg and Altman had made him offers.

OpenClaw and its agent-only social media network Moltbook became wildly popular earlier this year as developers and AI enthusiasts shared clips of autonomous AI agents posting, replying, and interacting online. The open-source project, which demonstrates how networks of AI agents can coordinate to perform tasks across apps, also rapidly gained traction on GitHub.

After Steinberger’s announcement on Sunday, some of the people who worked on OpenClaw commented on the news.

“I know the decision was not an easy one, and I saw firsthand the pressure Peter was under, given that he understands how fundamental this could be for the AI timeline,” Jamieson O’Reilly, an OpenClaw advisor, wrote on X in a post congratulating Steinberger.

Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, said it was a sign “2026 was the year of the agents.”

Not everyone in the tech space was as enthusiastic about the news.

XAI cofounder Igor Babuschkin asked users on X: “What’s the best open alternative to OpenClaw right now? Doesn’t make sense to put all your data into it if it’s owned by OpenAI.”

PayPal mafia member Jason Calacanis expressed similar concerns.

Steinberger and OpenAI have said that OpenClaw will remain an open-source project with OpenAI’s support.

Other experts in the space pointed out that OpenAI’s win could be a loss for Anthropic, especially after Steinberger wrote on X that Anthropic sent “love letters from legal.”

“Another interesting detail is Anthropic’s visible disdain for anything open source: their only contribution to this was legal threats,” George Orosz, a tech industry analyst and author of the tech newsletter The Pragmatic Engineer, wrote on X.

Kris Puckett, a designer at Stripe, expressed a similar sentiment

Raphael Schaad, a visiting partner at Y Combinator, said, “I bet this causes lots of VC tears.”

And finally, some X power users did what they do best: posted memes about the news.