AI Leaders Weekly Briefing

March 27, 2026

AI leaders face a turbulent week of canceled billion-dollar deals, major infrastructure investments, and significant new model releases and more.

OpenAI abruptly shut down its Sora video-making application, resulting in the termination of a $1 billion partnership with Disney. ¹²
Anthropic is currently engaged in a high-stakes legal battle with the Department of Justice over the Pentagon's decision to label the company a supply chain risk. ³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸
Meta significantly increased its infrastructure commitment with a $10 billion investment in a West Texas AI data center and the acquisition of the team from AI agent startup Dreamer. ^9101112
OpenAI expanded its commercial footprint by launching a new ad business that has already surpassed $100 million in revenue and introduced 'Frontier' for enterprise clients. ^13141516
Google DeepMind released Gemini 3.1 Flash, showcasing its ability to generate websites in real-time and facilitate natural, long-form conversations. ¹⁷¹⁸
Mistral AI launched Voxtral, a multilingual text-to-speech model, while ElevenLabs partnered with IBM to integrate its AI voices into the watsonx platform. ^19202122
Other developments include xAI's Memphis data centers being appraised at $3.5 billion, Moonshot AI scaling its Kimi model, and OpenAI leasing a massive industrial hub for expansion. ^2324252627

Sources

Sify · March 27 Disney Walks Away as OpenAI Shuts Sora, Ending $1 Billion AI Bet
BBC · March 25 OpenAI closes Sora video-making app and cancels $1bn Disney deal
The New York Times · March 26 Judge Stays Pentagon's Labeling of Anthropic as 'Supply Chain Risk'
Forbes · March 26 Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute Brings A Turning Point For The AI Industry
Financial Times · March 24 Pentagon appears to be 'punishing' Anthropic in violation of free speech, judge says
Prweek · March 24 Timeline of a crisis: Anthropic’s Pentagon pushback
Associated Press · March 25 Judge questions Pentagon's motives for labeling Anthropic as a security threat in battle over AI
Reuters · March 24 US judge to weigh Anthropic's bid to undo Pentagon blacklisting
Reuters · March 26 Meta boosts investment in West Texas AI data center to $10 billion, CNBC reports
AOL · March 26 Inside Meta’s chaotic AI boomtown in rural Louisiana
The Information · March 23 Meta Hires AI Startup Dreamer's Team
NewsBytes · March 24 Meta acquires AI startup Dreamer to boost personal AI efforts
Techmeme · March 26 OpenAI has surpassed $100M in annualized revenue from ChatGPT ads, has expanded to 600+ advertisers, and plans to launch self-serve advertiser access in April
Yahoo Finance · March 26 OpenAI pushes deeper into enterprise with Frontier
The Wall Street Journal · March 23 OpenAI Taps Former Meta Executive to Lead Ad Push
Firstpost · March 23 OpenAI to roll out ads for ChatGPT Free, Go users in US
DeepMind · LinkedIn post · March 26 DeepMind releases Gemini 3.1 Flash Live
DeepMind · LinkedIn post · March 24 DeepMind showcases Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite generating websites
Forbes · March 26 Mistral Releases Open-Weight Voice AI Built For Speed
ElevenLabs · LinkedIn post · March 25 ElevenLabs partners with IBM
Morningstar · March 25 Enterprise AI Finds its Voice: ElevenLabs and IBM Bring Premium Voice Capabilities to Agentic AI
Mistral · Announcement · March 23 Mistral releases Voxtral TTS
Daily Memphian · March 26 XAI properties appraised at $3.5 billion, documents show
The Mercury News · March 26 OpenAI signs lease for huge East Bay building as tech dynamo expands
Moonshot AI · LinkedIn post · March 25 Moonshot AI outlines Kimi’s three-layer scaling path
Moonshot AI · LinkedIn post · March 25 Moonshot AI applies attention to model's depth dimension
Yahoo Finance · March 23 KREF and TMG Partners Announce Lease of Entire 350 - 380 Ellis Office Campus to OpenAI in Mountain View