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. ¹²³
• 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. ⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹
• 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. ^10111213
• 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. ^14151617
• Google DeepMind released Gemini 3.1 Flash, showcasing its ability to generate websites in real-time and facilitate natural, long-form conversations. ¹⁸¹⁹
• Mistral AI launched Voxtral, a multilingual text-to-speech model, while ElevenLabs partnered with IBM to integrate its AI voices into the watsonx platform. ^20212223
• 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. ^2425262728

Sources

1. Disney Walks Away as OpenAI Shuts Sora, Ending $1 Billion AI Bet sify
2. Disney CEO's First Week Marred by 'Fortnite,' OpenAI Woes Bloomberg
3. OpenAI closes Sora video-making app and cancels $1bn Disney deal BBC
4. Judge Stays Pentagon's Labeling of Anthropic as 'Supply Chain Risk' The New York Times
5. Anthropic-Pentagon Dispute Brings A Turning Point For The AI Industry Forbes
6. Pentagon appears to be 'punishing' Anthropic in violation of free speech, judge says Financial Times
7. Timeline of a crisis: Anthropic’s Pentagon pushback PRWeek
8. Judge questions Pentagon's motives for labeling Anthropic as a security threat in battle over AI AP News
9. US judge to weigh Anthropic's bid to undo Pentagon blacklisting Reuters
10. Meta boosts investment in West Texas AI data center to $10 billion, CNBC reports Reuters
11. Inside Meta’s chaotic AI boomtown in rural Louisiana AOL
12. Meta Hires AI Startup Dreamer's Team The Information
13. Meta acquires AI startup Dreamer to boost personal AI efforts NewsBytes
14. 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 Techmeme
15. OpenAI pushes deeper into enterprise with Frontier Yahoo Finance
16. OpenAI Taps Former Meta Executive to Lead Ad Push The Wall Street Journal
17. OpenAI to roll out ads for ChatGPT Free, Go users in US Firstpost
18. DeepMind releases Gemini 3.1 Flash Live DeepMind
19. DeepMind showcases Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite generating websites DeepMind
20. Mistral Releases Open-Weight Voice AI Built For Speed Forbes
21. ElevenLabs partners with IBM ElevenLabs
22. Enterprise AI Finds its Voice: ElevenLabs and IBM Bring Premium Voice Capabilities to Agentic AI Morningstar
23. Mistral releases Voxtral TTS Mistral
24. XAI properties appraised at $3.5 billion, documents show The Daily Memphian
25. OpenAI signs lease for huge East Bay building as tech dynamo expands The Mercury News
26. Moonshot AI outlines Kimi’s three-layer scaling path Moonshot AI
27. Moonshot AI applies attention to model's depth dimension Moonshot AI
28. KREF and TMG Partners Announce Lease of Entire 350 - 380 Ellis Office Campus to OpenAI in Mountain View Yahoo Finance