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Mar 20, 2026
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TGIF! OpenAI plans to create a desktop “superapp” by combining ChatGPT with Codex and Atlas. Jeff Bezos is in talks to raise $100 billion for an AI manufacturing fund. Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian.
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OpenAI plans to create a desktop “superapp” by combining its popular ChatGPT platform with its coding agent Codex and browser Atlas. The plans come after CEO of Applications Fidji Simo told staff the startup would deprioritize “side projects” that aren’t focused on coding and business customers. Simo will be focused on the sales and marketing of the “superapp” and oversee the change, according to an OpenAI spokesperson. OpenAI president Greg Brockman will help Simo oversee the product and related organizational changes. The superapp will also incorporate AI capabilities that can take actions on behalf of a user. “Companies go through phases of exploration and phases of refocus; both are critical,” said Simo in an X post. “But when new bets start to work, like we’re seeing now with Codex, it’s very important to double down on them and avoid distractions. Really glad we’re seizing this moment.” The Wall Street Journal was first to report details on the superapp. This article has been updated to clarify the roles of Simo and Brockman.
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Jeff Bezos is in talks to raise a $100 billion fund to buy manufacturing companies and implement AI to speed up their automation, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The fund will aim to purchase industrial companies in industries such as aerospace, chipmaking and defense. In the past few months, Bezos has met with large asset managers and sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Singapore, according to the report. Bezos is also the co-CEO of Project Prometheus, an AI startup that has raised over $6 billion. The fund,
if raised, would rival some of the biggest funds in the world, including Softbank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. It follows major pushes by investment firms to modernize defense, supply chain, manufacturing and frontier technologies: In October, JP Morgan announced it plans to invest $1.5 trillion into such industries over the next decade.
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Uber said it would invest up to $1.25 billion in electric vehicle maker Rivian over the next five years, and it will buy thousands of Rivian robotaxis. The announcement adds Rivian to a range of self-driving partnerships Uber has announced. Rivian stock was trading up 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday. On Monday, Uber had announced an expanded partnership with Nvidia, which has developed self-driving software. The two companies said they planned to launch a fleet of Nvidia-powered self driving cars in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of next year. While Rivian is best known for its electric trucks—including one used by Amazon, also a big shareholder—the automaker is this year releasing an SUV that will pit it more directly against Tesla. Rivian has also developed autonomous driving software,
also pitting it against Tesla as well as companies such as Alphabet’s Waymo.
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Meta Platforms is scaling back on its use of third-party vendors for content moderation in favor of artificial intelligence systems, the company announced Thursday. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads said it will roll out more AI systems to review content across its platforms over the next few years. Meta said it will continue to employ human content reviewers, but its AI systems will increasingly handle tasks such as moderating graphic content, illicit drug sales and scams. “As we do this, we’ll reduce our reliance on third-party vendors for content enforcement and focus on strengthening our internal systems and workforce,” the company said in a blog post. According to Meta, early experiments have shown its AI systems can catch content violations more accurately, and are better at detecting
scams. As a result, it plans to invest more in internal AI-driven enforcement. The company is also launching a Meta AI support assistant on Facebook and Instagram, to help with account issues.
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The U.S. Justice Department has charged three Super Micro Computer employees with illegally shipping at least $2.5 billion worth of advanced AI servers to China, violating U.S. export controls. U.S. officials didn’t name the specific chips involved, though Nvidia commands a dominant share of the AI chip market. One of those charged is Supermicro’s co-founder and board member Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw. Supermicro said the alleged conduct “is a contravention of the Company’s policies and compliance controls” and the company has been “cooperating fully with the government’s investigation.” Prosecutors said the defendants and their co-conspirators installed thousands of hollow, non-functioning server replicas at warehouses in order to deceive U.S. companies’ compliance teams, while the actual chips were already en route to China. The DOJ said that the defendants used dryers to remove labels from the machines, citing a surveillance video tape. Chip smugglers have been using such tactics for years. The Information’s article in 2024 showed how smugglers disguised as legitimate chip buyers leased data centers and moved the chips to China as soon as Nvidia staff finished inspecting the facilities. The Information also reported on the U.S. government’s probe into Supermicro in 2024.
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