March 26, 2026: AI News - From Sora's Shutdown to Bank of America's New Agents

Today's Top AI Stories

• OpenAI Shuts Down Sora: OpenAI has abruptly pulled the plug on AI video generator Sora. The move means saying goodbye to $1 billion from Disney. OpenAI is cutting back on side projects ahead of an expected IPO to focus on building a fully automated researcher.
• Bank of America Deploys AI Agents: Bank of America has rolled out AI agents to around 1,000 financial advisors. The platform is based on Salesforce's Agentforce. It's one of the clearest early examples of AI being used in core banking roles.
• AI Goes to War: Anthropic and the Pentagon feuded over weaponizing Claude. Then OpenAI swept the Pentagon off its feet with a deal. Anthropic—the company founded to be ethical—is now turbocharging US strikes on Iran.
• NASA's Mars Plans: NASA plans to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars in 2028. It'll carry Ingenuity-class helicopters. NASA also wants to put a $20 billion base on the Moon.

Major Tech Developments

NVIDIA's AI Infrastructure Push

NVIDIA released Proteina-Complexa. It's a generative model for designing protein binders. The model has generated tens of millions of candidates. About one million were experimentally tested against 133 protein targets. It successfully created high-affinity binders for challenging targets including TNF-alpha.

NVIDIA also detailed GPU partitioning strategies. For production, use MIG (Multi-Instance GPU) for strict hardware-level fault isolation. For development, use time-slicing. Benchmark results show MIG achieved 1.00 req/s per GPU vs time-slicing at 0.76.

Battery Company Pivots to AI

SES AI is making a dramatic shift from battery manufacturing to AI-powered materials discovery. CEO Qichao Hu said: "Almost every Western battery company has either died or is going to die." The company plans to focus on its "Molecular Universe" platform. It can be licensed to other battery companies.

Family Offices Embrace AI

According to Ocorian research, 86 percent of family offices are using AI for financial data insights. These organizations represent $119 billion in combined wealth. Only 7 percent are seeking direct investment in AI tech firms. But 74 percent expect to increase digital asset investments over the next three years.

Google's XR Prototyping Tool

Google Research announced Vibe Coding XR. It uses Gemini Canvas with XR Blocks framework. The system translates natural language prompts into functional XR applications in under 60 seconds. It works for both desktop simulation and Android XR headsets.

What It Means

AI is entering a new phase. Major financial institutions like Bank of America are putting AI agents in core roles. Meanwhile, the industry faces scrutiny. Anthropic's Pentagon deal shows the ethical lines are blurring. OpenAI's Sora shutdown signals a shift from flashy demos to practical applications. The battery company's pivot reflects broader challenges in Western manufacturing. AI is becoming less about spectacle and more about real-world deployment.