Zuckerberg Bets Big on AI With Manhattan-Sized Superclusters

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI and erect a multi-gigawatt data center nearly as large as Manhattan. The buildout includes multiple “titan clusters” aimed at achieving artificial general intelligence.

The first mega-facility, Prometheus is slated to launch in 2026, while a second site called Hyperion can scale to 5 gigawatts. Zuckerberg says Meta’s advertising engine, which generated almost $165 billion in revenue last year, gives the company ample capital for the spree.

Meta has folded its AI work into the new Superintelligence Labs division and is luring top researchers such as Alexandr Wang and Nat Friedman after investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI. It has raised 2025 capital expenditure guidance to $64-72 billion to bolster its position against OpenAI and Google.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has started construction of a 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) hydropower dam on the lower Yarlung Tsangpo river. He simultaneously unveiled China Yajiang Group, the new entity charged with building and operating the project.

The dam will be three times larger than the Three Gorges Dam, promising a major surge in clean electricity. Beijing frames the build as both economic stimulus and a cornerstone of its green power ambitions.

China is moving ahead despite warnings about damage to local biodiversity and potential friction with India downstream. The decision shows Beijing is prioritizing economic expansion and energy security over environmental and diplomatic concerns.

OpenAI is building an in-chat checkout system that lets users buy products directly inside ChatGPT and will collect commissions on each sale. Merchants fulfilling these orders will pay the fee, turning the chatbot into a shopping channel.

The company is collaborating with Shopify, has shown prototypes to brands, and is negotiating financial terms. The plan shifts the lossmaking start-up beyond premium subscriptions by monetising its large base of free users.

Advertising leaders warn the move could upend paid search and marginalise agencies as brands adapt to “AIO” tactics to secure placement in chatbot results. The article also notes the initiative increases pressure on Google, whose search ads rely on users clicking out to retailers.

Netflix has used generative AI to create a building-collapse scene in its Argentine sci-fi series The Eternaut, co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed. It marks the first time AI-generated final footage has appeared in a Netflix original show.

Sarandos said the AI workflow produced the sequence ten times faster and at a price traditional effects couldn’t match, making it feasible for the show’s budget. He disclosed the move while announcing quarterly revenue up 16% to $11 billion and profit rising to $3.1 billion.

The announcement follows last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike, which demanded tighter AI rules amid fears the technology threatens jobs and craft. Singapore animation studio CraveFX said major studios are increasingly adopting generative tools because they let smaller teams deliver big-budget visuals.

RAISE, Europe's largest AI conference, convened at the Louvre and showcased startups like Manus that pivoted from an AI browser to a coding assistant in weeks. Manus subsequently raised $50 million and built a 3.5 million-person waitlist after launching in March.

Speakers said Europe’s strict regulation and limited GPU access are keeping local companies in debates while U.S. and Asian rivals race ahead on product revenue. Investors from Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz were ubiquitous, underscoring that most growth capital still flows from America.

Conference panels argued that speed, single-problem focus, and deep domain knowledge now outmuscle traditional notions of being “technical”. Because large language models perform best in English, U.S. builders enjoy a built-in language dividend that compounds their lead.