AI News You Can Use- Friday, January 16th, 2026
AI is turning into national infrastructure, not just software. We are talking supply chain, power, global expansion, and government rules. 1) OpenAI invests in brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs (seed round) OpenAI announced it invested in Merge Labs, a new brain-tech company co-founded by Sam Altman. Merge raised $252M, and is building non-invasive brain-computer interface tech. This is a bold signal: OpenAI is not only building AI, it’s looking at the next “input device” for humans. 2) OpenAI launches a U.S. manufacturing RFP for the AI supply chain OpenAI published a new initiative to strengthen the U.S. AI supply chain using domestic manufacturing, with a formal Request for Proposals targeting: - data center inputs - consumer electronics - robotics This matters because it ties AI growth to industrial capacity, not just code. 3) Anthropic appoints ex-Microsoft leader Irina Ghose as Managing Director for India Reuters reports Anthropic hired longtime Microsoft executive Irina Ghose to lead India operations. Anthropic plans to open its first office in India (Bengaluru) in early 2026. Anthropic also says India is now the second-largest market for Claude. This is a major international expansion move. 4) Anthropic “Cowork” rolls out, bringing agent-style AI to everyday office work New coverage highlights Claude’s “Cowork” concept, helping handle documents and workflows, pushing Claude closer to an always-on workplace teammate. This is part of the larger shift from chatbots to autonomous work agents. 5) U.S. Congress: bill drafted to make NIST CAISI permanent (“Great American AI Act”) A U.S. lawmaker is preparing a bill to codify NIST’s CAISI, the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, giving it long-term authority to lead AI evaluation and standards. This is a big federal sign: the government is moving from “discussion” to durable structure. 6) Microsoft Copilot outage hit North America, then got resolved Microsoft confirmed a Copilot service issue impacted users in North America and was resolved after a rollback/config change. This is important because it shows how Copilot is becoming mission-critical; outages now feel like outages in utilities.