September 3 Member Morning Briefing: Uber Lays Off 3,300 Employees, Chevron to Invest $7 Billion in Developing Venezuelan Oil Fields

1. [Uber lays off 3,300 employees] This is Uber's largest organizational restructuring since the pandemic, with management positions cut by 20% and the total headcount will return to 2021 levels. The unusual part is that the company has just reported its most profitable quarter ever—the free cash flow in the past 12 months surpassed $10 billion for the first time. Where is the saved money going? The CEO spelled it out unambiguously in the internal letter: autonomous driving.

2. [Chevron to invest $7 billion to develop oilfields in Venezuela] U.S. oil giant Chevron announced on September 2 that it will invest over $7 billion through its joint venture in Venezuela to double local output to about 600,000 barrels per day within the next five years. This is the largest investment commitment made by an international oil company in the country since the U.S. military captured Maduro and regime change occurred in Venezuela in January this year.

3. [U.S. August ADP employment disappoints] ADP announced on Wednesday that the U.S. private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, lower than the revised 46,000 in July (initially 44,000), and also below the Dow Jones estimate of 47,000, marking the weakest single-month increase since January this year.

4. [Meta releases strongest model, matching Claude Fable 5.1?] On Wednesday, September 2, Meta released its most powerful AI model to date, Muse Spark 1.3. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang claims its programming ability has "surpassed" OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and is "on par" with Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1. Wang's statements—"surpassed" and "on par"—are quite assertive, but Meta's official blog evaluation scorecard only compares with GPT-5.6 Sol(max) and Claude Opus 5(max), without listing Fable 5.1 mentioned by Wang. In programming, the language is merely that Muse Spark is "competitive with cutting-edge models in multiple programming benchmarks." In other words, the company did not officially claim an all-round lead.

5. [De Nederlandsche Bank withdraws about $12 billion in gold from North America] DNB announced on Wednesday that from March to August this year, around 86 tons of gold have been transferred from New York and Ottawa to London, involving assets of about $12 billion. The bank characterized this as a "crisis preparedness" measure in response to global political turmoil. After the transfer is complete, the gold reserves held in London will rise to nearly one-third of the Netherlands’ total, exceeding domestic vaults and becoming the largest single storage location.

2. [Chevron to invest $7 billion to develop oilfields in Venezuela] U.S. oil giant Chevron announced on September 2 that it will invest over $7 billion through its joint venture in Venezuela to double local output to about 600,000 barrels per day within the next five years. This is the largest investment commitment made by an international oil company in the country since the U.S. military captured Maduro and regime change occurred in Venezuela in January this year.

3. [U.S. August ADP employment disappoints] ADP announced on Wednesday that the U.S. private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, lower than the revised 46,000 in July (initially 44,000), and also below the Dow Jones estimate of 47,000, marking the weakest single-month increase since January this year.

4. [Meta releases strongest model, matching Claude Fable 5.1?] On Wednesday, September 2, Meta released its most powerful AI model to date, Muse Spark 1.3. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang claims its programming ability has "surpassed" OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and is "on par" with Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1. Wang's statements—"surpassed" and "on par"—are quite assertive, but Meta's official blog evaluation scorecard only compares with GPT-5.6 Sol(max) and Claude Opus 5(max), without listing Fable 5.1 mentioned by Wang. In programming, the language is merely that Muse Spark is "competitive with cutting-edge models in multiple programming benchmarks." In other words, the company did not officially claim an all-round lead.

5. [De Nederlandsche Bank withdraws about $12 billion in gold from North America] DNB announced on Wednesday that from March to August this year, around 86 tons of gold have been transferred from New York and Ottawa to London, involving assets of about $12 billion. The bank characterized this as a "crisis preparedness" measure in response to global political turmoil. After the transfer is complete, the gold reserves held in London will rise to nearly one-third of the Netherlands’ total, exceeding domestic vaults and becoming the largest single storage location.

2. [Chevron to invest $7 billion to develop oilfields in Venezuela] U.S. oil giant Chevron announced on September 2 that it will invest over $7 billion through its joint venture in Venezuela to double local output to about 600,000 barrels per day within the next five years. This is the largest investment commitment made by an international oil company in the country since the U.S. military captured Maduro and regime change occurred in Venezuela in January this year.

3. [U.S. August ADP employment disappoints] ADP announced on Wednesday that the U.S. private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, lower than the revised 46,000 in July (initially 44,000), and also below the Dow Jones estimate of 47,000, marking the weakest single-month increase since January this year.

4. [Meta releases strongest model, matching Claude Fable 5.1?] On Wednesday, September 2, Meta released its most powerful AI model to date, Muse Spark 1.3. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang claims its programming ability has "surpassed" OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and is "on par" with Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1. Wang's statements—"surpassed" and "on par"—are quite assertive, but Meta's official blog evaluation scorecard only compares with GPT-5.6 Sol(max) and Claude Opus 5(max), without listing Fable 5.1 mentioned by Wang. In programming, the language is merely that Muse Spark is "competitive with cutting-edge models in multiple programming benchmarks." In other words, the company did not officially claim an all-round lead.

5. [De Nederlandsche Bank withdraws about $12 billion in gold from North America] DNB announced on Wednesday that from March to August this year, around 86 tons of gold have been transferred from New York and Ottawa to London, involving assets of about $12 billion. The bank characterized this as a "crisis preparedness" measure in response to global political turmoil. After the transfer is complete, the gold reserves held in London will rise to nearly one-third of the Netherlands’ total, exceeding domestic vaults and becoming the largest single storage location.

2. [Chevron to invest $7 billion to develop oilfields in Venezuela] U.S. oil giant Chevron announced on September 2 that it will invest over $7 billion through its joint venture in Venezuela to double local output to about 600,000 barrels per day within the next five years. This is the largest investment commitment made by an international oil company in the country since the U.S. military captured Maduro and regime change occurred in Venezuela in January this year.

3. [U.S. August ADP employment disappoints] ADP announced on Wednesday that the U.S. private sector added 38,000 jobs in August, lower than the revised 46,000 in July (initially 44,000), and also below the Dow Jones estimate of 47,000, marking the weakest single-month increase since January this year.

4. [Meta releases strongest model, matching Claude Fable 5.1?] On Wednesday, September 2, Meta released its most powerful AI model to date, Muse Spark 1.3. Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang claims its programming ability has "surpassed" OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and is "on par" with Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1. Wang's statements—"surpassed" and "on par"—are quite assertive, but Meta's official blog evaluation scorecard only compares with GPT-5.6 Sol(max) and Claude Opus 5(max), without listing Fable 5.1 mentioned by Wang. In programming, the language is merely that Muse Spark is "competitive with cutting-edge models in multiple programming benchmarks." In other words, the company did not officially claim an all-round lead.

5. [De Nederlandsche Bank withdraws about $12 billion in gold from North America] DNB announced on Wednesday that from March to August this year, around 86 tons of gold have been transferred from New York and Ottawa to London, involving assets of about $12 billion. The bank characterized this as a "crisis preparedness" measure in response to global political turmoil. After the transfer is complete, the gold reserves held in London will rise to nearly one-third of the Netherlands’ total, exceeding domestic vaults and becoming the largest single storage location.