Jared Kushner’s private equity firm has reportedly stepped back from previous efforts to take over the entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery, following scrutiny of his involvement.Affinity Partners emerged as a key backer of a $108.4bn hostile bid by Paramount Skydance for control of WBD. Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, set up Affinity.Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, is attempting to sink a $82.7bn deal WBD struck to sell its storied Warner Bros movie studios, pr ...

The US labor market grew by more than expected last month, recovering some of the damage inflicted by the federal government shutdown, according to official data.An estimated 105,000 jobs were lost in October, and 64,000 were added in November, a highly-anticipated report showed on Tuesday.Jobs growth was higher in November than anticipated by many economists, with a consensus forecast of some 40,000 jobs added.But the headline unemployment rate continued to climb – and hit 4.6%, a four-year high, last mont ...

Ford said on Monday it will take a $19.5bn writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models, in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry’s retreat from battery-powered models in response to the Trump administration’s policies and weakening EV demand.Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan, said it will stop making the F-150 Lightning in its electric vehicle form, but will pivot to producing an extended-range electric model, a version of a hybrid vehicle called an Erev, which uses a gas-powered g ...

The US company behind the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner has filed for bankruptcy protection and agreed to be taken over by one of its Chinese suppliers.iRobot, which is best known for debuting the Roomba vacuum cleaner in the early 2000s, will be taken over by a subsidiary of its main supplier, Picea Robotics.The Roomba maker, which is listed in the US, said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware as part of a restructuring agreement with Picea.iRobot’s earnings have come under pressure in recent y ...

Users of OpenAI’s video generation app will soon be able to see their own faces alongside characters from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney’s animated films, according to a joint announcement from the startup and Disney on Thursday. Perhaps you, Lightning McQueen and Iron Man are all dancing together in the Mos Eisley Cantina.Sora is an app made by OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, which allows users to generate videos of up to 20 seconds through short text prompts. The startup previously attempted to stee ...

Walt Disney has announced a $1bn equity investment in OpenAI, enabling the AI start-up’s Sora video generation tool to use its characters.Users of Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that draw on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters as part of a three-year licensing agreement between OpenAI and the entertainment giant.A selection of the videos made by users will also be available for streaming on the Disney+ platform.Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, hailed a deal ...

The US Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it was cutting interest rates by a quarter point for the third time this year, as the embattled central bank appeared split over how best to manage the US economy.The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, has emphasized unity within the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the board of Fed leaders that sets interest rates. But the nine-to-three vote to lower rates to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% was divisive among the committee that tends to vote in unanimity.New projecti ...

Netflix has been hit with a consumer lawsuit seeking to block the online video giant’s planned $72bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming businesses.The proposed class action was filed on Monday by a subscriber to Warner Bros-owned HBO Max who said the proposed deal threatened to reduce competition in the US subscription video-on-demand market.Some members of Congress have sharply questioned Netflix’s proposal, which is expected to face significant US regulatory scrutiny under antitru ...

The EU has opened an investigation to assess whether Google is breaching European competition rules in its use of online content from web publishers and YouTube for artificial intelligence.The European Commission said on Tuesday it will examine whether the US tech company, which runs the Gemini AI model and is owned by Alphabet, is putting rival AI owners at a “disadvantage”.“The investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers ...

收购要约与竞争 - 派拉蒙天空之舞对华纳兄弟探索公司发起敌意收购 提出每股30美元的全现金要约 收购整个公司 总企业价值达1084亿美元 较公司股价有大幅溢价 [1][2] - 该要约旨在与Netflix的收购提案竞争 Netflix此前同意以每股27.75美元的价格收购华纳兄弟探索公司的影视工作室和流媒体业务 但未包含CNN等传统电视资产 [1] - 派拉蒙天空之舞声称其全现金要约对股东而言价值更优 且更有可能通过监管审查 完成路径更确定、更快速 [3][4][5] 交易条款与股东沟通 - 派拉蒙天空之舞已将相同条款的要约私下提供给华纳兄弟探索公司董事会 但担心股东未被提供最具吸引力的交易方案 [5] - 公司律师致信华纳兄弟探索公司 指责其放弃了公平的交易程序 损害了股东利益 并偏袒单一投标方 [5] - 派拉蒙天空之舞在竞标过程中已多次提出报价但均被拒绝 [5] 监管与政治环境 - 由于不涉及电视牌照转移 该交易不太可能需要联邦通信委员会审查 但需通过美国司法部的反垄断审查 [11][12] - 公司对迅速获得监管批准表示高度信心 认为其交易能增强竞争 有利于消费者和创意人才 [12] - 前总统特朗普表示将亲自审查Netflix与华纳兄弟探索的交易 并提及Netflix市场份额大可能影响竞争 但同时对Netflix联席CEO有积极评价 [10] 员工反应与业务影响 - Netflix收购华纳兄弟探索工作室和流媒体资产的消息 让部分CNN员工感到松了一口气 他们原本担心CNN会与CBS新闻及其有争议的主编合并 [6][7] - 部分CBS新闻员工曾担心与CNN母公司合并可能导致大量工作岗位流失 [8] - 如果Netflix交易继续进行 CNN将按计划分拆成为一家独立的传统电视网络公司 [9] - 派拉蒙周一的新要约可能重新引发两家公司员工的担忧 [9] 行业与政治关切 - 包括美国参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在内的多位政界人士以及娱乐业工会 对Netflix与华纳兄弟探索的交易表达了强烈保留意见 [10]