Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix has struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max. The $72 billion deal announced Friday would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership — and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm, which has released popular titles such as “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”
EU hits Elon Musk's X with 120 million euro fine for breaching bloc's social media law
LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators have fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X 120 million euros for failing to comply with digital regulations. The European Commission issued the decision after a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act. This rulebook requires platforms to protect European users and clean up harmful content. Regulators said X, formerly known as Twitter, breached transparency requirements. They cited issues with X’s blue checkmarks, which they called “deceptive,” and failures in its ad database and data access for researchers. The decision could upset President Donald Trump, who has criticized Brussels’ digital regulations.
Cloudflare says service restored after outage that brought down sites including Zoom and LinkedIn
MADRID (AP) — Cloudflare reports that it has resolved an outage that disrupted several global websites, including LinkedIn and Zoom. This marks the second such incident for the company in less than three weeks. On Friday, Cloudflare said the issue stemmed from a change in how its firewall handles requests, not an attack. Edinburgh airport experienced a brief shutdown but later said it was unrelated to Cloudflare. Last month, Microsoft and Amazon also faced outages affecting their cloud services. Cyber security experts warn that such outages are growing more common as organizations rely on a few companies for security and web solutions.
France intercepts illegal drone overflight at nuclear submarine base
PARIS (AP) — French officials are investigating an illegal drone overflight of the Atlantic coast base for France's nuclear-armed submarines. Several drones were detected over the Île Longue base in Brittany on Thursday night. This base is home to France's four nuclear ballistic missile submarines. Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin confirmed on Friday that troops intercepted an overflight but didn't specify how. The identity and motives of the pilots is unclear. Vautrin emphasized that overflights of military sites are prohibited. A number of EU countries have recently reported mysterious drone flights. Some caused airport shutdowns. Russia has been blamed for several airspace violations.
US health department unveils strategy to expand its adoption of AI technology
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has outlined a new strategy to expand its use of artificial intelligence. The 20-page document builds on the Trump administration’s enthusiastic embrace of the rapidly advancing technology. The strategy calls for embracing a “try-first” culture for AI among the workforce and encourages employees to use chatbots and AI assistants for daily tasks. It also calls for the creation of a suite of AI resources that can be used across the department. Experts said the bold plan was worth celebrating but warned that the government's embrace of AI tools shouldn't come at the expense of safety.
One Tech Tip: Up your Christmas shopping game with AI tools
AI-powered shopping assistants have become a staple in online retail, making shopping easier and more convenient. This month, new AI tools have launched just in time for the holiday season. Amazon's Rufus chatbot, Walmart's Sparky, and Target's holiday gift finder are among the latest offerings. These chatbots aim to simplify finding the perfect gift by allowing conversational searches. General-purpose AI shopping tools, like those from OpenAI and Google, can search multiple sites for personalized recommendations. Virtual try-on tools and agentic AI for purchasing are also gaining traction, enhancing the online shopping experience.
Russia restricts FaceTime, its latest step in controlling online communications
Russian authorities say they have imposed restrictions on Apple's video calling service FaceTime, alleging it was being used for organizing what it called “terrorist activities.” Thursday's announcement marks another step in Russia's ongoing effort to control internet and online communications. In recent years, Russia has adopted restrictive laws and blocked noncompliant websites and platforms. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the government blocked major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Access to YouTube also was disrupted. Authorities have further restricted internet access with widespread shutdowns of cellphone connections. Critics say these measures are aimed at tightening internet control.
OpenAI awards $40.5M to a wide range of nonprofits under new foundation structure
OpenAI has awarded $40.5 million to more than 200 nonprofits in the first round of grants it has made since it rebranded its nonprofit as the OpenAI Foundation in October. The company has committed $25 billion to fund health research and AI resilience but it hasn't given a timeline for when it will grant out those funds. OpenAI promised $50 million in grants in July, with another $9.5 million to be announced soon. The funding is unrestricted, but OpenAI encouraged projects that support AI literacy, civic life, or economic opportunity. More than 3,000 nonprofits applied for funding.
Venmo announces it is 'back up and running' following widespread service outage
Venmo says that an issue impacting the payment service has been fixed and it is “back up and running,” after users reported trouble sending and receiving money. The company said in a post on X early Thursday that, “We’re sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate you bearing with us while our team addressed this." Website Downdetector shows reports that issues began spiking at about 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday. Some people posted on social media that they were unable to pay for medication or dinner. Peer-to-peer payment apps have exploded in popularity in the last decade.
Salesforce CEO vies to overcome investors' AI skepticism while touting company's quarterly numbers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After riding the artificial intelligence craze to new heights, business software maker Salesforce has been pummeled by a wave of investor skepticism that’s intensified the pressure on its persuasive CEO Marc Benioff to reverse the tide. Benioff got a chance to try to change the AI narrative late Wednesday with the release of his company’s latest quarterly results. The key numbers covering the August-October eclipsed the analyst projections that help steer the stock market, providing Benioff with some material to support his contention that Salesforce’s big bets on AI will yield a jackpot. Salesforce's shares gained nearly 3% after the results came out, but it's unclear if that momentum will continue Thursday.
