With no divestitures required, the Ellison-controlled studio is set to absorb HBO, CNN, the Warner film library and Discovery's networks in one of the largest media mergers in decades.
With Google's AI Overviews choking referral traffic and assistants scraping content, 2026 has brought sweeping layoffs and a widening legal war — capped by CNN's first suit against an AI company.
After a years-long ban standoff, TikTok's American operation is now a U.S.-controlled joint venture — but lawmakers are already asking whether the structure truly resolves the security concerns behind it.