Netflix's $5B Hollywood Gamble, Meta's Metaverse Retreat, and Snowflake's AI Power Play

TECH BRIEF

Streaming's Watershed Moment

Netflix has entered exclusive negotiations with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire its film and television studios plus the HBO Max streaming service, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. The streaming giant's offer includes a $5 billion breakup fee if regulators reject the transaction, signaling confidence in regulatory approval despite expected antitrust scrutiny.​

The proposed deal, valued at approximately $28 per share primarily in cash, follows a competitive bidding war that saw Netflix outmaneuver Paramount and Comcast. Warner Bros. Discovery plans to separate its cable networks—including CNN, TNT, and Discovery Channel—before completing any sale, focusing the transaction on its content production and streaming assets.​

An acquisition would mark Netflix's first major studio purchase and grant it control over Warner's century-plus film library, DC Comics franchise, Harry Potter series, and acclaimed HBO properties. The move represents a fundamental shift for Netflix, which built its dominance through licensing and original production rather than major acquisitions.​

Industry opposition is already mounting. The Directors Guild of America announced plans to meet with Netflix over "significant concerns" about the deal's impact on theatrical releases and licensing fees. Anonymous talent representatives urged Congress to oppose the transaction, arguing it would reduce theatrical film releases and depress home video distribution rates.​

Meta's Strategic Pivot

Meta is simultaneously advancing its AI capabilities while retreating from its metaverse ambitions. The company launched a centralized support hub for Facebook and Instagram users that includes AI-powered search and an AI assistant designed for personalized help with account recovery, profile management, and settings. The assistant will first roll out to Facebook users before expanding to other apps.

The company claims AI systems have reduced account hacks by over 30% globally and decreased mistaken account disabling while accelerating appeals. New features include optional selfie video verification, improved security alerts, and better device recognition.

These improvements arrive as Meta plans deep cuts to its Reality Labs division, which has accumulated over $60 billion in losses since 2021. Executives are considering 10-30% budget reductions for the metaverse unit, including Horizon Worlds and Quest VR, with layoffs potentially beginning in January. The cuts reflect decreased competitive pressure in VR as Apple and Google have slowed their initiatives.​

Meta is redirecting investment toward AI glasses and wearables, hiring Apple design leader Alan Dye to lead a new Reality Labs creative studio. The shift could save $4-6 billion in 2026 costs and boost 2027 earnings estimates by high single digits, according to analyst projections.​

Snowflake's AI Acceleration

Snowflake reported third-quarter revenue of $1.21 billion, beating analyst estimates of $1.18 billion, while narrowing its GAAP loss by 9.4% year-over-year to $293.9 million. The company also announced a $200 million multi-year AI partnership with Anthropic, expanding their existing collaboration.​

The deal integrates Anthropic's Claude models, including Claude Opus 4.5, directly into Snowflake's platform, enabling enterprises to build generative AI applications and deploy advanced agents within Snowflake's governed data environment. The partnership positions Claude as a key model for Snowflake Intelligence, the company's enterprise AI service.​

Snowflake reached its $100 million AI revenue run rate target a quarter ahead of schedule, with customers processing trillions of Claude tokens monthly through Snowflake Cortex AI. Despite the strong results, shares fell 11.4% as investors focused on operating losses and stock-based compensation concerns.

​Google's Automation Play

Google launched Workspace Studio, a no-code automation tool that enables users to design, manage, and share AI agents powered by Gemini 3. The platform follows an "if this, then that" model across Gmail, Chat, Drive, and third-party services including Asana, Jira, and Salesforce.​

Accessible via a shortcut in web apps and studio.workspace.google.com, Workspace Studio allows plain-language prompts to create agents that can perform sentiment analysis, content generation, intelligent prioritization, and smart notifications. Agents can extract details like action items and invoice numbers from emails and attachments, sharing functionality similar to Google Drive files.​

The tool enters general availability for business and education tiers, including Business Starter, Enterprise Plus, and Education Fundamentals, marking Google's move from rigid rule-based automation to adaptive AI agents.​