Paramount Skydance has finalized its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, forming a new media entity named Skydance Corporation. The deal unites major franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones under the leadership of David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz. The merger faced significant regulatory scrutiny, ultimately resulting in settlement agreements that mandate editorial independence for CNN and CBS, as well as specific annual film production quotas in the US to preserve competition.

Separately, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly nearing a $12 billion funding round, potentially reaching $15 billion, with backing from Tencent Holdings and CATL. This capital injection, exceeding initial expectations, will support infrastructure expansion and computing capacity as the firm prepares for a potential IPO. These developments highlight the ongoing massive capital influx into the global artificial intelligence sector, underscored by ambitious multi-trillion-dollar valuation targets recently reported for industry peers OpenAI and Anthropic.