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Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection accused Alphabet's Google of abusing its dominant market position during negotiations over content payments with domestic media publishers. The regulator, known as UOKiK, stated that Google failed to provide publishers with necessary data to assess compensation offers for articles displayed in search results, Google News, and Discover services. Tomasz Chrostny, president of UOKiK, said the information imbalance prevented fair negotiations and allowed Google to impose terms. The dispute follows a 2024 Polish copyright law amendment implementing an EU directive that requires online services to remunerate press publishers. Google Poland responded that it is reviewing the decision and maintains licensing deals with over 70 publications in the country. The maximum penalty for the alleged violation could reach 10 percent of the company's annual turnover. UOKiK noted that the investigation operates independently from a separate European Commission probe opened in December 2025 regarding compensation for AI services.

Engadget

Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, creating a media conglomerate named Skydance Corporation that unifies two major Hollywood studios and their respective streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max. The transaction values Warner Bros. at nearly $111 billion including debt and follows a bidding battle against Netflix, which previously held an agreement to buy parts of the studio before bowing out in February. David Ellison will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive, while former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz serves as co-chief executive overseeing daily operations and integration. Skydance starts trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol SKYD after moving from Nasdaq. The newly formed entity will carry approximately $80 billion in debt and targets more than $6 billion in annual cost savings within three years. Legal clearance for the merger followed settlements with a coalition of U.S. states and a Hollywood writers union, requiring Skydance to release at least 30 films annually or risk forfeiting its 49 percent stake in Miramax. The combined enterprise projects nearly $70 billion in annual revenue while uniting networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central, and Food Network under Ellison's control.

Techcrunch

RedBird Capital Partners has invested an additional $4 billion into the $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing its total commitment to the combined company to $6 billion. The transaction, which officially closed on Tuesday, ranks among the largest media deals in history and unites two legacy film studios, a vast television network portfolio, and streaming operations. The equity financing for the combined entity, operating under the name Skydance, is led by the Ellison family and RedBird, who together control 100 percent of the voting shares. Additional equity backing for the merger comes from three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, namely Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding Company, alongside LionTree. RedBird's involvement dates back to 2019 when founder Gerry Cardinale initially committed $275 million to Skydance, later expanding that support to facilitate the acquisition of Shari Redstone's National Amusements and the earlier merger with Paramount Global. The newly formed studio enters a media landscape facing structural decline in linear television and the emergence of artificial intelligence agents altering content discovery, while carrying substantial debt from the acquisition. Skydance co-CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz oversee a studio boasting franchises including Top Gun and Harry Potter, alongside a theatrical output pledged at 30 films annually. Warner Bros. Discovery shares finished flat at 30.95 dollars on Tuesday, while Skydance shares rose 2.30 percent to 9.55 dollars.

Hollywoodreporter

The global artificial intelligence boom may have eased financial conditions by boosting asset prices and stoking demand, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said, according to CNA. In a speech published on the central bank website, Uchida described the technology as a positive demand shock that has created upward pressure on the economy and prices. While AI adoption has lifted stock prices, heavy bond issuance by related firms has simultaneously driven up long-term interest rates. Uchida warned that a market correction could occur if expected corporate profits fail to materialize. The central bank will examine economic data to determine the net effect on Japan's natural rate of interest. Robust AI demand is among the factors that could push underlying inflation above the 2 percent target, which may necessitate further monetary tightening following interest rate hikes in June and September.

Channelnewsasia

McDonald's has been sued in a federal court in Chicago in a proposed nationwide class action alleging the fast-food chain illegally coordinates menu prices through an AI-powered pricing system. The lawsuit filed on Friday claims McDonald's violated US antitrust law by conspiring with independent franchisees to fix prices using algorithms trained on nonpublic data. The pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze transaction data across its nearly 14,000 restaurants in the United States. McDonald's called the allegations speculative and uninformed, stating that artificial intelligence does not set menu prices and that franchisees make their own pricing decisions. The litigation follows a wave of US class actions targeting algorithmic price-fixing across industries from hotel rooms to apartment rentals.

Channelnewsasia

Uber Technologies has agreed to buy workplace catering platform ezCater for $2.3 billion in cash. The acquisition combines ezCater with Uber Eats and Uber for Business, opening a stream of scheduled corporate orders with an average value exceeding $400. EzCater generated more than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the trailing twelve months, with high-teens year-over-year growth. The target is profitable on a non-GAAP operating income basis and is expected to be margin accretive for Uber. EzCater connects businesses to a network of more than 140,000 restaurants nationwide. Restaurants gain access to larger corporate orders, while couriers on the Uber Eats platform secure additional earning opportunities from catering deliveries. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Separately, Uber Freight appointed Erin Mitchell as senior vice president of implementation to oversee customer onboarding for its Transportation Management business.

Freightwaves

Schneider Electric has agreed to buy industrial software maker PTC for $22.6 billion in cash, marking the French engineering group's largest acquisition to date. Schneider will pay $205 per share, representing a 42.3% premium to PTC's last closing price of $144.03 and a 46.1% premium to its previous 30-day volume-weighted average price. The transaction implies an enterprise value of $23.7 billion. Schneider plans to fund the deal through $16 billion to $17 billion in new debt and $5 billion to $6 billion in new equity, while pausing share buybacks through 2027 and 2028. PTC shares fell 17% between January 2026 and the announcement amid software sector valuation pressures. Schneider expects the combination to lift software and services to roughly 24% of its total revenue, alongside €250 million in annual cost savings by the third year after closing and approximately $800 million in revenue synergies. Schneider shares fell more than 8% in European morning trading following the announcement, while PTC shares jumped 35% in U.S. premarket trading. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of 2027, subject to customary regulatory approvals and PTC shareholder approval.

Euronews

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied an emergency application on Monday to block Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Five consumers led by Pamela Faust filed the last-minute request hours before the deal's scheduled Tuesday closing, asking the high court to preserve separate ownership while their antitrust lawsuit proceeds. Justice Kagan issued an unsigned order without referring the application to the full court or providing an explanation. Lower courts previously rejected the consumers' efforts, and U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin declined to issue a temporary restraining order on Sept. 30 while approving a separate consent decree between the companies and 12 state attorneys general. The settling states agreed to terms requiring the combined company to release at least 30 films annually for the first two years and 32 in the following three, maintain separate cable carriage negotiations, and establish an editorial independence board for CNN and CBS News. Paramount CEO David Ellison announced senior leadership roles ahead of the closing, positioning the combined entity under the Skydance banner. The plaintiffs argued that once independent pricing, programming, and newsroom decisions are centralized under common control, subsequent legal relief cannot restore lost market competition.

Hollywoodreporter

Google contracted for 3,590 megawatts of power from Constellation Energy in a 20-year power purchase agreement, with new nuclear energy accounting for about a quarter of that supply. The deal enables more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation and involves adding capacity at 11 nuclear units located in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Electricity from the first of the upgraded plants is expected to be delivered in 2028. Google also entered into a long-termed supply agreement for an additional 2,700 megawatts of power from Constellation in PJM, serving as revenue certainty for the operating plants. The agreement responds to a proposal by PJM management requiring data center customers to bring their own power or face shutoffs during peak demand.

Channelnewsasia

AI chip startup Etched is reviewing investment offers valuing the company between $40 billion and $50 billion, TechCrunch reported. The incoming bids arrive just months after the four-year-old firm raised $700 million at a $21 billion valuation in September. Etched also previously announced a $300 million round at a $10.3 billion valuation led by Sequoia in July. The startup is pursuing a capital-intensive segment of the industry by building full AI hardware systems powered by its own proprietary chips. Securing a funding round comparable to its last one could provide Etched with as much as 3.5 years of operating runway. Jane Street led the prior $700 million financing and is also a customer that has taken delivery of an early system. Etched stated in July that it secured $1 billion in customer orders following test chip manufacturing at a TSMC factory over the summer. Approximately 15% of the company's 400-person workforce previously worked at Nvidia.

Techcrunch