Streaming service says ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match Paramount Skydance offerNetflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”.In a statement on Thursday evening, the Netflix co-chief executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said: “At the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/26/netflix-paramount-warner-bros">Continue reading...</a>

Streaming service says ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match Paramount Skydance offer

Netflix walks away from Warner Bros deal, clearing way for Paramount takeover

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to siteA suicide forum linked to deaths in Britain has been ruled provisionally in breach of the Online Safety Act after it failed to properly block access to UK users when ordered to do so last year.Ofcom, the online regulator, said it could now apply to the courts to demand internet service providers block access to the site in the UK. This will depend on how the site, which also faces fines, responds over the next 10 days. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/27/suicide-forum-in-breach-of-online-safety-act-after-failing-to-block-uk-users">Continue reading...</a>

Ofcom says that after provisional ruling it could apply to courts to demand internet providers stop access to site

Suicide forum found to be in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users

Station will no longer be working with journalist after pianist makes email publicPianist Yuja Wang today made public an email sent to her by writer, critic and Radio 3 presenter Norman LeBrecht, and her response that accuses the journalist of “derogatory misogynistic bullying”.Lebrecht had written to the musician querying her decision to withdraw from a BBC Lebrecht Interview stating: “I am surprised and disappointed. I thought you were a serious person who stood by her commitments. I may have to revise that opinion.” <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/yuja-wang-accuses-radio-3-norman-lebrecht-misogynistic-bullying">Continue reading...</a>

Station will no longer be working with journalist after pianist makes email public

Yuja Wang accuses Radio 3’s Norman Lebrecht of misogynistic bullying

Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will also explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrollingMinisters will take another step towards banning social media for under-16s next week as they launch a consultation on the policy, with government insiders increasingly certain Keir Starmer will back the idea.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, will publish the terms of reference for the consultation, which is expected to explore options including an age limit and less hardline action such as curbs on infinite scrolling. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/26/uk-social-media-ban-under-16s-consultation-keir-starmer-backing">Continue reading...</a>

Liz Kendall to launch consultation next week that will also explore alternatives such as curbs on infinite scrolling

UK social media ban for under-16s edges closer with Starmer expected to back it

Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese have appeared on news host’s breakaway podcast, which has climbed to No 2 in Australian chartsBy the time the prime minister sat down at the Lodge for a live chat on the Karl Stefanovic Show, Nine’s highest-paid journalist had amassed more than 50,000 YouTube subscribers on his new independent platform in four weeks. His most popular videos, each watched almost 300,000 times on YouTube and TikTok, feature guests with strong anti-immigration views.By Friday, the Karl Stefanovic Show had climbed to the second spot on Apple Podcasts overall, behind Mamamia Out Loud, and was number one in the news category. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/28/karl-stefanovic-show-podcast-albanese-interview-australia-ntwnfb">Continue reading...</a>

Pauline Hanson, Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese have appeared on news host’s breakaway podcast, which has climbed to No 2 in Australian charts

Riding the rightwing algorithm to success: is Karl Stefanovic Australia’s Joe Rogan?

BBC and Financial Times among those calling for frameworks to help publishers gain control over their content being ‘scraped and copied’A coalition of UK media companies including the Guardian has urged industry peers to back global frameworks ensuring AI firms pay for the journalism they use.The news providers are calling on leaders across publishing, broadcasting, media and news to join their newly created group, with the aim of protecting “original journalism” and securing “the long-term sustainability of our industry”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/26/guardian-joins-media-coalition-to-protect-original-journalism-from-unpaid-use-by-ai">Continue reading...</a>

BBC and Financial Times among those calling for frameworks to help publishers gain control over their content being ‘scraped and copied’

Guardian joins media coalition to protect original journalism from unpaid use by AI

Feature for supervised accounts rolls out as Meta platform faces US trials over alleged harms to childrenInstagram will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm.The announcement on Thursday comes as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/instagram">Instagram</a>’s parent company, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/meta">Meta</a>, is in the midst of two trials over harms to children. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/26/instagram-meta-self-harm-searches">Continue reading...</a>

Feature for supervised accounts rolls out as Meta platform faces US trials over alleged harms to children

Instagram to alert parents if teens repeatedly search self-harm terms

‘Dynasty: The Murdochs’ will debut on the streamer on 13 MarchThe real-world drama that is said to have inspired the hit HBO show Succession is set for its own four-part series when Netflix debuts Dynasty: The Murdochs on 13 March.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4BaDLZjE2c">The docuseries</a>, based on thousands of pages of documents, emails and text messages, presents an exhaustive history of Rupert Murdoch’s rise while homing in on the tensions that have built for decades between him, his chosen heir Lachlan, and Rupert’s three other adult children: James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/26/rupert-murdoch-dynasty-netflix-series">Continue reading...</a>

‘Dynasty: The Murdochs’ will debut on the streamer on 13 March

Netflix to release four-part series about Rupert Murdoch’s family drama

Move comes after 35% of sector workers surveyed described their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’The Film and TV Charity has unveiled a landmark set of principles for safeguarding mental health in what’s been called a “watershed moment” for the UK creative sector’s duty of care to its production community.The principles are the result of a collaboration between the charity and more than 45 industry organisations, including all the public service broadcasters, studios, leading streamers, production companies and trade unions. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/26/film-tv-charity-unveils-landmark-mental-health-principles-for-uk-industry">Continue reading...</a>

Move comes after 35% of sector workers surveyed described their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’

Film and TV charity unveils landmark mental health principles for UK industry

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approachThe Trump administration is embracing an intimidation strategy to silence critical media coverage. Here’s how it works: a federal agency launches a pretextual investigation into a perceived enemy, keeps the investigation open to coerce compliance, and resists any effort to have a court review the lawfulness of the agency’s actions.There’s no better example than the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation of Media Matters for America for its critical coverage of one of the Trump administration’s most powerful allies.David Bralow is counsel to the Intercept <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/trump-free-speech-ftc-media-matters">Continue reading...</a>

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approach

Trump has embraced a disturbing strategy to silence free speech | David Bralow

The latest rush of docudramas seems to suggest that anyone in the public eye must expect a degree of intrusion. But where does that end?Was that really Peter Mandelson getting into <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/23/peter-mandelson-arrested-on-suspicion-of-misconduct-in-public-office">a police car on Monday</a>? Was it really the same Mandelson who had supposedly <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/24/mandelson-accuses-police-of-arresting-him-over-baseless-claims-he-planned-to-flee-abroad">been about to flee</a> to the British Virgin Islands, the man called “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUVtW0uDX_P/">a traitor</a>” to his country and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mkd29lk08o">the buddy</a> of a sex trafficker of girls? Was he really to be questioned for nine hours by the police over “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/24/what-is-misconduct-public-office-why-hard-investigate">misconduct in public office</a>”, an offence few people have ever heard of? For a moment, I thought it must be a trailer for a new Epstein docudrama “inspired by real-life events”.For two months, news desks on both sides of the Atlantic have been trawling through the Epstein files, daily releasing sensational details. This one story – now years old – is crushing out many others. The name of Jeffrey Epstein this past week has claimed precedence over Donald Trump, China, Iran and Ukraine. Each night’s BBC television news has demoted Keir Starmer, the NHS, tax reform and student loans. Preference is relentlessly ceded to Epstein, with bit parts for the former prince Andrew, Mandelson, Bill Gates, the Clintons and a galaxy of billionaires and celebrities. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/27/dirty-business-lady-mandelson-arrest-docudramas-intrusion">Continue reading...</a>

The latest rush of docudramas seems to suggest that anyone in the public eye must expect a degree of intrusion. But where does that end?

Dirty Business, The Lady, Mandelson’s arrest – are they truth, ‘faction’ or just more drama? | Simon Jenkins

The anger toward John Davidson’s racist Baftas outburst is understandable. But I’ve had to ask what I owe to others with the conditionI cover Canada for the Guardian, a country spanning six time zones and more than 40 million people, whose stories I get to tell for a living.I’ve had a successful career but at times, I worry that my work suffers because I have Tourette syndrome (TS). <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/commentisfree/2026/feb/26/tourettes-disability-john-davidson-baftas">Continue reading...</a>

The anger toward John Davidson’s racist Baftas outburst is understandable. But I’ve had to ask what I owe to others with the condition

Tourette syndrome tests the limits of acceptance – I’ve struggled with it for 30 years | Leyland Cecco

The fourth season of TV’s once underrated drama has maxed out on everything – sex, nastiness, nihilism – and it’s been a major miscalculationThere’s a lot of talk about growth on Industry, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jan/11/industry-bbc-hbo-behind-the-scenes-season-4-interview-mickey-down-konrad-kay">hit HBO/BBC drama</a> concerning the ruthless world of London finance. Characters wax poetic and soothingly incoherent (to the layperson) about stocks and shorts, asset values and private funds. Charismatic entrepreneurs peddle the latest groundbreaking green energy company or democratized bank or, to quote one particularly foul-mouthed character in a show full of scoundrels, “the Paypal of bukkake”. All espouse and consecrate the profit motive.Naturally, there’s a lot of hot air; in the show’s caustic nexus of business, politics and global media – not so much a fun-house mirror as a high-budget, impressionistic rendering of five minutes scrolling X – your worth is not in dollars or pounds but in narrative confidence. “We don’t need proof,” says one short-seller out for the kill, “because we finally have a good story to tell”. Cooked books can be explained as “simply a misalignment between the velocity of my vision and the velocity of regulation”, according to the slippery fintech entrepreneur Whitney Halberstram, played with reptilian cool by Max Minghella, in the fourth season’s most recent episode. The gap in between is “where smart people have always made money”. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/feb/27/growing-pains-industry-has-shown-that-bigger-isnt-always-better">Continue reading...</a>

The fourth season of TV’s once underrated drama has maxed out on everything – sex, nastiness, nihilism – and it’s been a major miscalculation

Growing pains: Industry has shown that bigger isn’t always better

End of News Feed

In his lawsuit against OpenAI, Musk touted xAI safety compared with ChatGPT. A few months later, xAI's Grok flooded X with nonconsensual nude images.

Musk bashes OpenAI in deposition, saying ‘nobody committed suicide because of Grok’

Anthropic and the Pentagon are clashing over AI use in autonomous weapons and surveillance, raising high-stakes questions about national security, corporate control, and who sets the rules for military AI.

Anthropic and the Pentagon are clashing over AI use in autonomous weapons and surveillance, raising high-stakes questions about national security, corpor...

Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: What’s actually at stake?

OpenAI shared the new numbers as part of its announcement that it has raised $110 billion in private funding.

ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users

Suno lets users create music using natural language prompts, making it possible for people with little experience to generate audio with little effort.

AI music generator Suno hits 2M paid subscribers and $300M in annual recurring revenue

As Netflix continues its live sports push, the company has partnered with Apple to air the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Apple and Netflix team up to air Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix 

Perplexity Computer, in the company’s words, "unifies every current AI capability into a single system." 

Perplexity’s new Computer is another bet that users need many AI models

The 10th-generation starter Pokémon were revealed in the trailer: Browt (a grass bird), Pombon (a fire puppy), and Gecqua (a water gecko). 

Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves are coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027

While Anthropic has an existing partnership with the Pentagon, the AI company has remained firm that its technology not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weaponry.

While Anthropic has an existing partnership with the Pentagon, the AI company has remained firm that its technology not be used for mass domestic surveil...

Employees at Google and OpenAI support Anthropic’s Pentagon stand in open letter

The U.S. cybersecurity agency's acting director Madhu Gottumukkala will be replaced, after a year of cuts, layoffs, and staff reassignments, and allegations of security lapses and claims he struggled to lead the agency.

The U.S. cybersecurity agency's acting director Madhu Gottumukkala will be replaced, after a year of cuts, layoffs, and staff reassignments, and allegati...

CISA replaces acting director after a bumbling year on the job

Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts, the Audiobook Charts will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by genre.

Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts, the Audiobook Charts will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by ge...

Spotify is rolling out Audiobook Charts

The lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 end after today. Prices go up at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss connecting with 10,000 founders, investors, and operators, and key takeaways from 250+ industry leaders. Register now to save up to $680, or up to 30% on group passes.

The lowest rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 end after today. Prices go up at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don't miss connecting with 10,000 founders, inve...

Last 24 hours to get TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 tickets at the lowest rates of the year

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal's new wearable startup Temple has raised $54 million in a friends-and-family round at a post-money valuation of about $190 million.

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal's new wearable startup Temple has raised $54 million in a friends-and-family round at a post-money valuation of about $...

After Zomato, Deepinder Goyal returns with a $54M brain-monitoring bet

The new funding consists of a $50 billion investment from Amazon as well as $30 billion each from Nvidia and SoftBank, against a $730 billion valuation. 

OpenAI raises $110B in one of the largest private funding rounds in history

IDC says phone makers will ship only 1.12 billion smartphones as compared to 1.26 billion last year.

Memory shortage could cause the biggest dip in smartphone shipments in over a decade

After years of appeals, Google has finally won approval to export high-precision geographic information out of South Korea and provide proper Google Maps services in the country, including walking and real-time driving directions.

After years of appeals, Google has finally won approval to export high-precision geographic information out of South Korea and provide proper Google Maps...

South Korea opens the door to let Google Maps operate fully

Ultrahuman’s Ring Pro promises 15-day battery life and a $479 price tag as the wearables maker expands its health-tech push.

Ultrahuman bets on redesigned smart ring to win back US market after Oura dispute

The new valuation is a 31% increase from $6.1 billion Plaid reached in April.

Plaid valued at $8B in employee share sale

In a one-two punch of centibillion-dollar offers, the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery is over. David Ellison-owned Paramount will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix has lost.

In a one-two punch of centibillion-dollar offers, the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery is over. David Ellison-owned Paramount will acquire Warner B...

Netflix backs out of bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, giving studios, HBO, and CNN to Ellison-owned Paramount

Jack Dorsey has long been an open admirer of Elon Musk. Now, it seems, he may have been taking notes.

Jack Dorsey just halved the size of Block’s employee base — and he says your company is next

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that he "cannot in good conscience accede" to the Pentagon's demands to give the military unrestricted access to its AI systems. 

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said Thursday that he "cannot in good conscience accede" to the Pentagon's demands to give the military unrestricted access to...

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