Anyone who works at Meta or knows anyone who works at Meta will tell you the same thing: It is not a happy place, particularly given the seemingly endless layoffs the company has executed over the last few years — cuts that have only accelerated as the company funnels billions into AI.

Now, a new report in Wired suggests the company’s Applied AI team is on the verge of revolt.

The drama kicked off when someone hijacked a livestreamed, employee-only presentation this week with an expletive-laden meltdown, demanding that attendees tell a senior Meta AI executive that he was “a piece of sh*t.” One presenter reportedly covered their face with their hands.

That outburst, Wired reports, reflects simmering rage inside the three-month-old unit of roughly 6,500 engineers and product managers who have been tasked with supporting the company’s AI research ambitions.

Employees describe being forced into the group with no real choice: join or quit. Many call themselves “draftees.” Their assigned work? Generating puzzles and coding problems to train AI models. “It’s literally the gulag,” one employee told Wired. “Most people find the work soul-crushing,” said another.

A report last month in Business Insider shed light on how many employees learned they’d be moved into the group — through a surprise email, a process that one self-described draftee described later on Reddit as “quite random.” According to an internal announcement in April reviewed by Business Insider, Meta’s AI models still lacked the knowledge to outperform humans at technical tasks like coding. “For agents to understand how people actually complete everyday tasks using computers, we need to train our models on real examples,” the post read.

In a leaked audio recording from an internal meeting that same month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the logic behind drafting Meta’s own engineers rather than outside contractors: Alexandr Wang — who sold his data-labeling startup Scale AI to Meta for $14.3 billion before taking the chief AI officer role and heading up Meta Superintelligence Labs — knows the data-labeling world well, and the company believes Meta’s average employee has “significantly higher” intelligence than third-party contractors. Better, then, to enlist them.

Meanwhile, more than 1,600 Meta employees company-wide have signed a petition protesting a program that monitors their clicks and keystrokes for AI training data. The mood across the company is dark enough that Meta’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, felt compelled to address the “brutal” environment on a call with employees this week.

TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for comment.

According to earlier reports, the Applied AI team is led by Maher Saba, a 12-year veteran of Meta who was previously a vice president in its Reality Labs division, the division that burned through $83 billion on the metaverse before Meta moved on to AI. The new organization reports up to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth.

Originally, it was structured in such a way that up to 50 employees reported to one manager.

Zuckerberg, for his part, reportedly addressed the situation in an internal memo Friday, acknowledging that recent changes had “caused distress” and admitting the company had made mistakes that it plans to address. According to Wired, he added in his memo that “Meta’s north star is to be the best place for the most talented people in the world to make an impact.”

ai and ml

AI agents can’t be trusted, so don’t give them dangerous powers

NanoClaw, a secure agent framework, has partnered with supply chain platform JFrog to allow AI agents to fetch resources from JFrog’s reviewed registries.

Gavriel Cohen, creator of NanoClaw and co-founder of NanoCo AI, announced the tie-up on Thursday evening in San Francisco at a JFrog event that concluded with a World Cup watch party.

Cohen explained that one of the features of Claw agents – OpenClaw and variations like NanoClaw – is that they can improve themselves by fetching tools and resources that they don’t have.

That works fine, he explained, when there’s a manual approval process for accessing known local data. But it’s not ideal for npm packages, even when the agent involved is sandboxed and isolated as it is in NanoClaw. Malicious code within a container may still be able to take harmful actions, even if the scope of potential activity is constrained.

Developers, Cohen said, may not be familiar with a given package and it can take time to thoroughly assess whether a package is legitimate and uncompromised.

“So we teamed up with JFrog and we integrated NanoClaw with JFrog’s registries,” said Cohen.

The arrangement provides a way to reduce the agent’s exposure to untrusted content. When the agent downloads new tools and libraries, the software comes from a vetted source.

Cohen also announced the availability of what he called an agent factory, his company’s homegrown system used to handle pull requests (PRs) using NanoClaw agents.

The agent factory, he explained, is an attempt to triage pull requests, which have surged thanks to AI coding agents.

“It’s very easy now to point a coding agent at a repo and say, ‘open a pull request for this repo,’” he explained. “And it’s very difficult as a maintainer to tell the difference between a high quality contribution from somebody who’s really using the open source project versus someone who’s just trying to build up the reputation [using automated methods]. So to help us tackle this, we built an agent factory that helps us review every single contribution to NanoClaw.”

The agent factory is referred to as the PR Factory in the actual pull request. It’s built with NanoClaw and hosted on exe.dev, a service that provides VMs with persistent storage.

“When a PR opens, the factory spins up a dedicated worker agent for it, posts a thread to Slack, and the worker triages the change, reviews the diff, and proposes a test plan,” Cohen explains in the documentation. “Nothing consequential happens on its own: merges, test runs, and credentialed GitHub actions each surface as an approval card in the thread, and only fire when a human clicks approve.”

Cohen acknowledged that some developers will think it’s madness to process unsanitized PRs that could contain prompt injections or unsafe code. And he asked the assembled audience of developers how many had seen the phrase on the projected slide: “Never, ever, ever do this.”

Anyone who has spent time using and configuring AI agents in a development context has seen something of the sort in configuration files like Claude.md, which gets loaded as instructions to the underlying agent and model.

“If you see something like this in the Claude.md file and the agent instructions say, ‘Important: Never run drop database production,’ it tells you two things. You know that that agent has deleted a production database before. And you know that it can actually still do it again. That’s why the instruction is there.”

This elicited a knowing laugh from the audience.

Cohen went on to say that the agent will do it again because instructions are not a way of enforcing security or safety.

“Instructions help steer an agent AI towards valuable output, but it’s not a safety mechanism,” he said. “The only way to reliably prevent an agent from taking undesired action is not allowing it to take that action, not giving it the ability to take the action.”

That is the purpose of NanoClaw. ®

SpaceX has captured the attention of media, investors, and the public for years now — interest propelled by the company’s reusable rocket launches, the rise of its Starlink satellite network, and of course, for its founder and CEO Elon Musk.

But in its 24-year history, nothing quite compares to this initial public offering. Everyone seems to be interested, and perhaps it’s because of the sheer size of this IPO. The company priced its 555.6 million shares at $135 each to raise $75 billion, making it the largest IPO in history. At this price, the deal also looks set to make Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

TechCrunch has followed SpaceX’s start, struggles, and successes from the early days. And we’re here for what happens next too. This article will be continually updated with all of the latest SpaceX IPO news.

The latest on the SpaceX IPO

SpaceX shares opened at $150 on the Nasdaq public exchange, an 11% pop for the most anticipated debut in history. And it has continued to rise. The shares keep rising too (which we will update here). In midday trading, SpaceX shares soared 30%. SpaceX shares closed at $160.95, up 19%.

There has been heavy trading volume, as expected. Robinhood said it has seen “record-breaking traffic on its trading platform in the hours after SpaceX’s historic public markets debut.

SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell was interviewed by CNBC on Friday and among the many interesting comments she made, here is one that might get the attention of Tesla shareholders. At one point in the interview, Shotwell said a “merger between SpaceX and Tesla might make Elon’s life a little easier.”

Among the winners are the banks, which have brought in about $500 million in total fees. The big winners are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, per the WSJ.

Musk took to X, the social media company he owns, to share his appreciation of SpaceX employees as the stock rose. “I love the incredible people of SpaceX beyond words,” he wrote Friday afternoon. He also reposted a number of SpaceX IPO related posts, including a photo of insiders all wearing green shoes in what appears to be a nod to “the green shoe option.” This is a provision in an IPO underwriting agreement that lets underwriters to sell up to 15% more shares than originally planned if demand is strong.

To get a deeper look into what happened today, and all the far-ranging implications of SpaceX now being a publicly traded company, Senior Reporter Sean O’Kane and AI Editor Russell Brandom sat down for a special episode of our Equity podcast, which you can listen to right here or via your podcast player of choice, or queue it up on YouTube here.

How to track the SpaceX IPO

With an offering this large, there is a lot of financial machinery operating behind the scenes — so the first question is just when the stock makes it to the market to start trading. SpaceX is debuting on Nasdaq and you can see the official Nasdaq listing here, which will have the price of record as soon as there is one. Nasdaq also has video of the SpaceX crew ringing the bell, if that’s your thing.

But the price is just part of the picture. For the most up-to-the-minute information, your best bet is still financial press outlets like Bloomberg and CNBC, both of which have liveblogs running and will have close coverage of any hiccups that happen in getting the stock to market.

The SpaceX IPO, by the numbers

Here we look at some of the bigger numbers, the consequential figures, and the eyewatering amounts that make up the company’s S-1 form. 

For instance, SpaceX lost $4.9 billion on revenues of over $18 billion in 2025. That’s only a fraction of the more than $37 billion lost since SpaceX’s inception. 

As CEO, Elon Musk holds about 85.1% of the company’s voting power. You can read more about that in the next section “Who wins and who doesn’t” — and we’ll continue to drop interesting numbers in here.

Here is another figure that caught our attention… 4,400. That’s the number of SpaceX employees who could become millionaires, according to the NYT.

Elon Musk can’t hear you over the sound of his $1.75 trillion IPO: The Equity podcast weighs in on the IPO.

Who wins and who doesn’t

SpaceX is the world’s largest IPO in history and means a big payday for some investors, employees, and of course, Elon Musk.

Elon Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s historic IPO: The SpaceX IPO has boosted Musk’s paper wealth to more than $1,000,000,000,000 at a time when he is more hated — and powerful — than ever.

How Elon Musk will increase his power through the SpaceX IPO: Musk, who will have more than 50% of the voting power, will have a monarchical grip over the publicly traded version of SpaceX — control that goes far beyond what other tech founders enjoy.

Who will benefit most from SpaceX IPO? Mostly Elon — and a few from his inner circle: Elon Musk has the largest stake in SpaceX by billions of shares, but others also stand to win. Here’s the rundown of who owns what.

SpaceX SPV investors won’t know their true holdings until post-IPO lock-ups lift: After SpaceX makes its public debut, lower-tier SPV investors face hidden fees, lengthy payout delays, and the risk of outright fraud.

What’s in the S-1

The S-1 registration document gave the world an unprecedented look inside SpaceX, including its financials and its various businesses. The S-1 continued to be amended as the IPO date approached, and we were on it. Here is what we found.

The SpaceX IPO filing is filled with AI bets, Starship dreams, and Elon Musk at the center: The contents of the SpaceX IPO details a business dominated by its Starlink satellite internet offering, more than $37 billion in losses, and future business prospects through its xAI division.

Starship’s path to reusability looks murky after SpaceX’s S-1: SpaceX’s IPO and Starship rocket test flight delivered two big data points that offer a realistic vision for the coming years — and one that may disappoint both the company’s boosters and its critics.

SpaceX warns investors of future dilution, adding fuel to Tesla merger rumors: The company added new language to its S-1, a warning to prospective investors that a major dilution could be in the cards after it goes public.

Pre-IPO deals and events

Leading up to the IPO, SpaceX locked in a string of deals, mostly selling off compute to improve its balance sheet.

Anthropic will pay xAI $1.25B per month for compute: Initial coverage of the Anthropic deal on May 20.

How long is Anthropic’s lease with SpaceX? Opinions vary: Elon Musk keeps downplaying the duration of SpaceX’s contract with Anthropic.

Google will pay SpaceX $920M per month for compute: A Google representative described the deal as a short-term deal addressing unexpected demand for its recently launched AI products.

This article originally published at 10 am ET, June 12, 2026. It has been updated with new coverage of the SpaceX IPO, share price, and other related events.

You can watch the USA vs Paraguay on Tubi, streaming for free now, on June 12, 2026. The free stream includes pre-match, halftime and every goal as the 2026 FIFA World Cup grips football fans around the world.

The Fox-owned platform will stream the Group D game live and in 4K. But how can you watch the USA v Paraguay on Tubi from anywhere? Can you get the free Tubi stream in Canada and the UK too? And what phones is Tubi available on?

DJI claims Insta360 copied its Osmo Pocket 3, while Insta360 claims DJI copied its gimbals.

Whether you rent or own, there are some chores you have to complete on a near-constant basis. The good news is, you can get some help from robots and apps in your Apple Home.

I’m a firm believer in optimizing when possible. If a robot, machine, or gadget exists to speed up or even remove the need for certain tasks, I’m going to implement it.

While we’re still waiting on a robot that can fold your laundry and put it away, there are plenty of robots available that can take on your chore list. Whether it’s mowing, mopping, or changing out the litter box, there’s something available.

I’m also going to discuss managing your Apple Home via apps, at least this time maintenance and stock-specific ones. While my approach leans into Apple apps, there are third-party options that offer interesting capabilities.

This is the fourth story I’ve written in the Owning an Apple Home series. The first covered moving, the second was about whole-home audio with HomePods, and the third was about smart home tech involving pets.

Let’s get into chores, robots, and maintenance in your Apple Home.

Let the robot do it

It may seem obvious, but having a robot step in and complete a chore for you is the ultimate luxury. Thankfully, you don’t have to be filthy rich for the privilege.

You do have to be careful which robots you purchase, though, because they may not meet your expectations if they’re too cheap. Sure, there are plenty of sub-$1,000 options, but they’re not always going to be up to the task.

The way I have approached choosing the right robots so far is to look for basic capabilities like LiDAR navigation, object recognition, and overall performance. You shouldn’t be buying a bare-minimum robot the same way you probably wouldn’t buy the bare-minimum refrigerator or dishwasher.

Robot vacuum and mops

Matter works with robot vacuums and mops. Apple has adopted the Matter version that allows this, but there are very few options available.

The Narwal robot can easily clean floors and carpets

The Narwal Freo X Ultra that I use in my home isn’t Matter-compatible and won’t ever be. However, the Narwal app is good enough for the manual controls I need to have it occasionally clean the common areas.

Unlike my previous home, this one has a ledge between the living room, kitchen, and den, so the robot is confined to one half of the home. It can’t scale the ledge, and I have no interest in installing a ramp.

However, that doesn’t make the robot any less useful. It can clean all of the bedrooms, hallway, and living room without interference.

I manually sweep and mop the stone-tiled kitchen, and the den is so small the effort to clean the floor is negligible. I share this to say that a robot helping with any amount of cleaning is worth it.

There are lots of options for indoor robots, and while I won’t be making any direct recommendations today, I will say the $800 to $1,200 range should be good enough for most needs. There are tiny robots that are great for single rooms or single-purpose cleaning, but I haven’t investigated those.

It’s easy to say that a robot vacuum and mop is as essential as any other appliance in your home in 2026. There’s lots of silly marketing speak around these machines, but one thing is definitely true — they’ll take care of cleaning the floors so you don’t have to.

Robot lawn mowers

I recently published a review of my first functional robot lawn mower. There was no telling how it would perform considering my first foray into the space ended disastrously.

Mova LiDAX Ultra Lawn Mower

Thankfully, my yard in the new home isn’t what you’d call challenging. It’s a flat backyard and a 90% flat front yard with a slope off of one edge.

The Mova mower I tested handled everything without issue other than the hill and one dip in the front yard. After those issues though, it learned and didn’t get stuck again.

I’m willing to bet that some of you reading this have never even considered a robot mower. Let me tell you that it is a lifesaver, especially if you don’t particularly care for mowing or have severe allergies.

Don’t pay a mowing company, just buy a little robot and set it loose weekly for perfectly trimmed grass each week. It can sometimes roll over a weed and leave it standing, and some corners are a challenge, but you’d want to weed-eat after the mower anyway.

The key here is that instead of mowing for an hour or two each week, you have to weed-eat for ten minutes every two weeks. That’s it, chore complete.

Just trust me when I say don’t get tempted by the cheaper options. You don’t want to have to lay a boundary wire no matter how much money it saves you.

Litter robots

Now, if you’ve been reading this series, you know I’ve already discussed the Litter Robot 5 in my pets edition. However, I have to mention it here because it is one of the best chore eliminators I’ve encountered.

The litter robot takes over yet another undesirable chore

Sure, mowing sucks, and mopping isn’t exactly a delight, but cleaning the litter box is a universally hated task. My Litter Robot 5 not only handles the task, it keeps things clean and fresh without any human intervention beyond taking out the trash.

I have three cats, which means topping off the litter box and changing the trash bag about once a week. That’s it.

It’s kind of a genius product when you sit and think about it. It’s just a giant wheel with a motor, a sifting tray, and a big hole to the actual litter waste.

Sometimes the more simple solutions are the best. Really, don’t scoop your cat’s business when you can have a robot do it for you.

Air purifiers

I know an air purifier isn’t a robot, but I wanted to throw this in here since we’re talking chores and cleanliness. A well-placed air purifier can make all the difference in terms of a space’s comfort, odor, and allergen levels.

Air purifiers can keep your home air feeling fresh and work quietly in the background

Since I have three cats and allergy medication can only go so far, an air purifier helps keep things under control. I’ve got the Smartmi E1 hanging right above the Litter Robot to keep the den nice and fresh.

It’s heavily discounted and requires proprietary filters, so I’m a little concerned that it may be discontinued soon, so keep that in mind.

I’ve got another air purifier in my bedroom, the AirVersa Purelle, to keep the dust and cat dander levels in the air down. Thankfully, for both units, it’s very much a set it and forget it technology.

Our house stays fairly clean thanks to the other robots doing their tasks, but the extra bit of help from the air purifiers keeps things feeling extra fresh.

Outside the tech

I wanted to have a small diversion from tech-related talk here to say that maintaining a clean and healthy home goes beyond your little robot helpers. I’ve worked hard to ensure our home is free from toxic chemicals and harsh cleaning agents too.

I don’t want to get too hippie-dippy here, but seriously, we should all stop using those expensive and toxic cleaners like Windex, Clorox, and others. They’re packed with forever chemicals, staining agents, and irritants that only replace the mess with what is basically a slow-moving chemical spill.

We’ve gone all-natural for our cleaning supplies. There are plenty of options out there, but we’ve tried solutions from Branch Basics and Pure and Gentle.

I can also highly recommend the non-toxic air and fabric freshening scents from Grow Fragrance.

Another aspect of maintaining a clean home is ensuring chores are easy to complete. I invested in a Simplehuman trash can that has the trash bag refills readily available via a slot in the back of the can.

There are a million ways to maintain a clean, healthy, and happy home. Robots can cut down on how much time you spend cleaning, the right supplies can keep your home free of toxins, and finally, apps can help you manage everything.

Managing things via apps

Now, I’m all in on first-party Apple apps, so I primarily rely on Apple Reminders and Notes. However, there is a ton of great smart home management apps in the App Store.

Managing your Apple Home in Apple apps like Home, reminders, and Notes

I’ll probably do a story on third-party apps in general later, so I won’t get too into that today. Instead, I’ll highlight a few obvious apps related to maintenance that go a bit further than a standard reminder.

For Apple Reminders, it is the perfect place for tracking things like when you last changed a filter, when the next order for trash bags is about to go through, or just managing a grocery list.

I know there are dedicated apps that are better at each of these functions, but I like having everything in one space. I’ve set up a Reminders list just for tracking subscriptions and recurring purchases, for example.

I’ve even created reminders for which rooms I should give a specific deep clean each day. Really, Reminders is a great catch-all for anything that needs to be done on a repeating basis.

Apple Notes has become a haven for home purchase wish lists and maintenance guides. I’ve got a shared list just for what cleaning supplies we use, where to order them from, and cleaning guides for each.

Of course, third-party apps go much further.

• HomeBatteries: see the battery level of devices like sensors, locks, and other reportable devices in one place
• HomeLog: view live network conditions to troubleshoot a product’s connection
• Homepass: manage your HomeKit and Matter codes in one place

I used to use an app called Directive for logging filter changes and such, but it hasn’t been updated in five years. Other apps exist for this, but I find that Reminders is just fine for this task.

If you’ve got a shared Reminders list with your spouse, kids, or roommate, you can take things further by assigning different tasks to individuals. Reminders is a great place to manage chore lists even though it isn’t a well-advertised feature.

Where Apple Home should pick up the slack

The Apple Home app is seriously lacking in design and functionality. I agree with my colleague Oliver here. Apple Home needs an overhaul.

Apple Home needs an upgrade

When the smart home was just entering the mainstream around 2014, Apple Home made sense. It was a utilitarian app that simply showed what you had and gave you a button to press.

Today, we’re so far beyond that functionality.

Apple Home is behind on adopting the latest Matter standards. It doesn’t have icons for many products you can add. There are no troubleshooting or maintenance tracking functions, and some things feel absolutely obtuse and arbitrary.

It’s time for a change.

Everything I’ve mentioned in this story today should be managed in the Home app. Chore reminders and assignments, robot schedules, filter replacements, and even weather alerts should all be in Apple Home.

The background for each room doesn’t even sync across devices or to other users.

Apple Home is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. I shouldn’t need a third-party app for viewing battery levels or managing HomeKit codes.

WWDC 2026 didn’t address these complaints, but that doesn’t mean Apple won’t upgrade the home experience at any time. There are rumors of new home-focused products that could be announced at any time, which could warrant a new Apple Home app launch.

Racing fans are well aware that the real-life Peugeot 9X8 made waves when it debuted on the World Endurance Championship grid. Its streamlined form, lack of a traditional rear wing, and hybrid powertrain represented a new direction for Le Mans prototypes. LEGO nailed that presence in bricks with the Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar (set 42156), priced at $159.99 (was $200), and the finished vehicle feels like a true centerpiece rather than simply another small desktop model.

Most LEGO supercar sets are nice and compact, but this one defies the norm, measuring approximately 20 inches long and 9 inches wide when assembled. Because of the extra space, builders can develop levels of intricacy and complexity that would be impossible to achieve with smaller sets. With 1,775 pieces, this model is quite heavy, and it rewards close inspection from all angles.

LEGO Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar 42156 Collectible Race Car Building Kit for Adults…

• A celebration for race car fans – Pay tribute to 100 years of racing at Le Mans in 2023 with this authentic LEGO Technic PEUGEOT 9X8 24H Le Mans…
• Start your engines – Build the hybrid system including the detailed V6 piston engine. This impressive replica includes doors that open, front…
• Recreate the iconic details – Add the finishing touches to this replica model with car decals and PEUGEOT sponsor logos to capture the iconic look…

The build takes place across 19 numbered numbered bags and 5 building stages, immersing you from the start. You begin with the back chassis and the V6 piston engine, which is snuggled beneath a removable cover. When the rear wheels turn, you can see the engine trembling, providing a clear view of what is going on through side vents. The front section is next, and here’s where things get really interesting: LEGO has released a new electric motor for their Technic vehicles, composed of two massive gray barrels and some flexible components. The hybrid pattern extends throughout the drivetrain, and the best part? There is no need for batteries or remotes.

The suspension operates separately at each corner, which is unusual for a Technic design, with each axle having its own horizontal shock absorber to ensure stability. The steering is controlled by both the inside of the wheel and a little top-mounted knob, allowing you to navigate from the driver’s seat or above. The doors swing open in a delightful butterfly motion, and the overall item is strong enough to be handled with caution once completed.

Color-wise, you’re looking at a lot of dark gray and black, with some sleek lime green accents to mirror the look of the real car’s paint job. Two massive sticker sheets offer a lot of adornment, from sponsor logos to fine details, and the headlights have glow-in-the-dark parts that pick up any available light and shine in the same cool tone as the original Peugeot LEDs. At night, it’s an entirely different beast, and it’s extremely dramatic.

In terms of how closely it resembles the real 9X8, the accuracy is rather impressive, especially once all of the body panels are secured into place. The curved Technic pieces accurately reproduce the original’s striking front end, low profile, and massive rear diffuser. There are a few minor concessions in terms of height and visible connection points, but the overall shape captures the car’s aggressive, distinct style better than many people expected from a Technic build. When it’s finished, it looks right at home among photos of the original car on the Mulsanne Straight.

Paramount Skydance is cleared to move forward with its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the US Department of Justice announced Friday. The deal marks a tectonic shift in the American media landscape, further dwindling the number of major players in the industry and drastically expanding the influence of the Ellison family.

In its press release announcing the approval, the DoJ shot down arguments against the merger. It denied that the acquisition of Fox by Disney some years ago could be used as a case study, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an interfering factor which renders the comparison moot. It also dismissed labor concerns which have been widely voiced by industry workers. On June 9, it was reported that The United Kingdom is conducting its own investigation of the deal, a factor which may have advanced the DoJ’s timeline.

With the acquisition of Warner and its associated brands, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison will run the historic Warner Bros. Studios, as well as HBO and its streaming counterpart HBO Max. CNN Worldwide, a major broadcast rightsholder for The Olympics and the NHL, among others, is also included in the deal, as is Warner Bros. Games. The company already owned Paramount and its TV subsidiaries including CBS, MTV, BET, and Nickelodeon. David Ellison’s father, the billionaire Larry Ellison, is reported to be providing $45.7 billion worth of equity to float the deal. The elder Ellison owns Oracle, a major provider of server infrastructure. Oracle recently joined a consortium of investors for a 45% stake in the American operations of the popular short-form video platform TikTok. Together, the father-son duo now control a media portfolio to rival Disney’s. (Megan Ellison, the senior Ellison’s daughter, has her own media venture which is independent of the father-son duo’s portfolio.)

The DoJ approval for the deal comes on the heels of multiple scandals at CBS News, which have sparked fear regarding the future of CNN. Larry Ellison is a personal friend of president Donald Trump, who has suggested that CNN’s current leadership is “corrupt and incompetent.” Under the Ellisons’ control of Paramount, Bari Weiss was installed as the head of CBS News, and she wasted no time gutting the legacy news organization. Now, the fear is that a similar fate could befall CNN.

Most recently, Weiss fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, a decision which led Pelley and remaining 60 Minutes staffers to speak out, with Pelley claiming the venerated news show is being “murdered” by Weiss. A 60 Minutes report on conditions in ICE facilities was scuttled in December, and correspondent Cecelia Vega was fired in May while working on a report about Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories who was sanctioned by the US. Vega’s journalistic work was withheld from her during the firing, raising concerns that her sources might be exposed by CBS.

Under Ellisons’ control, CBS also moved to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a decision Paramount Skydance claimed was purely motivated by financial realities but which came on the heels of a Colbert segment which pointedly criticized a $16 million settlement paid to president Trump by CBS.

In May, over 5,500 movie and television industry professionals signed an open letter warning that the acquisition of Warner by Paramount would “threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community.” Signees include Glenn Close, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Bacon and many other household Hollywood names.

While DoJ approval was the biggest hurdle for the landmark deal, state attorneys general in California and New York have indicated their intent to bring challenges against it, in addition to an investigation by European Officials and the aforementioned investigation by the UK. Paramount Skydance has until September 30 to officially close the deal before it will become subject to a daily ticking fee of $7 million for Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders.