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Netflix Reportedly Exploring Bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s Studio and Streaming Assets

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Netflix is reportedly considering a major acquisition that could reshape the entertainment landscape, as the streaming giant explores a bid for Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming business. According to multiple sources, Netflix has hired investment bank Moelis & Co — the same firm that advised Skydance Media in its successful Paramount Global takeover — to evaluate a potential offer.

The move comes after Warner Bros Discovery opened its financial data room to prospective bidders, giving Netflix access to detailed financial records. While both Warner Bros Discovery and Moelis declined to comment, sources say Netflix is actively assessing whether acquiring the studio arm would enhance its content portfolio.

If successful, the acquisition would give Netflix control over iconic franchises like Harry Potter and DC Comics, as well as Warner Bros’ prolific TV studio, which already produces several Netflix hits including You and Maid. The addition of HBO and its premium dramas could further strengthen Netflix’s global dominance in streaming.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has previously stated that while the company typically focuses on building rather than buying, it remains open to acquisitions that expand its entertainment offerings. However, Sarandos clarified that Netflix has no interest in Warner Bros Discovery’s legacy cable networks such as CNN, TNT, or Food Network.

Warner Bros Discovery’s board is currently weighing several unsolicited offers, including one from Paramount Skydance, and is considering whether to proceed with a company split or a full sale.

OpenAI Launches “Sora” — an AI Video App That Can Generate Clips from Copyrighted Material

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OpenAI has unveiled Sora, a new AI-powered video creation app that allows users to generate and share short videos — including those derived from copyrighted content — directly to a built-in social media-style feed. The app, which represents OpenAI’s most ambitious push yet into generative video, is expected to raise new tensions across the entertainment industry.

According to the company, copyright holders such as movie and television studios must actively opt out if they do not wish to have their content appear in the app’s video feed. OpenAI described this as a continuation of its previous opt-out policy used for AI image generation, where creators must explicitly request the exclusion of their work from model training or public feeds.

The move is already sparking debate in Hollywood. People familiar with the matter said that Disney has opted out, and other major studios are currently in talks with OpenAI over the implications of Sora’s copyright framework.

Earlier this year, OpenAI urged the Trump administration to formally classify the use of copyrighted material for AI training as “fair use” under U.S. law — a position it argued was essential for national competitiveness and security, warning that U.S. AI firms could fall behind Chinese rivals without legal clarity.

Beyond copyright issues, OpenAI said Sora includes robust safeguards to prevent the misuse of personal likenesses and public figures. Users cannot generate videos of other people unless those individuals upload an AI “liveness check” — a verification process requiring users to move their heads and recite random numbers — to confirm consent.

Sora videos can be up to 10 seconds long and feature a new “Cameo” function, allowing users to create lifelike digital doubles of themselves and insert them into AI-generated scenes. The company says these videos are intended for creative experimentation and entertainment, with built-in transparency markers indicating AI generation.

Market analysts view the Sora app as a direct challenge to existing short-video giants such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak noted that the platform’s combination of AI creativity and social-sharing features positions OpenAI “in the business of competing for attention and reshaping user behavior.”

As Hollywood, regulators, and AI companies continue to clash over intellectual property and deepfake laws, Sora’s launch could set a major precedent for how AI-generated audiovisual content will be treated under future copyright and media frameworks.

SAG-AFTRA Condemns AI-Generated ‘Actress’ Tilly Norwood, Calling It a Threat to Human Creativity

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The launch of an AI-generated “actress” named Tilly Norwood has sparked an uproar in Hollywood, with the SAG-AFTRA performers’ union condemning her creation as a step toward replacing human talent with “synthetics.”

Tilly Norwood was introduced on Saturday at the Zurich Summit, a film industry conference, through a 20-second video parody about making an AI-generated TV show. The photorealistic character—depicted as a young British actress with brown hair and a social media presence—was created by Eline Van der Velden, a Dutch actor and producer who runs the London-based AI studio Particle6.

Van der Velden told attendees that after initial skepticism, Hollywood agents and executives are showing interest and hinted at an upcoming deal with a major talent agency.

The debut comes amid deepening anxiety in the entertainment world about AI’s growing role in film and television. Concerns about studios using digital replicas of performers were central to SAG-AFTRA’s recent contract negotiations with streamers and major studios.

“Creativity is, and should remain, human-centered,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement Tuesday. “The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.” It stressed that Tilly Norwood “is not an actor” but a computer-generated creation “trained on the work of countless professional performers—without permission or compensation.”

Van der Velden defended the project, describing Tilly as “a creative work—a piece of art” meant to provoke discussion, not replace human performers.

Still, her earlier comments—saying she wanted Tilly to become “the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman”—have fueled fears among actors and filmmakers.

Experts, however, remain skeptical. Yves Bergquist, director of AI in media at the University of Southern California’s Entertainment Technology Center, dismissed the hype as “nonsense.” He said there is “zero interest from serious people in Hollywood” in fully synthetic stars, adding, “Scarlett Johansson has a fan base. Scarlett Johansson is a person.”

Tilly Norwood may not be human—but she has reignited a very human debate over art, identity, and the future of performance.