# Paramount Merger and AI Startup Strategies

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-10-07

## Transcript

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The deal is done.
Paramount has closed its historic Warner Brothers merger to form Skydance.
I'm Imran Shaikh and your Daily Crunch featuring three big tech headlines starts right now.
On Tuesday, Anthropic announced an expansion of its Clawed for Startups program, offering subsidized access to its AI models and a variety of other benefits.
to qualifying companies.
Now, the new version of the program, which launched as part of Anthropik's SF Tech Week event, provides a free year of Claude team.
Anthropik's paid plan for groups with up to five premium seats, as well as $1,000 in API credits for building with Claude.
Companies will also get access to Claude Marketplace, which lets them build plugins for the service.
Companies can also book virtual office hours with Anthropik's Applied AI team.
We created this program because we believe the benefits of AI will reach most people through the companies that build on top of models, rather than through the models alone, Anthropic said in an announcement continuing.
That makes partnering closely with founders and developers central to our mission.
Now, companies are eligible if they were founded in the last five years or received funding in the last two years.
Interested companies can apply through the Claude for Startups program page.
Also on Tuesday, Pinterest showed off a new feature that'll leverage AI to take action on your saved inspiration from beauty-related pics like hair and nail ideas and turn them into actionable plans you can take with you to the salon.
Beauty guides, which are powered by the company's visual intelligence and generative AI technology, Pinterest Intelligence, will translate pins into terms and phrases used by stylists and nail artists that everyday users may not know, like balayage, root melt, or almond nails.
The feature is a small but practical way to introduce AI to users' everyday lives as it slots into something that people are, well, already doing, which is bringing a photo of their inspo to the salon.
Now that's useful to a large extent, but having the right terminology at hand while you discuss what parts of the look you want to edit or change can be useful as well.
Plus, the guides offer the sort of information that can help users plan for their visit, like the time each part of the process may take and the cost.
I mean, balayage goes into the hundreds of dollars, so that's info you might like to have up front.
The action guides will show up when you tap on the Get the Guide button within the app and will then offer details about what, specifically, you should ask for to achieve the same look, the time it takes, price range, and maintenance requirements, like how often you'll need a trim, tone, or touch-up, for instance.
At launch, the feature will work across pins related to hairstyle, color, nail shape, and finish.
Looks like Tuesday was a busy day because also on Tuesday, Paramount announced that it has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery to create a combined company called Skydance.
Now, the deal, which is one of the biggest mergers of all time, brings together two major streaming platforms, Paramount Plus and HBO Max, along with networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS, Comedy Central and Food Network.
Skydance will also gain control of major franchises such as The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The DC Universe, and Yellowstone.
The merger puts one of the world's largest entertainment studios under the control of David Ellison.
Just last year, Ellison completed his merger of Skydance Media with Paramount and is rapidly increasing his influence in Hollywood.
The Ellison family is Skydance's largest shareholder, backed by the billions of Larry Ellison, David Ellison's father and co-founder of Oracle.
The completion of the deal comes after settlements with a coalition of U.S.
states and a Hollywood writers' union cleared the main legal hurdles facing the merger.
Paramount announced in February that it would acquire Warner Bros.
following a bidding battle with Netflix, which had previously reached an agreement to purchase Warner Bros.
film and television studios and streaming business, excluding its cable network.
Paramount had sweetened its bid by promising shareholders additional cash if the deal failed to close by a specified deadline and agreeing to cover the breakup fee Warner Bros.
would owe Netflix for ending its existing agreement.
The new combined Skydance Corporation will have annual revenue of nearly $70 billion, the company says.
Skydance Class B shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol SKYD.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Russell Brandom, Sarah Perez-Aisha Malik, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow, same Tech Time, same Crunch channel, and until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.