Netflix drops its WBD bid, Block layoffs, Anthropic’s DOD deadline and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Friday. I spent last night watching a love triangle play out in the Broadway musical “Chess.” So, it’s only fitting that we bring you the latest updates on Netflix and Paramount Skydance‘s battle for Warner Bros. Discovery in this morning’s edition.

Stock futures are sliding before the bell. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are coming off a down day.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Netflix walked away from its deal to buy some of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets yesterday after WBD’s board said it viewed Paramount’s updated takeover offer as superior. It’s the latest twist in the monthslong acquisition saga that’s gripped Hollywood.

Here’s what to know:

• WBD said Thursday that Paramount’s new all-cash bid of $31 per share would top its current agreement with Netflix. It gave the streaming giant four days to adjust its proposal.
• Shortly after, Netflix’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said that matching Paramount’s offer made the deal “no longer financially attractive.”
• While Netflix was only interested in acquiring WBD’s studio and streaming assets, Paramount wants the entire business. WBD’s other brands include CNN, TBS and TNT.
• Notably, Sarandos was at the White House shortly before the company announced they were throwing in the towel. A White House official told CNBC that Sarandos was not meeting with President Donald Trump himself.
• Shares of Netflix and Paramount both jumped nearly 8% in extended trading. On the other hand, WBD’s stock slid nearly 2%.

Block is laying off more than 4,000 employees, roughly half of its staff, the fintech company announced yesterday. Finance Chief Amrita Ahuja said the cuts would position the company “for our next phase of long term growth.” Wall Street cheered the move: Shares of the Cash App parent surged 20% in extended trading.

CEO Jack Dorsey wrote in a letter to shareholders that he expected more businesses to make similar staffing changes as “intelligence tools” boost efficiency. Earlier on Thursday, eBay said it was axing about 800 roles, or 6% of its staff. As CNBC’s Annie Palmer noted, eBay’s cull comes as the online marketplace has made major investments in AI.

Anthropic isn’t backing down from its position about AI in defense. CEO Dario Amodei said yesterday that the AI startup “cannot in good conscience” allow the Defense Department to use its models in all lawful use cases without limitations, as the Pentagon wants.

Anthropic has pushed for promises from the DOD that its models will not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance of Americans — restrictions the Pentagon won’t agree to.

Negations are ongoing, Anthropic said yesterday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had set today as the deadline for Anthropic to agree to his department’s demands, threatening to label the firm a “supply chain risk” or to invoke the Defense Production Act if it doesn’t.

Wealth among women is expected to boom over the coming decades.

Women will see their cumulative investible assets in the U.S. nearly double between 2023 and 2030, according to McKinsey & Company. They’re are also poised to benefit from the more than $100 trillion in wealth expected to be passed down to heirs through 2048 — what’s being dubbed the “Great Wealth Transfer.”

“We’re about to see this massive change in terms of who is going to control wealth,” Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors, told CNBC’s Michelle Fox.

Here are some of stories we’d suggest making time for this weekend:

— CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Lillian Rizzo, Dan Mangan, Eamon Javers, Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Sean Conlon, Pia Singh, Jordan Novet, Annie Palmer, Ashley Capoot and Michelle Fox contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.