In today’s Digest, we discuss Apple moving to block hundreds of programmatic data firms, Skydance uniting Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, and the EU preparing to classify Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services as DMA gatekeepers.

Apple plans to block hundreds of data firms from iOS

Apple's crackdown on programmatic ad tech is turning out to be far larger than first reported. AdExchanger revealed that iOS 27 had quietly blocked a handful of data and identity vendors from collecting data or serving ads on Safari. These include The Trade Desk, LiveRamp, ID5, Permutive and Audigent.

In an update to the story, it’s been revealed that the original list has already been scrapped and replaced by a dynamically updated library covering hundreds of customer data platforms, ad tech vendors, data sellers and identity graph operators. 

Paramount & WBD unite under Skydance

CEO David Ellison has announced that the combined Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to close around USD$110bn (£82.5bn). The companies will operate under the Skydance banner once the merger is finalised. The name revives Ellison's original film production company, founded two decades ago, which merged with Paramount last year. 

In a post on X, Ellison explained the choice was deliberate: rather than let a new corporate identity overshadow either legacy brand, he wanted a name that could stand on its own while keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. firmly in the spotlight. The company plans to formally change its legal name to Skydance Corporation and shift its Class B stock from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker SKYD.

EU set to name Azure, AWS DMA gatekeepers

Brussels is putting the finishing touches on a decision that will pull two of the world's biggest cloud providers deeper into Europe's regulatory orbit. According to people familiar with the matter, EU regulators are finalising a Digital Markets Act investigation that will conclude Microsoft's Azure and Amazon Web Services meet the criteria to fall under the bloc's strict Big Tech rulebook. Once classified, both companies would need to meet interoperability standards and ease the restrictions that make switching cloud providers difficult and costly for enterprise customers.

The move follows preliminary findings issued back in June, when the European Commission described Azure and AWS as the largest and second-largest cloud providers in the EU respectively, noting both had achieved significant scale and outpaced rivals in investment and operational capacity.