In today’s Digest, we look at Paramount clearing a legal hurdle ahead of its Warner merger, Amazon blocking Meta’s AI assistant in an agentic shopping standoff, and Ant Group reshaping Alipay for agentic commerce.

Paramount clears legal hurdle ahead of Warner merger 

Paramount has cleared its last major hurdle to closing its USD$81bn (£60.75bn) merger with Warner Bros Discovery, reaching a settlement with California and a coalition of states that had sued to block the deal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the agreement, calling it not an endorsement of the merger but a set of enforceable commitments chiefly. The lawsuit, filed in July by twelve states, argued that combining two of Hollywood's five remaining legacy studios would "extinguish competition," shrinking output and raising prices for consumers. Four holdout states Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Minnesota reportedly didn't sign off until this past weekend. 

Under the settlement, Paramount agreed to keep CBS and CNN's editorial boards independent, commit at least USD$300m (£225m) to domestic production, and accept financial penalties if it fails to distribute a set number of films over the next five years. In exchange, the company avoids having to sell off cable channels. An independent trustee will monitor compliance, with both sides prepared to return to court if Paramount falls short.

Amazon bars Meta’s muse from Agentic shopping 

Meta's autonomous shopping agent, Muse, has been blocked from operating on Amazon.com after Meta declined a request to voluntarily withdraw the retailer from the experience. Amazon says Meta never disclosed that Muse would access its store, the agent doesn't identify itself while browsing, and it appears to capture and store customer credentials in ways that raise privacy and security concerns. Shoppers trying to use Muse on Amazon were met with a pop-up stating that unauthorised AI agent access violates the company's terms of use. 

Meta has previously said Muse never sees users' passwords or payment details directly, storing credentials securely so the agent can use them without exposure. 

Ant Group reshapes Alipay for Agentic commerce 

Ant Group is reshuffling its corporate structure to chase AI-driven shopping. The Alibaba affiliate has merged its Digital Payment Business Group, Alipay Business Group and Zhima Credit Business Group into a single, unified Alipay Business Group, according to an internal letter from CEO Cyril Han Xinyi.

Wu Minzhi, a longtime Ant and Alibaba executive, will lead the newly combined unit while continuing to serve as the company's chief people officer. Han framed the move as a way to consolidate technology and strengthen how Alipay serves merchants' groundwork, for a much bigger bet ahead.