iWorld
Warner Bros. Discovery records $2.1 billion loss in its fourth quarter
Mumbai : Warner Bros. Discovery reported a net loss of $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year after writing down $1.85 billion in assets and incurring nearly $1.2 billion in restructuring costs. The company reported revenue of $11 billion.
Excluding the effects of foreign exchange, revenue decreased by 9 per cent , and the business suffered a 14 per cent decline in ad sales for its TV networks even as it attempted to increase subscriber numbers for its HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services.
In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav suggested that much of the hard work involved knitting together the former WarnerMedia and Discovery Communications, was complete. “We’re seeing strong momentum across the enterprise,” he said, noting that “we believe we have repositioned our businesses to take full advantage of the many opportunities ahead.”
However, despite its efforts to boost the financial performance of its new streaming assets, the massive media conglomerate experienced decreases in its core TV business.
Revenue for the TV networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, including Discovery, CNN, and Food Network, fell 6 per cent to about $5.5 billion, with losses in affiliate fees and advertising. The company’s studio activities witnessed a 23 per cent decrease in revenue as a result of less money being made from licensing its content.
Meanwhile, losses in its streaming operations have been reduced. The operating loss in its streaming operations for its streaming assets was $217 million in the quarter, compared to pro-forma losses of $728 million the previous year.
During a conference call with investors Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels,, announced a new target of $4 billion in cost savings by the end of 2024.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
