Meta is leaving the Metaverse behind; Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. for $72 Billion; Harvey Specter AI worth $8 billion; and Amazon to break up with USPS;
- Dipo Owolabi
- Dec 5, 2025
- 5 min read
5th December 2025 Meta's Metaverse is getting a 30% budget cut as Zuckerberg pivots from a $60 billion metaverse bet toward the unforgiving AI race. The move sent company shares up 4%, signaling investor relief over reining in one of tech's most expensive passion projects in a major strategic pivot. Netflix secures a landmark $72 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's film and streaming assets, a consolidation that would redraw Hollywood's map. Elsewhere, Harvey AI's latest $160 million raise pushed its valuation to over $8 billion, fueling its shift from legal task automation to collaborative client platforms. Simultaneously, Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a direct competitor to the US Postal Service, a move that could upend national logistics if its longstanding delivery partnership collapses. 
Remember the Metaverse? Mark Zuckerberg’s shiny new plaything, before AI, the very thing he was so adamant about that he spent $60 billion on, and changed the company name from Facebook to Meta. Well, Meta is expected to make budget cuts of up to 30% for its metaverse initiative, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions. The proposed metaverse cuts are part of the company's annual budget planning for 2026, which included a series of meetings at Zuckerberg's compound in Hawaii last month, Bloomberg reported. Cuts that high would most likely include layoffs as early as January, according to the report. Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta has struggled to sell its vision of an immersive metaverse of interconnected virtual worlds and expand the market for its devices beyond the niche of the gaming community. However, it has achieved an early lead with its smart glasses, as competitors such as Alphabet's Google, Apple and Snap failed to capitalize on the market potential with their initial attempts. Meta’s shares rose 4% as the move eased some investor jitters over a bet that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has backed with billions of dollars, only for the business to burn more than $60 billion since 2020. The company even changed its name to Meta from Facebook in 2021 to signal its priorities. "Smart move, just late," said Huber Research Partners analyst Craig Huber. "This seems a major shift to align costs with a revenue outlook that surely is not as prosperous as management thought years ago.” The report comes as Meta scrambles to stay relevant in Silicon Valley's artificial-intelligence race after its Llama 4 model met with a poor reception. Yahoo Finance
Netflix has agreed to acquire the film and streaming businesses of Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion, a landmark deal set to reshape the Hollywood landscape. The streaming giant prevailed in a competitive bidding process, securing control of a vast library that includes powerhouse franchises like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, as well as the HBO Max service.
Executives tout the union as a historic move that combines two storytelling powerhouses, with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos calling it a "rare opportunity" to define entertainment for the next century. The company projects $2-3 billion in savings from eliminating operational overlaps and aims to expand its studio capacity and content investment, though it plans to continue Warner Bros.' theatrical releases and third-party production deals.
However, the deal faces significant hurdles, including intense regulatory scrutiny over the creation of a "global mega power" in streaming. Analysts warn that approval is not guaranteed and, if successful, the merger could lead to higher consumer prices, reduced content output, and a major reorientation of the film industry. The acquisition is expected to finalize after Warner Bros. separates its targeted divisions from its cable networks next year. Reuters
HarveyAI, legal AI giant has closed a $160 million round at an $8bn valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz. It’s Harvey’s third major raise in six months, following a €50 million investment in October and a $300 million round in June, taking total funding to a cool $1bn. Harvey also said it is running its first tender offer, effectively a private secondary share sale that lets early shareholders such as founders and employees take some money off the table. Details remain under wraps, but you would expect it to mean sizeable payouts for senior figures, including co-founder and former Big Law lawyer Winston Weinberg.
The more significant news was Harvey’s announcement of "Shared Spaces", a collaborative workspace that lets law firms and clients work together in real time. The product effectively enables firms to "productise" their know-how by giving clients a secure space to work alongside lawyers on key documents or "to self-serve answers drawn directly from your firm’s knowledge and expertise.” It signals a shift in the legal AI market: away from purely time-saving tools towards “multiplayer” environments where clients and lawyers operate in the same AI-enabled space. The Shared Spaces product looks very much like a direct rival to Legora’s Portal, launched in November, which offers a similar white-labelled workspace to help firms embed their expertise into tools clients can use independently.
With a giant war chest and an increasingly ambitious product strategy, Harvey looks to be positioning itself as providing the core infrastructure on which high-stakes legal work will run. New York Times 
Amazon is considering launching a competitor to the US Postal Service, according to the Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The revelation comes as negotiations between the two reportedly stagnated over their multibillion-dollar partnership, set to expire Oct. 1, 2026.
Amazon has an extensive logistics network, delivering over 9 billion same- or next-day items last year and 6.3 billion parcels total, second only to the Postal Service’s 6.9 billion. However, the company often relies on the Postal Service—and private carriers UPS and FedEx—for the so-called “last mile,” getting products to customers’ doorsteps (see more, w/video). The USPS is the only delivery service reaching nearly 167 million US addresses, including post office boxes.
Amazon’s plan to cut ties with the USPS isn’t final yet , it would reportedly only move forward with expanding its own delivery network if it can’t come to an agreement to extend its USPS contract. Amazon has called the USPS its “first and oldest business partner,”The two entered a partnership in 2013, bringing the USPS a cash influx: $6B this year, accounting for 7.5% of the Postal Service’s total revenue. President Donald Trump's effort to privatize the USPS is reportedly a sticking point in the negotiations. The Washington Post
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