Top stories today:

1. Block to cut 4K+ (40%+) jobs citing AI shift, shares +24%
2. Anthropic’s Amodei says firm won’t remove safeguards for DoD
3. Google rolls out Nano Banana 2 with faster image generation
4. Netflix walks from WBD deal after Paramount’s higher bid
5. PayPal said to reject Stripe talks, prepares for activist push
6. CoreWeave Q4 revenue +110% YoY to $1.6B, adjusted loss $284M

0. Data and calendar

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. Block to cut 4K+ (40%+) jobs citing AI shift, shares +24%

• AI tools have changed “what it means to build and run a company,” CEO Jack Dorsey said.

• Other companies may follow suit after seeing the +24% stock jump.

• Block had 10,205 employees worldwide as of Dec. 31, 2025, per its annual filing.

• +24% YoY in Q4 gross profit to $2.9B.

• +4% in Q4 revenue to $6.3B.

3. Anthropic’s Amodei says firm won’t remove safeguards for DoD

• CEO Dario Amodei’s statement came <24 hours before the Pentagon deadline.

• Anthropic has “never raised objections to particular military operations,” but in a “narrow set of cases” AI could undermine democratic values, Amodei wrote.

• Proposed DoD contract language made “virtually no progress” on blocking mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, Anthropic said.

• The Pentagon said it offered compromises, including written assurances existing laws bar mass surveillance of Americans.

• DoD has reportedly discussed AI tools to automate reconnaissance of China’s power grids and sensitive networks.

• Relatedly, 100+ Google DeepMind and other AI employees urged Jeff Dean in a letter to block Gemini military use.

4. Google rolls out Nano Banana 2 with faster image generation, world knowledge upgrades

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) has topped Artificial Analysis’ text-to-image leaderboard: