1. Futures lower

U.S. stock futures ticked lower on Friday, pointing to a downbeat end to the trading week as investors poured through the ramifications of a raft of consequential technology sector earnings.

By 02:59 ET (07:59 GMT), the Dow futures contract had fallen by 205 points, or 0.4%, S&P 500 futures had dipped by 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were broadly unchanged.

The main averages on Wall Street notched a mixed close on Thursday, with results from artificial intelligence-darling Nvidia and cloud-software group Salesforce in focus.

While Nvidia posted better-than-expected quarterly results, there remained several concerns swirling around the semiconductor giant, including rapidly intensifying competition, the sustainability of runaway customer demand, and uncertainty over when investors will see significant returns. Shares of Nvidia -- which make up a notable chunk of the overall stock market -- dropped by more than 5%.

Salesforce shares, on the other hand, gained despite the company issuing an underwhelming annual revenue forecast. However, analysts at Vital Knowledge said the earnings were "no worse than feared."

Thursday’s session also featured a "violent rotation" within tech, as investors shifted away from "physical" stocks like chips and data center infrastructure and into virtual ones like software and data, the analysts added.

"Small red flags" from Nvidia and relief around numbers from Salesforce and peer Workday -- coupled with comments from AI startup Anthropic earlier this week about wanting to "compliment and augment, not kill" software firms -- helped to drive this trend, they argued.

2. Paramount wins bidding war for Warner Bros.

Paramount Skydance has become the likely winner of a longstanding corporate battle for Hollywood stalwart Warner Bros. Discovery after a stunning decision by Netflix to back away from its rival offer.

Executives at Netflix, whose shares spiked in after-hours trading following the announcement, said that while the transaction was "always a ’nice to have’ at the right price," it was "not a ’must have’ at any price." The streaming service has the financial firepower to pursue a purchase, but has encountered some doubts from shareholders around the justification for snapping up a legacy media organization.

Sparking Netflix’s move away from a previous agreement with Warner Bros. was the board of the HBO Max parent, which said it had determined Paramount’s $31-per-share offer for all of the company was a superior offer. Netflix was then given four days to respond, but chose to ditch its $27.75-per-share proposal for Warner Bros.’ studios and HBO Max.

This puts Paramount -- owned by David Ellison, son of tech mogul Larry Ellison -- in position to create a media powerhouse that will fold in Warner Bros.’ popular franchises like "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones." Should the purchase be agreed on and receive regulatory approval, Paramount would also oversee cable networks like CNN and TBS.

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said a Paramount deal would "create tremendous value for our shareholders." Shares of Paramount rose in extended hours trading, while Warner Bros. dipped.

3. Anthropic in dispute with U.S. government

Anthropic has said it will not agree to demands from the Pentagon to take down safeguards from its AI systems, putting one of the most prominent AI startups at odds with the U.S. government.

At issue is the Pentagon’s call for Anthropic to remove features preventing its technology from being used to conduct surveillance of Americans or power weapons autonomously.

The Pentagon has threatened to both end a partnership with Anthropic and deem it a "supply chain risk" should the company not accede to the request. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given Anthropic a Friday afternoon deadline to agree that the Pentagon can use the technology in all lawful cases.

But Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement that he could not do so "in good conscience," adding that the guardrails would effectively be undone by the military’s request.

4. Block surges

Shares of Block soared by more than 23% in after-hours trading after the payments company said it would cull nearly half its workforce as part of an effort to embed AI deeper into its operations.

The job cuts, expected to result in the loss of over 4,000 roles, comes as firms are increasingly translating the rise of AI into wider headcount changes. This has in turn driven worries among workers and economists that the AI boom, despite boosting productivity, may lead to greater unemployment.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey said that "[i]ntelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company," adding "[w]e’re already seeing it internally" and "[a] significantly smaller team using the tools can do more and do it better[.]"

Although Block is planning to incur as much as $500 million in restructuring changes, analysts cited by Reuters have suggested that the spike in the stock is reflective of hopes that margins will strengthen as the workforce shrinks.

5. Oil inches up after U.S.-Iran talks

Oil prices inched higher, but could post weekly losses after the United States and Iran extended talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, easing concerns about potential hostilities that could disrupt supply.

Brent futures climbed 0.7% to $71.29 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.8% to $65.74 a barrel.

For the week, Brent is largely unchanged, but WTI was set to fall around 1%, reversing some of the previous week’s gains.

The talks between the two countries over Iran’s nuclear ambitions concluded on Thursday with no clear deal being agreed.

But they plan to resume negotiations with technical-level discussions scheduled to take place next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X after the meetings in Geneva.

Tensions over Iran have been a major driver of oil prices in February, with the U.S. amassing a major military force in the Middle East and threatening action if Tehran did not accept a deal.