The Disney+ logo is displayed on a TV screen in Paris, December 26, 2019.
Chesnot | Getty Images
Disney is raising prices on almost all of its streaming offerings as it looks to accelerate profitability for the business.
Commercial-free Disney+ will cost $13.99 per month, a 27% increase, beginning Oct. 12. Disney+ with ads will remain $7.99 per month. Disney will also expand its ad-tier offering to select markets in Europe and in Canada beginning Nov. 1.
Disney is increasing the price of Hulu without ads to $17.99 per month, a 20% price hike. Hulu with ads will also staythe same price, at $7.99 per month.
For comparison, Netflix’s standard plan without commercials is $15.49 per month. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max is $15.99 per month.
The decision to price Disney+ nearly as high as commercial-free Netflix and Max, and charge even more for Hulu, signals Disney believes its content library can compete with both of those services. When Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger launched Disney+ in 2019, he deliberately set the niche family offering at a low price of $6.99 per month — nearly half the price of Netflix.
Last year, Disney increased the cost of Disney+ by $3 per month. Iger acknowledged he was surprised the price increase led to minimal cancelations of the service.
“We took a pretty significant price increase at Disney+ sometime late in 2022, and we really didn’t see significant churn or loss of subs because of that, which was actually heartening,” Iger said during Disney’s earnings call on Wednesday.
Iger noted that Disney is deliberately trying to steer users toward its ad-supported services by keeping prices for those services the same. The advertising landscape for streaming is healthier than traditional linear TV, Iger added.
Disney has added 3.3 million subscribers for its U.S. advertising-supported service after it launched in December, Iger announced on the call. About 40% of new Disney+ subscribers have signed up for the ad tier, he said.
Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger.
Charley Gallay | Getty Images
Disney is now betting consumers will pay more for its streaming services even as the Hollywood writers and actors strikes threaten its content pipeline in the coming months.
For consumers who want both Disney+ and Hulu without commercials, they can pay $19.99 per month in a new “premium duo” offering — a $12 per month savings. That offer will be available starting Sept. 6. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads will not change from its $9.99 per month price.
Disney also increased the price of its bundle of Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads) and ESPN+ (with ads) to $24.99 per month from $19.99 per month. The bundle of all three products with commercials will be $14.99 per month, an increase of $2 per month.
Disney said Wednesday its streaming division lost $512 million in its fiscal third quarter. Disney+ excluding India’s Hotstar added 800,000 subscribers during the period. Disney+ ended the quarter with 105.7 million Disney+ subscribers, excluding Hotstar, and about 146 million in all.
Disney is also increasing the price of Hulu + Live TV with ads to $76.99 from $69.99 per month. The commercial-free Hulu + Live TV will jump to $89.99 per month from $82.99 per month.
WATCH: Bob Iger will lead Disney through this difficult time, says BofA Securities’ Jessica Reif Ehrlich.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect that the ad-free Disney+ price increase will take effect Oct. 12. A previous version misstated the date.
Perplexity AI on Wednesday launched a new artificial intelligence-powered web browser called Comet in the startup’s latest effort to compete in the consumer internet market against companies like Google and Microsoft.
Comet will allow users to connect with enterprise applications like Slack and ask complex questions via voice and text, according to a brief demo video Perplexity released on Wednesday.
The browser is available to Perplexity Max subscribers, and the company said invite-only access will roll out to a waitlist over the summer. Perplexity Max costs users $200 per month.
“We built Comet to let the internet do what it has been begging to do: to amplify our intelligence,” Perplexity wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
Perplexity is best known for its AI-powered search engine that gives users simple answers to questions and links out to the original source material on the web. After the company was accused of plagiarizing content from media outlets, it launched a revenue-sharing model with publishers last year.
In May, Perplexity was in late-stage talks to raise $500 million at a $14 billion valuation, a source familiar confirmed to CNBC. The startup was also approached by Meta earlier this year about a potential acquisition, but the companies did not finalize a deal.
“We will continue to launch new features and functionality for Comet, improve experiences based on your feedback, and focus relentlessly–as we always have–on building accurate and trustworthy AI that fuels human curiosity,” Perplexity said Wednesday.
A worker sorts packages on Amazon Prime Day in New York on July 8, 2025.
Klaus Galiano | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. online sales jumped 9.9% year over year to $7.9 billion on Tuesday, the kickoff of Amazon‘s Prime Day megasale, according to Adobe Analytics.
At that level, it marks the “single biggest e-commerce day so far this year,” Adobe said. It also eclipsed total online spending during Thanksgiving last year, when sales on the holiday reached $6.1 billion.
Amazon’s Prime Day bargain blitz began on Tuesday and lasts through Friday. The event, first launched in 2015 as a way to hook new Prime members, has pushed other retailers to launch counterprogramming.
Home and outdoor goods showed signs of strong demand during the first day of Amazon’s discount event, said Kashif Zafar, CEO of Xnurta, an advertising platform that serves more than 20,000 online businesses.
Read more CNBC Amazon coverage
Other historically well-performing categories such as beauty and household essentials saw softer demand early on, but could see demand pick up as Prime Day continues, he added.
“Early Prime Day numbers might look soft compared to last year’s surge, but it’s too early to call the event a miss,” Zafar said in an email. “With four days instead of two, we’re seeing a different rhythm, consumers are spreading out their purchases.”
Adobe expects online sales to reach $23.8 billion across all retailers during the 96-hour event, a level that’s “equivalent to two Black Fridays.”
U.S. online shoppers spent $14.2 billion during the 48-hour Prime Day event last year, according to Adobe.
This year’s Prime Day is landing at an uncertain time for retailers and consumers as they grapple with the fallout of President Donald Trump‘s unpredictable tariff policies.
U.S. consumer confidence worsened in June after improving in May as Americans remained concerned about the tariffs’ effect on the economy and prices, according to the Conference Board.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last month the company hasn’t seen prices “appreciably go up” on its site as a result of tariffs.
Some third-party sellers previously told CNBC they were considering raising or had already raised the price of some of their products manufactured in China as the cost of tariffs became burdensome.
Top executives from tech, media and finance gathered in Sun Valley, Idaho, for Allen & Co.’s annual conference this week, an event that is often referred to as “summer camp for billionaires.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Disney CEO Bob Iger and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were all pictured entering the lodge.
Wednesday’s agenda includes interviews with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IAC Chairman Barry Diller, sources told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin.
When he arrived on Tuesday, Altman said he is not concerned about the artificial intelligence talent war and that he would talk to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week.
Scroll down to see the tech and media moguls arriving at the exclusive event.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
Tim Cook arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David Grogan | CNBC
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Disney CEO Bob Iger
Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, and Bob Iger (R), CEO of Walt Disney Co., attend the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
TV host Gayle King
Gayle King attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
GM CEO Mary Barra
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Spanx founder Sara Blakely
Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon
Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Entertainment executive Casey Wasserman
Casey Wasserman, CEO of Wasserman Media Group, arrives for the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC owner John Henry
John Henry attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
OpenAI Chair Bret Taylor
Bret Taylor, chairman of the board of directors of OpenAI, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone
Ken Langone attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller
Stanley Druckenmiller attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 8, 2025.