Last year, during the Q3 2023 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg talked about leveraging AI to have business accounts respond to customers for purchase and support queries. Today, Meta announced AI-powered features for WhatsApp Business apps, such as helping with the creation of click-to-WhatsApp ads and generating responses to frequent customer messages.Mark Zuckerberg announced these tools at the company’s Meta Connect conference in Brazil today. He noted that that apart from building consumer-facing bots on ...

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week promises to be a pivotal moment in the iPhone maker’s history. Though the Vision Pro debuted at last year’s event, don’t expect hardware to be the main attraction at WWDC 2024, which kicks off Monday at 10 a.m. PT. WWDC is for developers, and much of the focus will be on iOS 18. The Cupertino tech giant will showcase how it’s chosen to integrate AI technology into its devices and software, including through a historic partnership with OpenAI. As the big even ...

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is officially on its way to the International Space Station, marking a historic first for the long-delayed astronaut transportation program. Inside the spacecraft are two NASA astronauts — spaceflight veterans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — who are set to arrive to the station on Thursday. The spacecraft lifted off at 10:55 a.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture). The lift-off come ...

Group 1 - Alphabet has appointed Anat Ashkenazi, the CFO of Eli Lilly and Company, as its new chief financial officer [1] - Ashkenazi will assume her role at Alphabet on July 31, 2024, after spending 23 years at Eli Lilly [1] - The announcement follows the departure of current CFO Ruth Porat, who has been in the position since joining from Morgan Stanley [1]

Microsoft’s education-focused flavor of its cloud productivity suite, Microsoft 365 Education, is facing investigation in the European Union where privacy rights non-profit noyb has just lodged two complaints with Austria’s data protection authority. The complaints target use of Microsoft’s cloud software by schools. The first one focuses on transparency and legal basis issues. noyb says it’s concerned minors’ data is being processed unlawfully — and its press release hits out at what it dubs “consistentl ...

GM’s Cruise is redeploying a small fleet of robotaxis in Dallas this week as part of the company’s previously stated goal to validate its self-driving systems and win back public trust.Dallas is the second city that Cruise is easing its way back into after pulling its entire U.S. fleet late last year, following an incident that left a pedestrian run over and dragged by a Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco. The California Department of Motor Vehicles immediately suspended Cruise’s permits to operate in the st ...

Meta has been banned from launching features on Facebook and Instagram that would have collected data on voters in Spain using the social networks ahead of next month’s European Elections. The local data protection authority, the AEPD, has used emergency powers to protect local users’ privacy. Meta confirmed to TechCrunch it has complied with the order, which can last for up to three months. In a statement about the “precautionary measure”, the AEPD wrote it has ordered Meta to suspend implementation of E ...

Amazon has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly its delivery drones longer distances, the company announced on Thursday. Amazon says it can now expand its Prime Air service, which uses delivery drones to fly individual packages, to more customers. The FAA requires that operators maintain a line of sight to their drones until it approves technology that can safely monitor and control them without visuals. Amazon says it spent years developing Beyond Visual Line of Sigh ...

Core Insights - Salesforce acquired Spiff for $419 million, which includes $374 million in cash, to enhance its management of incentive-based compensation schemes for customers [1][2] - The acquisition follows Salesforce's first revenue miss in nearly 20 years, reporting quarterly revenues of $9.13 billion against analyst expectations of $9.15 billion [1][3] Acquisition Details - Spiff was last valued at $260 million in May 2023 before the acquisition announcement in December 2023, with the deal closing in February 2024 [2] - Spiff has raised approximately $110 million from various investors, including Salesforce, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Norwest Ventures [2] Market Context - The acquisition reflects a trend where stronger companies are still able to command high prices despite a challenging funding environment for startups [3] - Spiff reported significant growth, doubling its customer base to 1,000 and achieving 100% revenue growth in the last year, with an overall revenue increase of 800% since its founding during the pandemic [3] Strategic Focus - Spiff has developed AI-based no-code, self-service tools aimed at helping customers create sales commission schemes, which aligns with Salesforce's goals to grow its revenue [4] - Salesforce recorded $323 million in goodwill related to the acquisition, indicating the value of the assembled workforce and market opportunities, along with $52 million in intangible assets attributed to Spiff's technology and customer base [4]

Netflix announced during its Upfronts presentation on Wednesday that it’s launching its own advertising technology platform only a year and a half after entering the ads business. This move pits it against other industry heavyweights with ad servers, like Google, Amazon and Comcast. The announcement signifies a significant shake-up in the streaming giant’s advertising approach. The company originally partnered with Microsoft to develop its ad tech, letting Netflix enter the ad space quickly and catch up wit ...