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Skype upgrades its messaging feature with drafts, bookmarks and more Skype is best known for being a video calling app and, to some extent, that’s because its messaging feature set has been a bit underdeveloped. Today, the company is working to change that image with a series of improvements to Skype’s chatting features aimed at further differentiating it from rival apps. One of the most […] Social – TechCrunch - Skype upgrades its messaging feature with drafts, bookmarks and more August 31, 2019 at 05:00AM

You can now share music from Spotify to Facebook Stories Spotify this morning announced a new way for you to share music with friends (or fans, if you’re an artist) — by way of a new Facebook Stories integration that includes 15-second song previews. Viewers can also optionally tap on the “Play on Spotify” button in the Story to be redirected to the Spotify app […] Social – TechCrunch - You can now share music from Spotify to Facebook Stories August 31, 2019 at 02:00AM

Marc Benioff will discuss building a socially responsible and successful startup at TechCrunch Disrupt Salesforce chairman, co-founder and CEO, Marc Benioff, took a lot of big chances when he launched the company 20 years ago. For starters, his was one of the earliest enterprise SaaS companies, but he wasn’t just developing a company on top of new platform, he was building one from scratch with social responsibility built-in. Fast […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Marc Benioff will discuss building a socially responsible and successful startup at TechCrunch Disrupt August 30, 2019 at 05:00AM

Instagram may allow creators to syndicate IGTV videos to Facebook Following the departure of Instagram’s founders, Facebook is working to more closely integrate the photo-sharing app with its flagship social network. It’s already added its brand name next to Instagram’s, and is working to make both platforms’ messaging products interoperable. Now, Facebook is prototyping a means of syndicating Instagram’s IGTV video to Facebook’s video site, […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram may allow creators to syndicate IGTV videos to Facebook August 30, 2019 at 02:00AM

Facebook rolls out new business tools for Messenger, kills the ‘Discover’ tab Facebook today is formally rolling out a new suite of tools for its 40 million active businesses on Messenger, including appointment booking, lead generation, and others announced earlier this year at its F8 developer conference. As a part of these changes, Facebook will also begin to phase out the Discover tab in Messenger — a […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook rolls out new business tools for Messenger, kills the ‘Discover’ tab August 30, 2019 at 12:01AM

Mews grabs $33M Series B to modernize hotel administration If you think about the traditional hotel business, there hasn’t been a ton of innovation. You mostly still stand in a line to check in, and sometimes even to check out. You let the staff know about your desire for privacy with a sign on the door. Mews believes it’s time to rethink how hotels […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Mews grabs $33M Series B to modernize hotel administration August 29, 2019 at 11:00PM

‘Behind the Screen’ illuminates the invisible, indispensable content moderation industry The moderators who sift through the toxic detritus of social media have gained the spotlight recently, but they've been important for far longer — longer than internet giants would like you to know. In her new book "Behind the Screen," UCLA's Sarah Roberts illuminates the history of this scrupulously hidden workforce and the many forms the job takes. Social – TechCrunch - ‘Behind the Screen’ illuminates the invisible, indispensable content moderation industry August 29, 2019 at 05:00AM

ReadMe scores $9M Series A to help firms customize API docs Software APIs help different tools communicate with one another, let developers access essential services without having to code it themselves, and are critical components for driving a platform-driven strategy. Yet they require solid documentation to help make the best use of them. ReadMe, a startup that helps companies customize their API documentation, announced a $9 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ReadMe scores $9M Series A to help firms customize API docs August 29, 2019 at 01:00AM

Facebook will require political advertisers provide further credentials, or have their ads paused Ahead of the 2020 elections, Facebook today announced it’s tightening requirements for groups buying political ads on the social network. The company last year began requiring advertisers get authorized to run ads about social issues, elections, or politics, which involves advertisers providing identification to confirm who they are and where they’re located — including a U.S. […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook will require political advertisers provide further credentials, or have their ads paused August 29, 2019 at 12:01AM

YouTube to reduce conspiracy theory recommendations in the UK YouTube is expanding an experimental tweak to its recommendation engine that’s intended to reduce the amplification of conspiracy theories to the UK market. In January, the video-sharing platform said it was making changes in the US to limit the spread of conspiracy theory content, such as junk science and bogus claims about historical events — […] Social – TechCrunch - YouTube to reduce conspiracy theory recommendations in the UK August 28, 2019 at 10:00PM

ThoughtSpot hauls in $248M Series E on $1.95B valuation ThoughtSpot was started by a bunch of ex-Googlers looking to bring the power of search to data. Seven years later the company is growing fast, sporting a fat valuation of almost $2 billion and looking ahead to a possible IPO. Today it announced a hefty $248 million Series E round as it continues on its […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - ThoughtSpot hauls in $248M Series E on $1.95B valuation August 28, 2019 at 10:00PM

Set of ground surfaces. Grass, rocks and water. Landscape web design. Vector illustration photo Pinned to Game art : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398216792053261862

How to move from VP of Sales to CRO with leading exec recruiter David Ives It wasn’t so long ago that sales meant just showing up with a deck and a smile. These days, it seems that sales leaders almost need a PhD in statistics just to get through the typical day managing a sales funnel. From SQLs and MQLs to NDRR and managing overall retention, the roles of VP […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - How to move from VP of Sales to CRO with leading exec recruiter David Ives August 28, 2019 at 05:00AM

SAP covers hot topics at TechCrunch’s Sept. 5 Enterprise show in SF You can’t talk enterprise software without talking SAP, one of the giants in a $500 billion industry. And not only will SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott share insights at TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 on September 5, but the company will also sponsor two breakout sessions. The editors will sit down with McDermott and talk about SAP’s […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - SAP covers hot topics at TechCrunch’s Sept. 5 Enterprise show in SF August 28, 2019 at 04:00AM

Kadena brings free private blockchain service to Azure Marketplace The hype around blockchain seems to have cooled a bit, but companies like Kadena have been working on enterprise-grade solutions for some time, and continue to push the technology forward. Today, the startup announced that Kadena Scalable Permissioned Blockchain on Azure is available for free in the Azure Marketplace. Kadena co-founder and CEO Will Martino […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Kadena brings free private blockchain service to Azure Marketplace August 27, 2019 at 11:00PM

Axonius, a cybersecurity asset management startup, raises $20M in Series B Cybersecurity asset management startup Axonius has raised $20 million in its second round of funding this year. Venture capital firm OpenView led the Series B, joining existing investors in bringing $37 million to date following the startup’s $13 million Series A in February. The security startup, founded in 2017, helps companies keep track of their […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Axonius, a cybersecurity asset management startup, raises $20M in Series B August 27, 2019 at 10:00PM

Sweden’s Hedvig raises $10.4M led by Obvious Ventures to build “nice insurance” Hedvig, a Swedish startup, is following in the footsteps of Lemonade building a new generation of insurance platforms that use AI to help evaluate customers and operate on a policy of using surplus for social good, and today the company announced the next stage of its growth. The startup has closed a SEK100 million ($10.4 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Sweden’s Hedvig raises $10.4M led by Obvious Ventures to build “nice insurance” August 27, 2019 at 07:00PM

Oracle files new appeal over Pentagon’s $10B JEDI cloud contract RFP process You really have to give Oracle a lot of points for persistence, especially where the $10 billion JEDI cloud contract procurement process is concerned. For more than a year, the company has been complaining  across every legal and government channel it can think of. In spite of every attempt to find some issue with the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Oracle files new appeal over Pentagon’s $10B JEDI cloud contract RFP process August 27, 2019 at 07:00AM

How to use Amazon and advertising to build a D2C startup Entrepreneurship in consumer packaged goods is being democratized. This article focuses on customer acquisition, particularly Amazon and online advertising, for the direct-to-consumer CPG venture... Social – TechCrunch - How to use Amazon and advertising to build a D2C startup August 27, 2019 at 05:00AM

IBM’s quantum-resistant magnetic tape storage is not actually snake oil Usually when someone in tech says the word "quantum," I put my hands on my ears and sing until they go away. But while IBM's "quantum computing safe tape drive" nearly drove me to song, when I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense. Enterprise – TechCrunch - IBM’s quantum-resistant magnetic tape storage is not actually snake oil August 27, 2019 at 04:00AM

Why now is the time to get ready for quantum computing For the longest time, even while scientists were working to make it a reality, quantum computing seemed like science fiction. It’s hard enough to make any sense out of quantum physics to begin with, let alone the practical applications of this less than intuitive theory. But we’ve now arrived at a point where companies like […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Why now is the time to get ready for quantum computing August 27, 2019 at 02:01AM

Facebook succeeds in blocking German FCO’s privacy-minded order against combining user data Facebook has succeeded in blocking a pioneering order by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office earlier this year that would have banned it from combining data on users across its own suite of social platforms — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — without their consent. Pioneering because the antitrust regulator had liaised with EU privacy authorities during a […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook succeeds in blocking German FCO’s privacy-minded order against combining user data August 27, 2019 at 02:00AM

VMware is bringing VMs and containers together, taking advantage of Heptio acquisition At VMworld today in San Francisco, VMware introduced a new set of services for managing virtual machines and containers in a single view called Tanzu. The product takes advantage of the knowledge the company gained when it acquired Heptio last year. As companies face an increasingly fragmented landscape of maintaining traditional virtual machines, alongside a […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - VMware is bringing VMs and containers together, taking advantage of Heptio acquisition August 26, 2019 at 10:01PM

Nvidia and VMware team up to make GPU virtualization easier Nvidia today announced that it has been working with VMware to bring its virtual GPU technology (vGPU) to VMware’s vSphere and VMware Cloud on AWS. The company’s core vGPU technology isn’t new, but it now supports server virtualization to enable enterprises to run their hardware-accelerated AI and data science workloads in environments like VMware’s vSphere, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Nvidia and VMware team up to make GPU virtualization easier August 26, 2019 at 10:00PM

Google Colab Free GPU Tutorial Pinned to Recommendations : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398216792053238632

How Pivotal got bailed out by fellow Dell family member, VMware When Dell acquired EMC in 2016 for $67 billion, it created a complicated consortium of interconnected organizations. Some, like VMware and Pivotal, operate as completely separate companies. They have their own boards of directors, can acquire companies and are publicly traded on the stock market. Yet they work closely within the Dell, partnering where it […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - How Pivotal got bailed out by fellow Dell family member, VMware August 24, 2019 at 06:00AM

Facebook really doesn’t want you to read these emails Oh hey y’all, it’s Friday! It’s August! Which means it’s a great day for Facebook to drop a little news it would prefer you don’t notice. News that you won’t find a link to on the homepage of Facebook’s Newsroom — which is replete with colorfully illustrated items it does want you to read (like […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook really doesn’t want you to read these emails August 24, 2019 at 01:00AM

Ping Identity files for $100M IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker ‘Ping’ Some eight months after it was reported that Ping Identity’s owners Vista Equity had hired bankers to explore a public listing, today Ping Identity took the plunge: the Colorado-based online ID management company has filed an S-1 form indicating that it plans to raise up to $100 million in an IPO on the Nasdaq exchange under […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Ping Identity files for $100M IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker ‘Ping’ August 23, 2019 at 11:00PM

A simple deep learning model for stock price prediction using TensorFlow Pinned to Recommendations : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398216792053206995

Oracle directors give blessing to shareholder lawsuit against Larry Ellison and Safra Catz Three years after closing a $9.3 billion deal to acquire NetSuite, several Oracle board members have written an extraordinary letter to the Delaware Court, approving a shareholder lawsuit against company executives Larry Ellison and Safra Catz over the 2016 deal. Reuters broke this story. According to Reuters’ Alison Frankel, three board members, including former U.S. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Oracle directors give blessing to shareholder lawsuit against Larry Ellison and Safra Catz August 23, 2019 at 07:00AM

Pew: mobile and social media users in emerging markets have more diverse social networks The latest study from Pew Research Center takes a look at the impact mobile technology, including the use of smartphones and social media, is having on the diversity of people’s social network in emerging markets. For the purpose of the study, Pew surveyed mobile users in eleven key markets: Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, South Africa, Kenya, […] Social – TechCrunch - Pew: mobile and social media users in emerging markets have more diverse social networks August 23, 2019 at 04:00AM

Tumblr’s next step forward with Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg After months of rumors, Verizon finally sold off Tumblr for a reported $3 million — a fraction of what Yahoo paid for the once might blogging service back in 2013. The media conglomerate (which also owns TechCrunch) was clearly never quite sure what to do with the property after gobbling it up as part of […] Social – TechCrunch - Tumblr’s next step forward with Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg August 23, 2019 at 03:00AM

Enterprise software is hot — who would have thought? Alex Williams Contributor Alex Williams is the founder and publisher of The New Stack, which publishes explanations and analysis of at-scale, distributed technologies for developers, DevOps and other IT professionals. More posts by this contributor Neo4j, A Graph Database For Building Recommendation Engines, Gets A Visual Overhaul Billionaire Jewelry King Launches TaskWorld, A Management Tool […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Enterprise software is hot — who would have thought? August 23, 2019 at 01:00AM

Remediant lands $15M Series A to disrupt privileged access security Remediant, a startup that helps companies secure privileged access in a modern context, announced a $15 million Series A today led by Dell Technologies Capital and ForgePoint Capital. Remediant’s co-founders, Paul Lanzi and Tim Keeler, worked in biotech for years and saw a problem first-hand with the way companies secured privileged access. It was granted […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Remediant lands $15M Series A to disrupt privileged access security August 22, 2019 at 11:01PM

NASA’s new HPE-built supercomputer will prepare for landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon NASA and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have teamed up to build a new supercomputer, which will serve NASA’s Ames Research Center in California and develop models and simulations of the landing process for Artemis Moon missions. The new supercomputer is called ‘Aitken,’ named after American astronomer Robert Grant Aitken, and it can run simulations at […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - NASA’s new HPE-built supercomputer will prepare for landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon August 22, 2019 at 11:01PM

Twitter picks up team from narrative app Lightwell in its latest effort to improve conversations Twitter’s ongoing, long-term efforts to make conversations easier to follow and engage with on its platform is getting a boost with the company’s latest acquihire. The company has picked up the team behind Lightwell, a startup that had built a set of developer tools to build interactive, narrative apps, for an undisclosed sum. Lightwell’s founder and […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter picks up team from narrative app Lightwell in its latest effort to improve conversations August 22, 2019 at 07:00AM

Splunk acquires cloud monitoring service SignalFx for $1.05B Splunk, the publicly traded data processing and analytics company, today announced that it has acquired SignalFx for a total price of about $1.05 billion. Approximately 60 percent of this will be in cash and 40 percent in Splunk common stock. Splunk acquires cloud monitoring service SignalFx for $1.05B SignalFx, which emerged from stealth in 2015, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Splunk acquires cloud monitoring service SignalFx for $1.05B August 22, 2019 at 06:00AM

YouTube is closing its private messages feature…and many kids are outraged People love to share YouTube videos among their friends, which is why in mid-2017 YouTube launched a new in-app messaging feature that would allow YouTube users to private send their friends videos and chat within a dedicated tab in the YouTube mobile app. That feature is now being shut down, the company says. After September […] Social – TechCrunch - YouTube is closing its private messages feature…and many kids are outraged August 22, 2019 at 12:00AM

Box introduces Box Shield with increased security controls and threat protection Box has always had to balance the idea of sharing content broadly while protecting it as it moved through the world, but the more you share, the more likely something can go wrong, such as misconfigured shared links that surfaced earlier this year. In an effort to make the system more secure, the company announced […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Box introduces Box Shield with increased security controls and threat protection August 21, 2019 at 10:00PM

IBM is moving OpenPower Foundation to The Linux Foundation IBM makes the Power Series chips, and as part of that has open sourced some of the underlying technologies to encourage wider use of these chips. The open source pieces have been part of the OpenPower Foundation. Today, the company announced it was moving the foundation under The Linux Foundation, and while it was at […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - IBM is moving OpenPower Foundation to The Linux Foundation August 21, 2019 at 03:00AM

‘This is Your Life in Silicon Valley’: The League founder and CEO Amanda Bradford on modern dating, and whether Bumble is a ‘real’ startup This edition features Amanda Bradford - Founder/CEO of The League. Amanda talks about modern dating, its limitations, why 'The League' will win, and her candid perspective on other dating startups... Social – TechCrunch - ‘This is Your Life in Silicon Valley’: The League founder and CEO Amanda Bradford on modern dating, and whether Bumble is a ‘real’ startup August 21, 2019 at 02:00AM

H2O.ai announces $72.5M Series D led by Goldman Sachs H2O.ai‘s mission is to democratize AI by providing a set of tools that frees companies from relying on teams of data scientists. Today it got a bushel of money to help. The company announced a $72.5 million Series D round led by Goldman Sachs and Ping An Global Voyager Fund. Previous investors Wells Fargo, NVIDIA […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - H2O.ai announces $72.5M Series D led by Goldman Sachs August 21, 2019 at 01:00AM

Facebook unveils new tools to control how websites share your data for ad-targeting Last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be creating a “Clear History” feature that deletes the data that third-party websites and apps share with Facebook. Today, the company is actually launching feature in select geographies. It’s gotten a new name in the meantime: Off-Facebook Activity. David Baser, the director of product […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook unveils new tools to control how websites share your data for ad-targeting August 21, 2019 at 01:00AM

Reputation.com nabs $30M more to help enterprises manage their profiles online In these days where endorsements from influential personalities online can make or break a product, a startup that’s built a business to help companies harness all the long-tail firepower they can muster to get their name out there in a good way has raised some funding to expand deeper into feedback and other experience territory. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Reputation.com nabs $30M more to help enterprises manage their profiles online August 20, 2019 at 09:00PM

The five technical challenges Cerebras overcame in building the first trillion transistor chip Superlatives abound at Cerebras, the until-today stealthy next-generation silicon chip company looking to make training a deep learning model as quick as buying toothpaste from Amazon. Launching after almost three years of quiet development, Cerebras introduced its new chip today — and it is a doozy. The “Wafer Scale Engine” is 1.2 trillion transistors (the […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - The five technical challenges Cerebras overcame in building the first trillion transistor chip August 20, 2019 at 09:00AM

Join The New Stack for Pancake & Podcast with Q&A at TC Sessions: Enterprise Popular enterprise news and research site The New Stack is coming to TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise on September 5 for a special Pancake & Podcast session with live Q&A, featuring, you guessed it, delicious pancakes and awesome panelists! Here’s the “short stack” of what’s going to happen: Pancake buffet opens at 7:45 am on Thursday, September […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Join The New Stack for Pancake & Podcast with Q&A at TC Sessions: Enterprise August 20, 2019 at 07:00AM

Twitter blocks state-controlled media outlets from advertising on its social network Twitter is now blocking state-run media outlets from advertising on its platform. The new policy was announced just hours after the company identified an information operation involving hundreds of accounts linked to China as part of an effort to “sow political discord” around events in Hong Kong after weeks of protests in the region. Over […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter blocks state-controlled media outlets from advertising on its social network August 20, 2019 at 07:00AM

Ally raises $8M Series A for its OKR solution OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, are a popular planning method in Silicon Valley. Like most of those methods that make you fill in some form once every quarter, I’m pretty sure employees find them rather annoying and a waste of their time. Ally wants to change that and make the process more useful. The […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Ally raises $8M Series A for its OKR solution August 20, 2019 at 04:00AM

The five great reasons to attend TechCrunch’s Enterprise show Sept. 5 in SF The vast enterprise tech category is Silicon Valley’s richest, and today it’s poised to change faster than ever before. That’s probably the biggest reason to come to TechCrunch’s first-ever show focused entirely on enterprise. But here are five more reasons to commit to joining TechCrunch’s editors on September 5 at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - The five great reasons to attend TechCrunch’s Enterprise show Sept. 5 in SF August 20, 2019 at 04:00AM

Microsoft acquires jClarity, an open source Java performance tuning tool Microsoft announced this morning that it was acquiring jClarity, an open source tool designed to tune the performance of Java applications. It will be doing that on Azure from now on. In addition, the company has been offering a flavor of Java called AdoptOpenJDK, which they bill as a free alternative to Oracle Java. The […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft acquires jClarity, an open source Java performance tuning tool August 20, 2019 at 01:00AM

Simon Data hauls in $30M Series C to continue building customer data platform As businesses use an increasing variety of marketing software solutions, the goal around collecting all of that data is to improve customer experience. Simon Data announced a $30 million Series C round today to help. The round was led by Polaris Partners . Previous investors .406 Ventures and F-Prime Capital also participated. Today’s investment brings […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Simon Data hauls in $30M Series C to continue building customer data platform August 20, 2019 at 12:01AM

Twitter to test a new filter for spam and abuse in the Direct Message inbox Twitter is testing a new way to filter unwanted messages from your Direct Message inbox. Today, Twitter allows users to set their Direct Message inbox as being open to receiving messages from anyone, but this can invite a lot of unwanted messages, including abuse. While one solution is to adjust your settings so only those […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter to test a new filter for spam and abuse in the Direct Message inbox August 17, 2019 at 01:00AM

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Twitter leads $100M round in top Indian regional social media platform ShareChat Is there room for another social media platform? ShareChat, a four-year-old social network in India that serves tens of million of people in regional languages, just answered that question with a $100 million financing round led by global giant Twitter . Other than Twitter, TrustBridge Partners, and existing investors Shunwei Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter leads $100M round in top Indian regional social media platform ShareChat August 16, 2019 at 11:00AM

Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich will join us for TC Sessions: Enterprise on September 5 Being the CTO for one of the three major hypercloud providers may seem like enough of a job for most people, but Mark Russinovich, the CTO of Microsoft Azure, has a few other talents in his back pocket. Russinovich, who will join us for a fireside chat at our TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise event in San […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich will join us for TC Sessions: Enterprise on September 5 August 16, 2019 at 07:00AM

How Facebook does IT If you have ever worked at any sizable company, the word “IT” probably doesn’t conjure up many warm feelings. If you’re working for an old, traditional enterprise company, you probably don’t expect anything else, though. If you’re working for a modern tech company, though, chances are your expectations are a bit higher. And once you’re […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - How Facebook does IT August 16, 2019 at 02:00AM

Alibaba cloud biz is on a run rate over $4B Alibaba announced its earnings today, and the Chinese ecommerce giant got a nice lift from its cloud business, which grew 66 percent to more than $1.1 billion, or a run rate surpassing $4 billion. It’s not exactly on par with Amazon, which reported cloud revenue of $8.381 billion last quarter, more than double Alibaba’s yearly run […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Alibaba cloud biz is on a run rate over $4B August 16, 2019 at 02:00AM

US legislator, David Cicilline, joins international push to interrogate platform power US legislator David Cicilline will be joining the next meeting of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and ‘Fake News’, it has been announced. The meeting will be held in Dublin on November 7. Chair of the committee, the Irish Fine Gael politician Hildegarde Naughton, announced Cicilline’s inclusion today. The congressman — who is chairman […] Social – TechCrunch - US legislator, David Cicilline, joins international push to interrogate platform power August 16, 2019 at 02:00AM

What will Tumblr become under the ownership of tech’s only Goldilocks founder? This week, Automattic revealed it has signed all the paperwork to acquire Tumblr from Verizon, including its full staff of 200. Tumblr has undergone quite a journey since its headline-grabbing acquisition by Marissa Mayer’s Yahoo in 2013 for $1.1 billion, but after six years of neglect, its latest move is its first real start since […] Social – TechCrunch - What will Tumblr become under the ownership of tech’s only Goldilocks founder? August 16, 2019 at 02:00AM

Instagram says growth hackers are behind spate of fake Stories views If you use Instagram and have noticed a bunch of strangers watching your Stories in recent months — accounts that don’t follow you and seem to be Russian — well, you’re not alone. Nor are you being primed for a Russian disinformation campaign. At least, probably not. But you’re right to smell a fake. TechCrunch’s […] Social – TechCrunch - Instagram says growth hackers are behind spate of fake Stories views August 16, 2019 at 12:01AM

Incorta raises $30M Series C for ETL-free data processing solution Incorta, a startup founded by former Oracle executives who want to change the way we process large amounts data, announced a $30 million Series C today led by Sorenson Capital. Other investors participating in the round included GV (formerly Google Ventures), Kleiner Perkins, M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures), Telstra Ventures and Ron Wohl. Today’s investment brings […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Incorta raises $30M Series C for ETL-free data processing solution August 15, 2019 at 11:00PM

VMware says it’s looking to acquire Pivotal VMware today confirmed that it is in talks to acquire software development platform Pivotal Software, the service best known for commercializing the open-source Cloud Foundry platform. The proposed transaction would see VMware acquire all outstanding Pivotal Class A stock for $15 per share, a significant markup over Pivotal’s current share price (which unsurprisingly shot up […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - VMware says it’s looking to acquire Pivotal August 15, 2019 at 09:00AM

Every TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 ticket includes a free pass to Disrupt SF Shout out to all the savvy enterprise software startuppers. Here’s a quick, two-part money-saving reminder. Part one: TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 is right around the corner on September 5, and you have only two days left to buy an early-bird ticket and save yourself $100. Part two: for every Session ticket you buy, you get […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Every TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 ticket includes a free pass to Disrupt SF August 15, 2019 at 06:00AM

‘Private’ and ‘hidden’ mean different things to Facebook Facebook’s leadership made a pretty heavy-handed indication this year that it believes Facebook Groups are the future of the app. They announced all of this alongside their odd declaration that “The future is private.” Now, Facebook is changing the language describing the visibility of privacy of groups. As the Groups feature has come front-and-center in […] Social – TechCrunch - ‘Private’ and ‘hidden’ mean different things to Facebook August 15, 2019 at 04:00AM

Daily Crunch: Final Oculus co-founder departs Facebook The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Facebook is losing its last Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell, the final Oculus co-founder remaining at Facebook, announced in an internal memo […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Final Oculus co-founder departs Facebook August 15, 2019 at 03:00AM

Why chipmaker Broadcom is spending big bucks for aging enterprise software companies Last year Broadcom, a chipmaker, raised eyebrows when it acquired CA Technologies, an enterprise software company with a broad portfolio of products, including a sizable mainframe software tools business. It paid close to $19 billion for the privilege. Then last week, the company opened up its wallet again and forked over $10.7 billion for Symantec’s […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Why chipmaker Broadcom is spending big bucks for aging enterprise software companies August 15, 2019 at 02:00AM

Slack announces new admin features for larger organizations Slack has been working to beef up the product recently for its larger customers. A couple of weeks ago that involved more sophisticated security tools. Today, it was the admins’ turn to get a couple of new tools that help make it easier to manage Slack in larger settings. For starters, Slack has created an […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Slack announces new admin features for larger organizations August 15, 2019 at 01:00AM

New Facebook ad units can remind you when a movie comes out Facebook is launching two new ad units designed to help movie studios promote their latest releases. The first unit is called a movie reminder ad, and it does exactly that —since studios usually start marketing their titles months or even years before release, they can now include an Interested button in their Facebook ads, allowing […] Social – TechCrunch - New Facebook ad units can remind you when a movie comes out August 15, 2019 at 12:00AM

Procore brings 3D construction models to iOS Today, Procore, a construction software company, announced Procore BIM (Building Information Modeling), a new tool that takes advantage of Apple hardware advances to bring the 3D construction model to iOS. Dave McCool, senior product manager at Procore, says that architects and engineers have been working with 3D models of complex buildings for years on desktop […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Procore brings 3D construction models to iOS August 14, 2019 at 11:00PM

Facebook’s human-AI blend for audio transcription is now facing privacy scrutiny in Europe Facebook’s lead privacy regulator in Europe is now asking the company for detailed information about the operation of a voice-to-text feature in Facebook’s Messenger app and how it complies with EU law. Yesterday Bloomberg reported that Facebook uses human contractors to transcribe app users’ audio messages — yet its privacy policy makes no clear mention […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook’s human-AI blend for audio transcription is now facing privacy scrutiny in Europe August 14, 2019 at 08:00PM

iOS-factor: Best Practices for Building High-Quality iOS Apps Pinned to Recommendations : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/398216792053099163

Twitter exec says edit button isn’t ‘anywhere near the top of our priorities’ At a press event in San Francisco, Twitter Product Lead Kayvon Beykpour talked about a number of product changes coming to the company’s service; he also addressed the oft-memed user request for an edit button. Long story, short, you shouldn’t expect to see the button anytime soon. “Honestly, it’s a feature that I think we […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter exec says edit button isn’t ‘anywhere near the top of our priorities’ August 14, 2019 at 09:00AM

Twitter tests ways for users to follow and snooze specific topics You may soon be able to organize Twitter’s web of hashtags and handles in a smarter way — that is, if the company can pull off its ambitious new rethinking of the app’s timelines. The company isn’t getting rid of the process of following users, but at a press event in SF, company execs announced […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter tests ways for users to follow and snooze specific topics August 14, 2019 at 08:00AM

Clumio raises $51M to bring enterprise backup into the 21st century Creating backups for massive enterprise deployments may feel like a solved problem, but for the most part, we’re still talking about complex hardware and software setups. Clumio, which is coming out of stealth today, wants to modernize enterprise data protection by eliminating the on-premise hardware in favor of a flexible, SaaS-style cloud-based backup solution. For […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Clumio raises $51M to bring enterprise backup into the 21st century August 14, 2019 at 03:01AM

Rimeto lands $10M Series A to modernize the corporate directory The notion of the corporate directory has been around for many years, but in a time of more frequent turnover and shifting responsibilities, the founders of Rimeto, a 3 year old San Francisco startup, wanted to update it to reflect those changes. Today, the company announced a $10 million Series A investment from USVP, Bow […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Rimeto lands $10M Series A to modernize the corporate directory August 13, 2019 at 11:00PM

Facebook denies making contradictory claims on Cambridge Analytica and other ‘sketchy’ apps Facebook has denied contradicting itself in evidence to the UK parliament and a US public prosecutor. Last month the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee wrote to the company to raise what it said were discrepancies in evidence Facebook has given to international parliamentarians vs evidence submitted in response to the Washington, DC […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook denies making contradictory claims on Cambridge Analytica and other ‘sketchy’ apps August 13, 2019 at 07:00PM

Daily Crunch: Twitter tests reply subscriptions The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies Many people already receive push notifications when selected accounts send out […] Social – TechCrunch - Daily Crunch: Twitter tests reply subscriptions August 13, 2019 at 05:00AM

PopBase launches its platform for social media stars to share and monetize their work It’s been almost a year since PopBase first launched on the Battlefield Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018. In the ensuing months the company has been working hard to sign up influencers and get its platform for social media stars ready for prime time. The company is launching its early access release today… enabling social […] Social – TechCrunch - PopBase launches its platform for social media stars to share and monetize their work August 13, 2019 at 05:00AM

Polarity raises $8.1M for its AI software that constantly analyzes employee screens and highlights key info Reference docs and spreadsheets seemingly make the world go ’round, but what if employees could just close those tabs for good without losing that knowledge? One startup is taking on that complicated challenge. Predictably, the solution is quite complicated as well from a tech perspective, involving an AI solution that analyzes everything on your PC […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Polarity raises $8.1M for its AI software that constantly analyzes employee screens and highlights key info August 13, 2019 at 04:00AM

Lucidworks raises $100M to expand in AI-powered search-as-a-service for organizations If the sheer amount of information that we can tap into using the internet has made the world our oyster, then the huge success of Google is a testament to how lucrative search can be in helping to light the way through that data maze. Now, in a sign of the times, a startup called Lucidworks, […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Lucidworks raises $100M to expand in AI-powered search-as-a-service for organizations August 13, 2019 at 12:00AM

Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies Twitter in more recent months has been focused on making conversations on its platform easier to follow, participate in, and in some cases, block. The company’s latest test, announced via a tweet ahead of the weekend, will allow users to subscribe to replies to a particularly interesting tweet they want to follow, too, in order […] Social – TechCrunch - Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies August 12, 2019 at 11:00PM

India’s Reliance Jio inks deal with Microsoft to expand Office 365, Azure to more businesses; unveils broadband, blockchain, and IoT platforms India’s Reliance Jio, which has disrupted the local telecom and features phone businesses in less than three years of existence, is now ready to aggressively foray into many more businesses with the help of global giants including Microsoft. In a series of announcements, the subsidiary of India’s largest industrial house Reliance Industries today said it […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - India’s Reliance Jio inks deal with Microsoft to expand Office 365, Azure to more businesses; unveils broadband, blockchain, and IoT platforms August 12, 2019 at 06:00PM

India’s Reliance Jio inks deal with Microsoft to expand Office 365, Azure to more businesses; unveils broadband, blockchain, and IoT platforms India’s Reliance Jio, which has disrupted the local telecom and features phone businesses in less than three years of its existence, is now ready to aggressively foray into many more businesses. In a series of announcements, the subsidiary of India’s largest industrial house Reliance Industries today said it will commercially launch its fiber-optic broadband business […] Social – TechCrunch - India’s Reliance Jio inks deal with Microsoft to expand Office 365, Azure to more businesses; unveils broadband, blockchain, and IoT platforms August 12, 2019 at 06:00PM

India’s Meesho raises $125M to expand its social commerce business Meesho, a Bangalore-based social commerce startup, has raised $125 million in a new financing round to expand its business in the country and change the way millions shop online. The Series D round was led by Naspers, and existing investors SAIF, Sequoia, Shunwei Capital, RPS and Venture Highway participating as well. Facebook also participated in the […] Social – TechCrunch - India’s Meesho raises $125M to expand its social commerce business August 12, 2019 at 04:00PM

Adobe’s Amit Ahuja will be talking customer experience at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise As companies collect increasingly large amounts of data about customers, the end game is about improving the customer experience. It’s a term we’re hearing a lot of these days, and we are going to be discussing that very topic with Amit Ahuja, Adobe’s vice president of ecosystem development, next month at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise in […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Adobe’s Amit Ahuja will be talking customer experience at TechCrunch Sessions: Enterprise August 10, 2019 at 07:00AM

Reports say White House has drafted an order putting the FCC in charge of monitoring social media The White House is contemplating issuing an executive order that would widen its attack on the operations of social media companies. The White House has prepared an executive order called “Protecting Americans from Online Censorship” that would give the Federal Communications Commission oversight of how Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies monitor and manage their […] Social – TechCrunch - Reports say White House has drafted an order putting the FCC in charge of monitoring social media August 10, 2019 at 04:00AM

Why AI needs more social workers, with Columbia University’s Desmond Patton Sometimes it does seem the entire tech industry could use someone to talk to, like a good therapist or social worker. That might sound like an insult, but I mean it mostly earnestly: I am a chaplain who has spent 15 years talking with students, faculty, and other leaders at Harvard (and more recently MIT […] Social – TechCrunch - Why AI needs more social workers, with Columbia University’s Desmond Patton August 10, 2019 at 03:00AM

Last chance for early-bird tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 It’s down to the wire folks. Today’s the last day you can save $100 on your ticket to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019, which takes place on September 5 at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. The deadline expires in mere hours — at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Get the best possible price and buy your early-bird ticket […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Last chance for early-bird tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 August 10, 2019 at 02:00AM

Preclusio uses machine learning to comply with GDPR, other privacy regulations As privacy regulations like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act proliferate, more startups are looking to help companies comply. Enter Preclusio, a member of the Y Combinator Summer 2019 class, which has developed a machine learning-fueled solution to help companies adhere to these privacy regulations. “We have a platform that is deployed on-prem in […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Preclusio uses machine learning to comply with GDPR, other privacy regulations August 10, 2019 at 02:00AM

Facebook could face billions in potential damages as court rules facial recognition lawsuit can proceed Facebook is facing exposure to billions of dollars in potential damages as a federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Facebook’s arguments to halt a class action lawsuit claiming it illegally collected and stored the biometric data of millions of users. The class action lawsuit has been working its way through the courts since 2015, when […] Social – TechCrunch - Facebook could face billions in potential damages as court rules facial recognition lawsuit can proceed August 10, 2019 at 01:00AM

‘The Operators’: Experts from Airbnb and Carta on building and managing your company’s customer support Airbnb's Global Product Director of Customer and Community Support, and Carta's Head of Enterprise Relationship Management share how companies should be thinking about customer service. Enterprise – TechCrunch - ‘The Operators’: Experts from Airbnb and Carta on building and managing your company’s customer support August 9, 2019 at 04:00AM

Only 24 hours left to save $100 on TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 Heads up all you enterprising enterprise software startuppers. You have only 24 hours before the price goes up on tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019. Save $100 and join us in San Francisco on September 5 — along with some of the industry’s top founders, CEOs, investors and technologists. Buy your early-bird ticket before 11:59 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Only 24 hours left to save $100 on TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 August 9, 2019 at 03:00AM

Opsani helps optimize cloud applications with AI Opsani, a Redwood City, California startup, wants to go beyond performance monitoring to continually optimizing cloud applications, using artificial intelligence to help the software learn what is the optimal state. “We have come up with a machine learning technique centered around reinforcement learning to tune the performance of applications in the cloud,” company co-founder and […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Opsani helps optimize cloud applications with AI August 9, 2019 at 12:01AM

Google and Twitter are using AMD’s new EPYC Rome processors in their datacenters AMD announced that Google and Twitter are among the companies now using EPYC Rome processors during a launch event for the 7nm chips today. The release of EPYC Rome marks a major step in AMD’s processor war with Intel, which said last month that its own 7nm chips, Ice Lake, won’t be available until 2021 […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Google and Twitter are using AMD’s new EPYC Rome processors in their datacenters August 8, 2019 at 02:00PM

Instagram ad partner secretly sucked up and tracked millions of users’ locations and stories Hyp3r, an apparently trusted marketing partner of Facebook and Instagram, has been secretly collecting and storing location and other data on millions of users, against the policies of the social networks. It's hard to see how it could do this for years without intervention by the platforms except if the latter were either ignorant or complicit. Social – TechCrunch - Instagram ad partner secretly sucked up and tracked millions of users’ locations and stories August 8, 2019 at 08:00AM

Learn how enterprise startups win big deals at TechCrunch’s Enterprise show on Sept. 5 Big companies today may want to look and feel like startups, but when it comes to the way they approach buying new enterprise solutions, especially from new entrants, they still often act like traditional enterprise behemoths. But from the standpoint of a true startup, closing deals with just a few big customers is critical to success. […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Learn how enterprise startups win big deals at TechCrunch’s Enterprise show on Sept. 5 August 8, 2019 at 08:00AM

Salesforce is acquiring ClickSoftware for $1.35B Another day, another Salesforce acquisition. Just days after closing the hefty $15.7 billion Tableau deal, the company opened its wallet again, this time announcing it has bought field service software company ClickSoftware for a tidy $1.35 billion. This one is designed to beef up the company’s field service offering under the Service Cloud umbrella. In […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Salesforce is acquiring ClickSoftware for $1.35B August 8, 2019 at 07:00AM

With MapR fire sale, Hadoop’s promise has fallen on hard times If you go back about a decade, Hadoop was hot and getting hotter. It was a platform for processing big data, just as big data was emerging from the domain of a few web-scale companies to one where every company was suddenly concerned about processing huge amounts of data. The future was bright, an open […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - With MapR fire sale, Hadoop’s promise has fallen on hard times August 8, 2019 at 05:00AM

Only 48 hours left for early-bird tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 If enterprise software makes your entrepreneurial heart beat faster, you do not want to miss TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 on September 5 in San Francisco. And if you really want to make your heart sing, buy an early-bird ticket and save $100. But act quickly, because that deal disappears in just 48 hours on August […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Only 48 hours left for early-bird tickets to TC Sessions: Enterprise 2019 August 8, 2019 at 03:00AM

In a 130-page court filing, Kik claims the SEC’s lawsuit ‘twists’ the facts about its online token Kik Interactive has hit back at the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that claims a $100 million token sale was illegal. The company, which owns Kik Messenger, filed a 130-page response today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the SEC is “twisting” the facts about its token, called […] Social – TechCrunch - In a 130-page court filing, Kik claims the SEC’s lawsuit ‘twists’ the facts about its online token August 8, 2019 at 02:00AM

Ment.io wants to help your team make decisions Getting even the most well-organized team to agree on anything can be hard. Tel Aviv’s Ment.io, formerly known as Epistema, wants to make this process easier by applying smart design and a dose of machine learning to streamline the decision-making process. Like with so many Israeli startups, Ment.io’s co-founders Joab Rosenberg and Tzvika Katzenelson got […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Ment.io wants to help your team make decisions August 8, 2019 at 01:00AM

Rookout lands $8M Series A to expand debugging platform Rookout, a startup that provides debugging across a variety of environments including serverless and containers, announced an $8 million Series A investment today. It plans to use the money to expand beyond its debugging roots. The round was led by Cisco Investments along with existing investors TLV Partners and Emerge. Nat Friedman, CEO of GitHub; […] Enterprise – TechCrunch - Rookout lands $8M Series A to expand debugging platform August 8, 2019 at 12:02AM