#appdirect
#appdirect

European startups

Instacart acquires Instaleap to expand its enterprise platform internationally | TechCrunch

Business

Raymond James Just Upgraded Instacart to Outperform: Is the Grocery Delivery War Finally Turning in Its Favor?

Instacart received an upgrade to Outperform from Raymond James, indicating strong growth potential and a compelling entry point for investors.

European startups

Instacart acquires Instaleap to expand its enterprise platform internationally | TechCrunch

Business

Raymond James Just Upgraded Instacart to Outperform: Is the Grocery Delivery War Finally Turning in Its Favor?

Instacart received an upgrade to Outperform from Raymond James, indicating strong growth potential and a compelling entry point for investors.

more#instacart

How vibe coding app Anything is rebuilding after getting booted from the App Store twice | TechCrunch

Dhruv Amin stated, 'We built a mobile app primarily to let our users who are building iOS apps preview their own app on their own device while developing it. [We] had no problems through December. Post December, we and everyone else in the category started getting our updates blocked.'

Apple

#ai

fromFast Company

14 hours ago

Mission District

An AI agent opened a store in San Francisco. Then it forgot the staff

fromsfist.com

6 hours ago

NYC startup

New Boutique in SF's Cow Hollow Is Completely Run by AI, Which Manages Human Staff

17 hours ago

Software development

Max Levchin says that vibe coding will replace one kind of company, but others, like DoorDash, are safe

Artificial intelligence

An AI built a boutique with $100,000, then panicked when no one showed up to work

fromDevOps.com

DevOps

CloudBees Delivers on AI Promise to Improve Application Testing - DevOps.com

Artificial intelligence

Anthropic's Just Triggered Another SaaS Sell-Off: Are Software Stocks Uninvestable?

Mission District

fromFast Company

14 hours ago

An AI agent opened a store in San Francisco. Then it forgot the staff

Andon Market is the first AI-run store in the Bay Area, managed by an AI named Luna.

NYC startup

fromsfist.com

6 hours ago

New Boutique in SF's Cow Hollow Is Completely Run by AI, Which Manages Human Staff

An AI agent successfully launched a retail store but failed to schedule staff for opening day.

17 hours ago

Max Levchin says that vibe coding will replace one kind of company, but others, like DoorDash, are safe

Companies without quality software are vulnerable to disruption in the age of AI.

An AI built a boutique with $100,000, then panicked when no one showed up to work

AI can manage a retail store but struggles with consistency and communication.

fromDevOps.com

CloudBees Delivers on AI Promise to Improve Application Testing - DevOps.com

CloudBees Smart Tests uses AI to prioritize tests, reducing CI/CD processing time significantly.

Anthropic's Just Triggered Another SaaS Sell-Off: Are Software Stocks Uninvestable?

Anthropic's Claude Managed Agents threaten SaaS stocks, causing significant market losses and raising concerns about the future of the sector.

The Role of Dedicated Servers in Scaling Modern Businesses

Infrastructure investment is crucial for SMEs to ensure reliability, performance, and user experience in a competitive digital landscape.

fromThedrum

19 hours ago

impact.com acquires Pressboard, providing publishers with a best-in-class platform for branded content as digital advertising is deprioritised

Acquisition enhances publishers' tools to adapt to changing consumer attitudes towards advertising, improving partnerships and revenue generation.

Games

7 hours ago

How the rewards app Freecash scammed its way to the top of the app stores | TechCrunch

Freecash misled users by promoting itself as a money-making app while harvesting sensitive data.

fromInfoQ

23 hours ago

Platform Engineering: Lessons from the Rise and Fall of eBay Velocity

eBay pioneered many technologies but ultimately could not save the company despite doubling engineering productivity.

Silicon Valley

fromThe Nation

How Silicon Valley Is Turning Scientists Into Exploited Gig Workers

Silicon Valley's success is deeply rooted in government-funded research, which has been crucial for foundational technologies.

Cloudflare Named a Top Q1 Pick by Mizuho Despite Price Target Cut: Is Now the Time to Buy?

Mizuho maintains an Outperform rating on Cloudflare while lowering its price target to $235, reflecting sector recalibration, not a loss of confidence.

The Real Reason Cloudflare Is Down 11% Today Has Nothing to Do With Insider Selling

Insider selling at Cloudflare is routine and does not indicate trouble; the real concern is competition from Anthropic's new AI offerings.

Business

Cloudflare Named a Top Q1 Pick by Mizuho Despite Price Target Cut: Is Now the Time to Buy?

Mizuho maintains an Outperform rating on Cloudflare while lowering its price target to $235, reflecting sector recalibration, not a loss of confidence.

fromHarvard Business Review

The Real Reason Cloudflare Is Down 11% Today Has Nothing to Do With Insider Selling

Insider selling at Cloudflare is routine and does not indicate trouble; the real concern is competition from Anthropic's new AI offerings.

Google Cloud introduces QueryData to help AI agents create reliable database queries

QueryData enhances AI agents' accuracy in querying databases by translating natural language into precise database queries.

Digital life

How AI Is Threatening Platforms' Revenue Streams

Online activity and centralized digital services have created a platform-dependent society, influencing markets, labor, and consumer behavior.

E-Commerce

fromForbes

Why The AI Checkout Debate Misses The Real Shift In Retail

AI is reshaping retail by determining visibility and influencing consumer decisions through personalized insights and streamlined processes.

LinkedIn is quietly moving into the AI training business

LinkedIn is launching an AI labor marketplace for training chatbots, offering up to $150 an hour for various roles.

X says it's reducing payments to clickbait accounts | TechCrunch

Bier stated, 'It became abundantly clear: flooding the timeline with 100 stolen reposts and clickbait everyday crowded-out real creators and hurt new author growth.' He emphasized that X will not compensate for manipulation of the program or its users.

Social media marketing

#saas

fromTNW | Events

Barcelona

SaaS on the Beach returns to Barcelona

The SaaS-Pocalypse's Biggest Losers: Figma, Duolingo, and Monday.com Suffer Brutal Meltdowns

AI advancements have significantly impacted software-as-a-service stocks, leading to substantial declines in major companies like Figma, Duolingo, and Monday.com.

fromTNW | Events

Barcelona

SaaS on the Beach returns to Barcelona

The SaaS-Pocalypse's Biggest Losers: Figma, Duolingo, and Monday.com Suffer Brutal Meltdowns

AI advancements have significantly impacted software-as-a-service stocks, leading to substantial declines in major companies like Figma, Duolingo, and Monday.com.

The "SaaS-Pocalypse" Continues: Cloudflare, ServiceNow, CrowdStrike Under Fire as Anthropic Rewrites the Rules

The release of Anthropic's AI security product has significantly impacted investor confidence in enterprise software companies, leading to sharp stock declines.

#salesforce

Tech industry

Salesforce is taking on ServiceNow in ITSM. The winner is AI

Business intelligence

Salesforce announces an AI-heavy makeover for Slack, with 30 new features | TechCrunch

Salesforce is taking on ServiceNow in ITSM. The winner is AI

Salesforce's ITSM product is gaining traction, with some customers switching from ServiceNow, but it still holds a small market share.

Salesforce announces an AI-heavy makeover for Slack, with 30 new features | TechCrunch

Salesforce enhances Slack with AI features, including reusable skills and improved Slackbot capabilities for task automation and integration with external services.

Prime Video Just Won the Streaming Wars as Amazon Absorbs Apple TV Content

Prime Video partners with Apple TV, integrating its content as an add-on subscription for enhanced streaming options.

Amazon Luna ends support for third-party subscriptions and game purchases

Amazon is discontinuing third-party integrations on Luna, affecting subscriptions and game access.

Games

Amazon Luna axes third-party game purchases

Amazon Luna will restrict access to only its subscription games, removing third-party purchases and subscriptions by June 2026.

Video games

fromEngadget

Amazon Luna ends support for third-party subscriptions and game purchases

Amazon is discontinuing third-party integrations on Luna, affecting subscriptions and game access.

Games

Amazon Luna axes third-party game purchases

Amazon Luna will restrict access to only its subscription games, removing third-party purchases and subscriptions by June 2026.

Cloudflare Introduces EmDash: TypeScript CMS Positioned as WordPress Successor

EmDash is a new open-source CMS by Cloudflare, designed to enhance security and scalability compared to WordPress.

Privacy professionals

fromArs Technica

Dad stuck in support nightmare after teen lied about age on Discord

Discord failed to provide adequate support for a hacked account belonging to a minor, despite knowing the user's age.

Gadgets

fromSFGATE

Anker's 100W 7-in-1 Power Strip is matching its all-time low price

Anker's 100W 7-in-1 Power Strip offers efficient charging with multiple ports and retractable cables, enhancing organization and convenience for home offices.

Wasabi acquires Lyve Cloud from Seagate

Wasabi acquires Lyve Cloud to enhance its enterprise cloud storage offerings and customer base, focusing on scalability and security.

Remote teams

fromInc

Alternative transportation

3 Principles to Help Your Business Thrive in the AI Era

Predictability is less common in business today; small firms are better positioned for flexibility and rapid adaptation to change.

fromTNW | Amazon

Uber joins Amazon's Trainium roster with AWS expansion deal

Uber expands AWS contract to enhance ride-matching infrastructure using Amazon's Graviton4 and pilots AI model training on Trainium3.

Apple

fromComputerworld

7 hours ago

Apple Business rolls out to 200+ countries today

Managed Apple accounts enhance device management for businesses, separating private and company data.

Wine

fromInsideHook

Everything That Happens When You Order Booze Online

Buying alcohol online involves complex regulations and logistics managed by companies like Vista Fulfillment Group.

Media industry

fromwww.npr.org

Why OpenAI bought 'SportsCenter for Silicon Valley'

OpenAI acquires TBPN to influence the narrative around AI and engage with the tech community.

fromTechRepublic

8 hours ago

HubSpot launches AEO tool for AI visibility in search

HubSpot launched an AEO tool to help businesses track AI visibility and improve content recommendations within Marketing Hub.

fromTNW | Investors-Funding

15 hours ago

OpenAI acquires Hiro, an AI personal finance startup

Hiro Finance is shutting down on April 20, with user data deletion by May 13, following its acquisition by OpenAI.

Cloudflare introduces new features for building and deploying agents

Cloudflare is transforming AI development with Dynamic Workers, Sandboxes, and Artifacts for secure, scalable, and efficient code execution.

Microsoft is working on yet another OpenClaw-like agent | TechCrunch

Microsoft is testing OpenClaw-like features for its Microsoft 365 Copilot tool aimed at enterprise customers with enhanced security controls.

#microsoft

Microsoft is testing OpenClaw-like AI bots for 365 Copilot

Microsoft is integrating OpenClaw features into 365 Copilot for autonomous task completion.

Microsoft cuts cloudy desktop prices by 20 percent

Microsoft is reducing Windows 365 cloud PC prices by 20% to enhance cost-effectiveness for small and medium businesses starting May 1st.

Microsoft is testing OpenClaw-like AI bots for 365 Copilot

Microsoft is integrating OpenClaw features into 365 Copilot for autonomous task completion.

Microsoft cuts cloudy desktop prices by 20 percent

Microsoft is reducing Windows 365 cloud PC prices by 20% to enhance cost-effectiveness for small and medium businesses starting May 1st.

OpenAI Just Did Retailers A Favor By Killing In-Chat Checkout

AI is excelling in the discovery phase of commerce but struggles with direct purchases.

Digital life

fromComputerworld

Google's new AI app is a glimpse of the future

Offline AI tools like Google's AI Edge Eloquent provide essential functionality for users with limited connectivity.

Television

fromCBR

Say Goodbye to a Major Streaming Service as Prime Video Phaseout Begins

Prime Video replaces its Ad Free plan with a new, improved Ultra plan featuring higher pricing and enhanced streaming options.

#ai-adoption

Silicon Valley

Visa is burning through nearly 2 trillion AI tokens a month and rewarding employees for building faster

fromFortune

Startup companies

Intuit was an AI pioneer. Why its stock became a SaaSpocalypse casualty | Fortune

Silicon Valley

Visa is burning through nearly 2 trillion AI tokens a month and rewarding employees for building faster

Visa is significantly increasing its AI token usage, rewarding teams for impactful results rather than just output.

fromFortune

Intuit was an AI pioneer. Why its stock became a SaaSpocalypse casualty | Fortune

Being an early adopter of AI does not guarantee protection against market panic, as shown by Intuit's stock performance during the SaaSpocalypse.

more#ai-adoption

fromwww.engadget.com

1 week ago

Apple Arcade just got two indie gems

Dredge+ is the complete edition of the game, with all released DLC content. This is pretty much a perfect video game that combines fishing with bone-chilling horror.

Board games

AWS ponders selling its home-grown chips by the rack-load

Amazon's chip business could generate ~$50 billion annually if sold independently, highlighting significant demand and growth potential.

European startups

fromTNW | Finance

BILL lets enterprise suppliers collect from any SMB, even ones not on its platform

BILL's Supplier Payments Plus now allows enterprise suppliers to accept payments from any SMB customer, streamlining payment processes and reducing collection times.

How ServiceNow gets customers to gorge at the AI trough

ServiceNow integrates AI into its offerings, providing tiered pricing based on AI capabilities for customers.

fromeLearning Industry

Leading AI Companies Driving Enterprise Adoption

Leading AI companies are essential for effective enterprise adoption, focusing on strategy and integration to drive measurable impact.

fromForbes

The Hottest Debate In Tech: Ads In AI

The debate in AI centers on the introduction of advertising in chatbot interactions and the financial implications of running AI systems.

fromDevOps.com

Ten Great DevOps Job Opportunities - DevOps.com

DevOps.com is launching a weekly jobs report to highlight opportunities for DevOps professionals.

E-Commerce

Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon are squeezing India's quick commerce startups | TechCrunch

India's quick commerce market is rapidly growing, with Flipkart expanding its dark store network amid intense competition and profitability challenges.

Broadcom combines AI and automation in Automic V26

Broadcom's Automic Automation V26 integrates AI into business processes while emphasizing control and governance to mitigate risks associated with unpredictability.

fromDigiday

19 hours ago

Ad Tech Briefing: The Trade Desk's 'changing of the guard' and a 'sign of the times'

Independent ad tech companies face challenges as MiQ expands through acquisitions while The Trade Desk experiences significant executive departures.

Goldman Says It's Time to Buy Tech. I'd Start With These Tech Deals

Goldman Sachs' Chief Equity Strategist Peter Oppenheimer has called the recent sell-off in U.S. tech stocks a rare 'buying opportunity,' suggesting that the current market conditions may favor investment in this sector.

Apple

fromExchangewire

15 hours ago

OpenX Repositions as The Intelligent SSP to Simplify Advertising

OpenX rebrands to simplify digital advertising and enhance media quality standards amid increasing complexity in the industry.

How to make the Startup Battlefield Top 20 - and what every company gets regardless | TechCrunch

The Startup Battlefield Top 20 showcases the most compelling startups ready for the Disrupt Stage, with a chance to win $100,000 and the Disrupt Cup.

1 week ago

Enterprise developers question Claude Code's reliability for complex engineering

Developers report declining effectiveness in debugging and complex tasks with coding assistants, citing issues with reasoning and quality regression after updates.

Apple

Meta's Muse Spark sent its AI app soaring up the App Store rankings

Meta AI's Muse Spark app saw a significant surge in downloads, reaching an all-time high in daily web visitors in the US.

AWS launches Agent Registry for managing AI agents

AWS introduces the Agent Registry to centralize AI agent management and reduce chaos in organizations deploying numerous agents.

AWS targets AI agent sprawl with new Bedrock Agent Registry

AWS introduces Agent Registry to help enterprises manage and govern AI agents effectively.

AWS launches Agent Registry for managing AI agents

AWS introduces the Agent Registry to centralize AI agent management and reduce chaos in organizations deploying numerous agents.

AWS targets AI agent sprawl with new Bedrock Agent Registry

AWS introduces Agent Registry to help enterprises manage and govern AI agents effectively.

Inside The Trade Desk's programmatic power struggle

The Trade Desk faces challenges as major agencies withdraw ad spend due to transparency concerns and competition in the programmatic ad industry.

#ai-agents

Microsoft exec suggests AI agents will need to buy software licenses, just like employees

AI agents may require their own identities and licenses, potentially expanding software revenue despite concerns about reduced human interaction.

How OpenAI's Codex figured out how to use Adobe software

AI agents are evolving to autonomously navigate and operate software, exemplified by Codex automating photo denoising in Adobe Lightroom.

Microsoft exec suggests AI agents will need to buy software licenses, just like employees

AI agents may require their own identities and licenses, potentially expanding software revenue despite concerns about reduced human interaction.

How OpenAI's Codex figured out how to use Adobe software

AI agents are evolving to autonomously navigate and operate software, exemplified by Codex automating photo denoising in Adobe Lightroom.

Google Cloud Highlights Ongoing Work on PostgreSQL Core Capabilities

Google Cloud has made significant technical contributions to PostgreSQL, enhancing logical replication, upgrade processes, and system stability.

NetSuite Expands AI Connector Service with MCP Apps

Oracle NetSuite enhances its AI Connector Service with new features for easier integration of AI assistants with NetSuite data and workflows.

fromWWD

Bridging the In-Store Digital Media Measurement Gap

In-store digital media investment stagnates due to misaligned goals, not measurement issues, requiring a shift to evaluating success through product movement.

European startups

3 weeks ago

NetApp in the age of AI: balancing sovereignty and cloud

Data sovereignty is reshaping enterprise technology strategies, particularly in Europe, as organizations prioritize control, accessibility, and compliance in their infrastructure.

fromAdExchanger

Hearst Built A Unified Ad Marketplace To Simplify Omnichannel News Buys | AdExchanger

Hearst is creating a unified programmatic marketplace for its news properties to simplify local news advertising and adapt to market changes.

#applovin

fromInvesting.com Canada

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an outperform rating, citing significant growth potential in e-commerce despite a stock decline.

fromInvesting.com South Africa

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie rates AppLovin as outperform with a $710 target, citing e-commerce expansion as a significant growth opportunity despite stock decline.

fromInvesting.com Australia

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an outperform rating, citing significant growth potential in e-commerce despite a stock decline.

Macquarie Initiates AppLovin at Outperform With a $710 Target: The Ad Tech Rocket Ship Has More Fuel

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an Outperform rating and a $710 price target, highlighting its growth potential in ad tech.

fromInvesting.com Canada

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an outperform rating, citing significant growth potential in e-commerce despite a stock decline.

fromInvesting.com South Africa

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie rates AppLovin as outperform with a $710 target, citing e-commerce expansion as a significant growth opportunity despite stock decline.

fromInvesting.com Australia

Macquarie sees AppLovin's e-commerce push as a multi-year growth driver By Investing.com

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an outperform rating, citing significant growth potential in e-commerce despite a stock decline.

Macquarie Initiates AppLovin at Outperform With a $710 Target: The Ad Tech Rocket Ship Has More Fuel

Macquarie initiated coverage of AppLovin with an Outperform rating and a $710 price target, highlighting its growth potential in ad tech.

Docusign CFO lays out the company's plans for a resurgence

Docusign is focusing on AI-driven Intelligent Agreement Management to drive future growth after experiencing a slowdown post-pandemic.

Meta AI app climbs to No. 5 on the App Store after Muse Spark launch | TechCrunch

Meta's AI app surged to No. 5 in U.S. App Store after launching Muse Spark, a significant upgrade over previous models.

Canva expands into marketing automation with new acquisitions | MarTech

Canva is acquiring Simtheory and Ortto to enhance its marketing execution capabilities and expand beyond creative tools.

Marketing tech

Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions | TechCrunch

fromMarTech

Canva expands into marketing automation with new acquisitions | MarTech

Canva is acquiring Simtheory and Ortto to enhance its marketing execution capabilities and expand beyond creative tools.

Marketing tech

Canva doubles down on AI and marketing automation with Simtheory, Ortto acquisitions | TechCrunch

more#canva

fromApp Developer Magazine

Env Zero and CloudQuery Announce Merger

env zero and CloudQuery merged to enhance cloud governance and asset management for enterprise teams.

ServiceNow makes its entire portfolio AI-native for every customer

ServiceNow is integrating AI into its entire product portfolio, eliminating separate AI licenses and introducing the Context Engine for enhanced decision-making.

The top priority for Adobe's next CEO? Prepping for the 'age of agents'

Adobe's next CEO must navigate the transition to real-world agentic AI and reshape the company's strategy and products.

fromMarTech

Is Adobe bringing AI-driven automation to Marketo? | MarTech

A new MCP server for Adobe Marketo Engage is expected to be announced at Adobe Summit, enhancing AI integration for marketing operations.

fromComputerworld

The top priority for Adobe's next CEO? Prepping for the 'age of agents'

Adobe's next CEO must navigate the transition to real-world agentic AI and reshape the company's strategy and products.

fromMarTech

Is Adobe bringing AI-driven automation to Marketo? | MarTech

A new MCP server for Adobe Marketo Engage is expected to be announced at Adobe Summit, enhancing AI integration for marketing operations.

AEO strategy for SaaS: 6 tactics that convert prospects into trials

AEO strategy is crucial for SaaS companies to enhance visibility in AI-driven search environments.

fromwww.bbc.com

1 week ago

Businesses scramble to get noticed by AI search

HubSpot lost 140 million visits due to AI changes in search behavior and algorithms.

#heroku

Tech industry

Salesforce puts Heroku out to PaaSture

Software development

Salesforce may be prepping to phase out Heroku

Tech industry

Salesforce puts Heroku out to PaaSture

Software development

Salesforce may be prepping to phase out Heroku

more#heroku

fromZDNET

1 month ago

How the rise of AI-native software could give SMBs enterprise-level power

Competition will heat up as AI-native challengers begin to chip away at market leaders across business processes and create new market segments that were previously unaddressed by software. In addition, new entrants are rapidly growing and disrupting the market with leaner operating models.

Artificial intelligence

fromFast Company