Salesforce yields to activist pressure with harsh new policies for engineers, sales people
This could include performance reviews based on the quantity of code produced for engineers, a flawed way to measure engineering productivity, which encourages quantity over quality. While sales people are being put between a rock and a hard place, being asked to choose between signing a strict one-month performance improvement plan or taking an exit […]
Targeted at commercial and military, hydrogen-powered drones are coming
The drones are built to spec, and take two-three months to complete. The company is a little cagey about the exact pricing, but on the sly a source within the company suggests that you could probably buy a couple of Toyota Corollas for the price of one of its drones. Then again, Corollas don’t fly, […]
Relationship app Flamme, previously Sparks, rebrands and adds new AI tool
The app, which initially launched while the company was exhibiting at Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt last October, has been rebranded with a new interface. Flamme CEO Ankit Nayal told TechCrunch that the redesigned app incorporates feedback received from beta users and is easier to use than the original app. “With our launch at Disrupt […]
Hear how Tonkean built its impressive board of directors on TechCrunch Live
A startup lives or dies by its board of directors. Sagi Eliyahu co-founded Tonkean in 2015 and has since raised money from some top investors, including Joanne Chen from Foundation Capital. Chen joined Tonkean’s board of directors in 2019. The two are set to discuss the best ways for founders to work with their board […]
Voice Actors Push Back Against Their Voices Being Used by AI – Gizmodo
source
Peacock will no longer include its free Premium offering as part of Xfinity bundle on June 26
Peacock continues to shift its focus to paid subscriber growth. Yesterday, the streamer began notifying Xfinity customers that on June 26, 2023, Peacock Premium will no longer be bundled in at no extra charge, an NBC Universal spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. Plus, starting on April 3, new Xfinity subscribers will be able to get six […]
Royal Mail refused to pay ‘absurd’ LockBit ransom, chat logs say
The chat logs, if authentic, show that LockBit demanded an $80 million ransom payment, which it calculated to be 0.5% of Royal Mail’s annual revenue. Royal Mail’s negotiator appears to tell LockBit that they have confused Royal Mail International with Royal Mail and that the organization would not pay the demand. “Under no circumstances will […]
Meta improves its consumer-facing tool that explains why you’re seeing that ad
With the changes to the “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool, Facebook will now attempt to better explain to users how it makes those connections. It says that it will now summarize information about ad targeting into topics that inform users how their Facebook activity and engagement outside of Facebook may have informed its […]
Airbnb posts a record Q4 as travel recovers post-pandemic
In Q4, Airbnb’s revenue grew 24% year-over-year to $1.9 billion, according to the company, driven by an uptick in stays and Experiences, Airbnb’s curated selection of tours and events. Nights and Experiences booked increased 20% in Q4 2022 compared to a year ago, the company said, while guests stayed at locations longer. Gross nights booked […]
Bitcoin NFTs are growing quickly as community sees long-term potential
Ordinals, an NFT-like project on the Bitcoin blockchain, has gained momentum over the past month, signaling a chance that a new frontier may be on the horizon for the biggest cryptocurrency. But in order to be the biggest, experts say its accessibility and security need to be improved. “It seems foolish to say this won’t […]