Thursday, May 16, 2024

Welcome back to TechCrunch PM. We have a continuation of a lot of news from this morning, so buckle up! This afternoon, I bring you news about new software tools, who is using AI now, how robots are helping astronauts stay upright and what the end of Meta’s Workplace really means.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: miakievy / Getty Images

Sigma gets into collaborative data analytics: Ten years ago, Sigma only offered a set of basic business intelligence and analytics tools to connect to a customer’s outside databases. Today, Sigma’s product suite consists of tools that let users analyze data “in place” in databases containing up to billions of records. Customers can tap the platform to build dashboards, reports, workflows and apps without data leaving its source. Read more

Agora grabs $34 million: Founder Bar Mor said Agora is building “Carta for real estate” after noticing that real estate investors did not have a dedicated system for keeping track of various back-office processes such as managing cash collected from rent, calculating and distributing proceeds to their LPs and many other administrative functions. Read more

Cobalt chips are near: Microsoft will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips to customers as a public preview at its Build conference next week. Read more

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Strava

New Strava features: The social fitness app unveiled some new features to, among other things, keep users from cheating. Read more

Bolt founder wants to settle with investor: Activant Capital, which was suing Bolt founder Ryan Breslow, is working through a proposed settlement that would have the beleaguered founder sell Bolt shares to pay back a personal loan. Read more

GrubMarket acquires Butter: GrubMarket, which provides software and services that help link up and manage relationships between food suppliers and their customers, is hoping to make the distribution process more digital and efficient via the acquisition of Butter, a SaaS platform that aims to digitize the traditionally manual food distribution process with AI. Read more

Robots are good for something: Engineers at MIT have developed an exoskeleton designed to help give astronauts more support and help right themselves after stumbling in the moon’s low gravity. The “SuperLimbs” are built into a backpack that contains the motors that power them, along with the astronaut’s life-support system. Read more

Sony Music sings a different tune about AI: TechCrunch got a look at some letters sent to more than 700 tech companies and music streaming services to warn them not to use its music to train AI without explicit permission. Read more

It’s the end of the Workplace as we know it: As Ron Miller reports, “Meta pulled the plug on the enterprise product, bringing the curtain down on the enterprise experiment nine years after it launched. It’s worth noting that there was some skepticism from the start that a company like Facebook could pull this off. The enterprise is a different animal from the consumer world. It values privacy and security and requires a set of back-end tools that are purpose-built for the enterprise.” Read more

Money, money, money

Khosla Ventures and Pear VC triple down on Honey Homes, a smart way to hire a handyman. Read more

CoLab, which makes collaborative tools for engineers, lines up $21 million in new funding. Read more

YC-backed Recall.ai gets $10 million in a Series A to help companies use virtual meeting data. Read more

Around the web

Image Credits: Getty Images/Patra Kongsirimongkolchai / EyeEm

Get into my Cruise: Fortune goes under the hood of Cruise to discuss how the company went from “sizzling startup to cautionary tale.” Read more

Trouble at Under Armour: CNBC reports that the popular sporting wear company is laying off workers amid a company restructuring. Read more

Bye-bye, Mirage: The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is set to close in July after a three-decade run, CNN reports. It’s becoming the Hard Rock Las Vegas and will reopen in 2027. Read more

TechCrunch Minute

Apple uses AI to make iPhones and iPads more accessible: New features include vocal shortcuts for easier hands-free control, and music haptics that will allow you to experience songs through taps, textures, and vibrations. And there’s eye tracking that will allow users to navigate their devices without additional hardware or accessories. Under the hood, this leverages AI to understand what the user is looking at and which gesture they want to perform, such as swiping and tapping. Hit play and let’s chat!