Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch PM. Hey, y'all, it's me again, Dom, your guest writer this afternoon. We have so much to get to today, like Snap's new AI glasses, iOS 18 highlights, and much more. Let's dive in!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

💔 Layoffs at Cisco: This is the second time Cisco has held layoffs this year, this time affecting 5,600 employees, or around 7% of its workforce. There has been some drama with the layoffs and employees, with one calling Cisco's workplace the "most toxic environment" they've ever worked in. Read more

⏰ Wake up, babe, a new social app just dropped! SocialAI is a platform that lets people do the usual microblogging, but the catch here is that it's filled with AI-powered bots (and only AI-powered bots) that respond to a post. No humans allowed. Read more

📲 iOS 18 is here: We have a breakdown of some cool new product features in iOS 18. One standout — you can replace Apple as the default camera on the lock screen with a third-party app. Read more

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: mathisworks / Getty Images

🛍️ Scooping up AI: Workday announced today that it acquired the AI contract management platform Evisort. Workday has been buying up AI technology since at least 2014 and announced last year that its venture fund would expand by $250 million to support more AI and machine learning. Read more

🏞️ Flagging AI images: Google will start making it clear in its search engine which images were generated by AI or edited by AI tools. Read more

👻 Snapchat tests: At its annual Snap Partner Summit, the company announced it's letting some users experience a more "simplified" version of its app, without Snap Map or Stories. It appears the team is trying to focus the app on three areas: pictures, chatting, and entertainment. Read more

🤓 More Snap news: Brian Heater tested out Snap's Spectacles, calling them "extremely large" but impressive. Read more

💰 Money, money: GreenLite, which wants to standardize the permitting process in the construction industry, announced the closing of a $28.5 million Series A led by Craft Ventures. The company has raised $36.5 million in total. Read more

🎹 Swan song: AWS shut down its MIDI keyboard experiment after five years. The DeepComposer lets users create songs with AI. Read more

🎙️ Ch-ch-ch-changes: On the Found podcast this week, we chatted with Prukalpa Sankar about her data company Atlan and the changes she has seen these past few years in the data and AI space. Read more

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Around the web

💳 Change of hands: JPMorgan is looking to take over Apple's credit card from Goldman Sachs. Goldman decided to part ways with Apple last year, and the tech giant has been searching for a new partner ever since. Read more

🎥 TikTok for news: TikTok is still a very popular app, especially among young students. Though it's facing a ban in the U.S., Bloomberg reports that nearly 40% of young adults still get their news from the platform — for better or worse. Read more

🥇 Netflix's big win: The Financial Times did a deep dive into Netflix's turnaround, declaring it the winner of the streaming wars. It comes as all the other wannabe streaming giants are still trying to figure out how to stay in the race. Read more