Maxwell Lu, formerly a product engineer at Salesforce and the head of revenue operations at a previous startup, found himself frustrated by the task of re-listening to sales calls to write up notes and fill out entries in customer relationship management (CRM) software. Searching for a better way, he decided to build tech that could […] Pilot AI taps algorithms to extract info from sales calls by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Amid the declining smartphone market, premium devices are having their moment. These pricy devices made up more than half of the worldwide smartphone market’s revenue, according to a report from Counterpoint. The analytics company’s report says that premium devices (with a wholesale value of $600 or more) grew by 1% year-on-year in terms of shipment […] Consumers are splurging on premium smartphones amid tough economic conditions, report says by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

TikTok is announcing updates to its community guidelines that are designed to make the app a more secure environment for users. The company has overhauled the guidelines to make them easier to understand, and added new policies on AI and climate misinformation. TikTok has also added more detail about its existing policies regarding civil and […] TikTok overhauls its community guidelines, adds new policies on AI and climate misinformation by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Mecanizou provides auto parts and the price following input of a car's basic information. Mechanics can purchase the parts in one click and receive the parts in one hour. Mecanizou, now with $14.5M, plans to expand auto parts marketplace in São Paulo by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Today, I had a video call with my boss, but my internet connection was so bad that my video feed ended up freezing in the most unflattering pose possible. I had to explain to my boss that I wasn't actually making a weird face on purpose. FML

Today, I got pulled over for speeding. I know that I was in the wrong and will take responsibility for that. When the cop handed me my ticket, he asked me if I was smoking crack. I denied it because I don't do drugs. He asked me what that foul odor was. I was passing gas. FML

Organizations dealing with large amounts of data often struggle to ensure that data remains high-quality. According to a survey from Great Expectations, which creates open source tools for data testing, 77% of companies have data quality issues and 91% believe that it’s impacting their performance. In light of that, unsurprisingly, business has been quite healthy […] Sifflet raises cash to expand its data observability platform by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Wingtra’s drones are used to perform surveying missions by organizations around the world, including NASA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Now the startup is mapping out a new expansion strategy after landing $22 million in Series B funding, which it will use to improve its current tech and add new features. “Our product roadmap […] Mapping drone startup Wingtra is charting a new future after landing $22M by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch

After months of regulatory delays, Apple users in South Korea finally saw the launch of Apple Pay today. As with other markets, Apple’s wallet and payment service in Korea will work across iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac.  “Apple Pay is available from today in South Korea,” Duncan Olby, who is leading Apple Pay, Wallet […] Apple Pay is now available in South Korea by Kate Park originally published on TechCrunch

Today, my dog was about to get hit by a tree branch, so I yelled for him to move. He got mad and started barking at me. And got nailed by the tree branch. FML

French startup Roundtable has raised a $3.2 million (€3 million) funding round from a hundred business angels. That’s quite a large group of individual investors — but that’s because Roundtable runs an angel investment platform for European startups. Backed by eFounders, the company takes care of the administrative, legal and financial processes involved with startup […] Roundtable raises funding round on Roundtable by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

In this video, I teach an English phrase! By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

Today, I told my boss that my grandma died to get a day off work, but then my grandma showed up at the office looking for me because she wanted to go shopping. FML

Today, my boyfriend decided to "spice up sex" by talking like an anime character. We had to stop after the line, "Your vagina will crumble before the power of my Hypercock!" FML

Can you complete this English expression? It means “something (one) doesn’t enjoy. Not (one’s) cup of …… a) coffee b) tea c) water d) wine The answer is below! Answer: b) tea Not (one’s) cup of tea! Example: “Swimming is not my cup of tea.” By I Talk You Talk Press – Easy English Reading

Today, I’m too damn nice. I bought a cart of groceries for someone who was asking for help buying food outside a grocery store, so now I get to deal with the self-hatred that comes with being too nice for my own good. Again. FML

Duolingo, a language learning app with over 500 million users, is working on a music app, TechCrunch has learned. The Pittsburgh-based tech company currently has a small team working on a music product and is hiring a learning scientist who is an “expert in music education who combines both theoretical knowledge of relevant learning science […] Duolingo is working on a music app by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package. Daily Crunch: Amazon CEO says laying off 9,000 more workers ‘is best for the company long-term’ by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

While trying to gain traction, most of your time and attention should be focused on imitating successful marketing tactics. When it comes to early-stage growth marketing, it’s often better to imitate than innovate by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

Today, my husband asked what I’d done all day. I took it as a criticism and was about to chew his head off about not appreciating all I do, when I took a look at myself still in pyjamas, the filthy house, dirty plates, and unwashed laundry and realised I’ve done fuck all for weeks. I’m a bad wife. FML

Somewhere along the way, ProMat turned into a robotics show. It’s no surprise, of course. Logistics and automation go hand in hand these days. In the decade since Amazon absorbed Kiva, same- and next-day delivery have become an industry standard. Retailers who can’t match those once impossible speeds are destined to fall behind — and […] Pickle launches its truck unloading robot arm by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Aembit, a Maryland-based security startup that focuses on helping DevOps and security teams manage how federated workloads talk to each other, is officially launching its service today and announcing a $16.6 million seed funding round from Ballistic Ventures and Ten Elven Ventures. In essence, Aembit’s workload identity and access management service applies industry knowledge, from […] Aembit raises $16.6M to bring identity management to workloads by Frederic Lardinois originally published on TechCrunch

Today, my daughter brought home her class hamster for the weekend. It escaped and we spent hours searching for it. We later found it in the fridge, eating our leftover pizza. I never knew hamsters had such a refined palate. FML

For many tech companies, investors are applying a new valuation method that has caught our eye: AI proficiency. For tech titans, AI prominence is the new measuring stick by Alex Wilhelm originally published on TechCrunch

Twitter appears to be testing a new verification process for Twitter Blue subscribers that would involve submitting a government ID. Code-level insights reveal a process for submitting a photo of the user’s ID, both front and back, along with a selfie photo to verify their Twitter account. The feature is listed alongside others only available […] Twitter testing government ID-based verification, new screenshots show by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

We firmly believe that all founders must have access to the tech world’s immense opportunities — and to our events. The TechCrunch Include Founders program is designed to promote and increase diversity at our events by making them more affordable to historically underrepresented founders. Building more diversity at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 Eligible TC Include founders […] Announcing the TC Include Founders program at Disrupt 2023 by Lauren Simonds originally published on TechCrunch

Today, I finally got an interview for the job I want. The interviewer looked at my resumé and asked, "So, what have you been doing for the past 10 years?" I guess binge-watching Netflix wasn't the right answer. FML

Filmustage is an AI-powered platform that’s designed to streamline pre-production in the film industry using a variety of features, such as the ability to break down scripts in a few minutes and categorize them into scenes and elements like props, costumes and characters. The startup announced today that it raised $550,000 in VC funding. The […] Filmustage leverages AI to breakdown film scripts, create shooting schedules and more by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

Netflix has announced that it has 40 games slated for launch this year and has 70 in development with its partners. The company also has 16 games currently being developed by its in-house game studios. Netflix launched games in November 2021 and has released 55 titles since then. The streaming service says it’s committed to […] Netflix plans to release 40 more games this year, will add Monument Valley in 2024 by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

With turbulent economies, companies are looking for more revenue streams to survive, and one obvious way to increase revenues is to streamline costs. Given companies can often use both manual processing and sometimes even more than one external tool to manage B2B payments, this is an obvious area in which to improve efficiency. A good […] Berlin’s Monite raises $5M Seed for its embedded B2B payments platform by Mike Butcher originally published on TechCrunch