Author: TechBrunch

Substack is launching a feature that allows writers to paywall entire chats or specific threads to paid or founding members only, the company announced Wednesday. The rollout of this new feature comes 18 months after Substack launched chat as a way for writers to communicate directly with their loyal readers. The company believes that paywalled chats help keep conversations intimate and prevent trolls, while also serving as a paid perk for readers. According to Substack, its data shows that active Chat participants are 12% more likely to maintain their subscription. Writers can choose to paywall the entire chat or individual…

Atlassian today announced Rovo, its new AI assistant, during the Team '24 conference in Las Vegas. Rovo takes data from first-party and third-party tools and makes it easily accessible through new AI-powered search tools and other integrations into Atlassian products. Most interesting, however, may be the new Rovo Agent, which can be used to automate workflows in tools like Jira and Confluence. The great thing about these agents is that anyone can build them using a natural language interface. No programming required. “We like to think of Rovo as a large-scale knowledge model for organizations. It's a knowledge discovery product…

Atlassian today announced at the Team '24 event in Las Vegas that it is merging Jira Software and Jira Service Management into a single product branded “Jira.” Atlassian's flagship project management tool, Jira, has its roots in software development and issue tracking for developers, but over the past few years, the company has also started releasing versions of Jira for other teams. These include Jira Work Management for business teams such as marketing, sales, and human resources. It was released in 2021 and replaced a previous product called Jira Core. “We believe that great teams are built on a foundation…

Razer is in trouble with the FTC over masks it manufactured and sold during the coronavirus pandemic. The issue will cost about $1.1 million and will get some bad press. Yes, a mask. When you think of the word “Razer,” you think of different things, right? You probably think of gaming keyboards and mice when you think of this brand. Heck, I have her Razer mouse connected to my computer at work right now. that's great. But that's not the case with the company's masks, and that's the problem. Razer has been in trouble with authorities because their alleged N95…

WhatsApp is introducing a new way for people to host events in their communities, the company announced Wednesday. This feature makes it easy to plan gatherings and events directly on WhatsApp, such as setting up a PTA meeting or birthday dinner. Anyone can create an event that others can respond to, so other members in the group can see who is planning to attend. Users can find the event on the group's information page, and those who attend the event will receive notifications as the event date approaches. This new feature will first be available to groups in your community…

Startups don't shy away from big projects. That's the conclusion we draw from the news that The Browser Company's Arc browser is now generally available for Windows users. Just as Island raised a ton of money for its enterprise browser tools. It's very encouraging to see startups pursuing the core technology, not just the apps on the platform. Of course, Chromium still reigns supreme, but it may take a while to unseat that horse. Elsewhere on Startup Land this week, we delved into Chowdeck's $2.5 million round on Equity. The company is a Nigerian company that has achieved impressive growth…

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Whitty told senators on Wednesday that the company is responding to a recent cyber attack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare and that all of its systems exposed to the internet have been compromised. He said he has enabled multi-factor authentication. The lack of multi-factor authentication was at the heart of the ransomware attack that hit Change Healthcare earlier this year, impacting pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics across the United States. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a basic cybersecurity mechanism that prevents hackers from using stolen passwords to break into your accounts and systems by requiring a second code…

Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in fall 2022, the Twitter replacement market has grown with competing candidates, ranging from small startups to open source apps to well-funded efforts like Instagram's Threads. It is saturated. But an overlooked Twitter/X alternative is growing up before our eyes. That's LinkedIn. As of March, LinkedIn's web traffic was up 10.6% year over year, while X's web traffic was down 15.2%, according to traffic analysis data from digital intelligence platform SimilarWeb. Compared to November 2022, right after Musk took over Twitter, X's web traffic was down 10%, but LinkedIn's traffic was up 18%. In March,…

Anthropic, one of the world's best-funded generative AI startups with $7.6 billion in the bank, is launching a new paid startup targeting companies including highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and law. We are launching a plan. The plan, called “Team,” gives customers preferential access to Anthropic's Claude 3 family of generative AI models, as well as additional administrative and user management controls. “Anthropic is introducing the Team plan in response to growing demand from enterprise customers who want to deploy Claude’s advanced AI capabilities across their organizations,” Scott White, product lead at Anthropic, told TechCrunch. . “Team plans…

Great news for anyone looking to experience the buzz at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Francisco without breaking the bank or requiring an extensive schedule. We've launched the Expo+ Pass, which offers a great opportunity to dive into the innovation and networking scene. The Expo+ pass is perfect for those who want to explore cutting-edge technology showcased by early-stage startups and make valuable connections. Whether you're scouting for a new job, co-founder, or seasoned talent. Seek potential investments or partnerships. Or whether you simply want to immerse yourself in the startup ecosystem, the Expo+ pass opens the door to countless…