Slack has a ChatGPT app, too

Image: Salesforce

Slack is the latest app to integrate ChatGPT into its tech. OpenAI built a ChatGPT app using Slack's development tools. And it's now available in beta. The app can draft messages and summarize conversations and threads. If you have the app installed, you can click on a thread's menu button and select the "summarize thread" or "draft reply" option. The app can then create a summary or response that only you can see. You can then choose to share what's done.

According to Slack, you can use AI to deliver answers and insights on any project or topic chatbot-style. It suggests you can use the feature to look up best practices or research a potential customer. Slack noted that OpenAI won't use the data the ChatGPT app can access to train its language models.

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Salesforce buys Slack for US$27.7 billion

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There's another significant acquisition in the business software segment. Cloud computing giant Salesforce is buying workplace chat app Slack for US$27.7 billion, making it Salesforce's biggest acquisition yet. According to a press release from both companies, "Under the terms of the agreement, Slack shareholders will receive $26.79 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $27.7 billion based on the closing price of Salesforce's common stock on November 30, 2020."

While we don't know what this would mean for the app, it seemed like this acquisition was a long time coming as the company hasn't been profitable in recent years, even as COVID-19 has forced more and more companies to focus on remote and online work. Slack continues to face intense pressure from competition like Microsoft Teams. Maybe this acquisition will make it easier for both companies to go against their competition.

One thing is certain, a Salesforce-backed Slack now has the latitude to be a dominant player in the business-software space. Not only do we expect tighter integration between Slack and Salesforce products and services, the staggering Salesforce partner ecosystem will be opened up to Slack which can potentially be the nerve-center of a businesses communication and activity. We're talking project management, marketing, sales, CRM, support and other functions piped into Slack. The future is bright and the software landscape had definitely changed because of this acquisition.

Source: The Verge

Salesforce ‘walked away’ from Twitter bid

With Google, Disney, and Apple supposedly out of the picture, Salesforce was the other big company rumoured to be taking over Twitter. But according to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff that’s also over. “In this case we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us,” Benioff told the Financial Times. Now, it looks like Twitter won’t have a buyer anytime soon. Salesforce confirmed Benioff’s quote but didn’t have any additional comments. Twitter, on the other hand, declined to comment.

Source: CNET

Microsoft and salesforce.com announce global, strategic partnership

It's a week of blockbuster partnerships and acquisitons. This time around, Microsoft as decided to stragegize the future of the cloud with Salesforce.com. Hit jump for the full details of the partnership.

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