AWS Outage Disrupts Services, Salesforce Eyes Slack Acquisition
November 25, 2020 — A major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage sent ripples across the digital landscape today, impacting businesses and consumers alike. Meanwhile, Salesforce’s potential acquisition of Slack made headlines, and Pinterest explored new virtual event features. Here’s your daily tech roundup.
AWS Outage Cripples North American Services
Amazon Web Services experienced widespread disruptions earlier today, affecting platforms dependent on its cloud infrastructure. From smart home devices like Roomba to enterprise services from Adobe and Roku, the outage underscored AWS’s critical role in modern tech ecosystems.
- Scope: Primarily impacted North America
- Response: AWS confirmed efforts to resolve the issue
- Affected Services: Adobe, Roku, and other major platforms reported disruptions
Tech Giants Make Moves
Salesforce in Talks to Acquire Slack
Reports suggest that Salesforce is considering a blockbuster acquisition of Slack, sending the latter’s stock soaring. If finalized, this deal could reshape the enterprise collaboration space.
Pinterest Tests Virtual Event Support
Pinterest is experimenting with dedicated class communities, allowing users to sign up for Zoom-based classes directly through the platform. This move aligns with the growing demand for virtual engagement tools.
France Implements Digital Tax on Tech Giants
France has begun enforcing a digital services tax targeting companies with:
- Global revenue exceeding €750 million
- French revenue surpassing €25 million
- Operations in marketplaces or digital advertising
Startups & Funding Roundup
Unacademy Hits $2B Valuation with Tiger Global Backing
India’s leading edtech startup, Unacademy, secured fresh funding to expand its exam-prep platform for competitive college admissions.
WeGift Raises $8M for Digital Rewards Platform
London-based WeGift aims to modernize the $700B incentives industry with seamless digital reward solutions.
Cast.ai Lands $7.7M to Simplify Multi-Cloud Management
The startup Cast.ai helps businesses optimize costs by leveraging multiple cloud providers without vendor lock-in.
Extra Crunch Insights
- Insurtech Boom: Metromile plans to go public via SPAC, capitalizing on the insurtech sector’s rapid growth.
- VC Spotlight: Join Sapphire’s Jai Das for a live Q&A on startup investing trends (details here).
Tech Culture & More
- Smart Fitness Gifts: Check out the latest innovative exercise gear for home workouts.
- 2020 in a Nutshell: An interactive dumpster fire perfectly captures the year’s chaos.
Stay updated with the biggest tech stories—subscribe to the Daily Crunch newsletter.
