In other Google news, Firebase Studio has been launched to allow users to build quality AI apps “quickly, all in one place.” Studio is powered by Gemini and builds on the foundations of the app creation platform, Firebase, that Google acquired in 2014. Some people argue that no-code development of enterprise-ready AI apps is a threat to commercial SaaS software.
Google developers have created a new open protocol Agent2Agent (A2A) that helps AI agents collaborate (and/or conspire) across platforms and applications. The initiative is supported by a long list of tech and service providers, from Salesforce and SAP to Accenture and Deloitte. It is designed to complement Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol which has similar aims.
Twitch has flinched. The Amazon-owned live streaming platform has joined the list of companies caving to right-wing bullying, by reaching a deal to resolve claims that Twitch was part of a conspiracy to withdraw advertising from X. MediaPost reports the federal judge on the case has refused to accept the deal because the parties requested a nine month pause while they worked out details.
With CDP vendors increasing their workforces by 3.4% in six months, compared with an average of 0.2% each six months over the prior two years, the sector seems to be growing again, according to our own semi-annual industry update. There is much talk of composable CDPs but they still employ no more than 5% of the sector workforce. What is a clear trend is the acquisition of independent CDPs by vendors interested in adding a CDP to a larger system (usually an activation system).