*By Jacqueline Corba*
Salesforce has saved a seat at its executive meetings for Einstein, an artificial intelligence-powered robot developed by the cloud computing company.
"The fact that we are using our own products to really drive our forecasting, it's pretty amazing," said Bob Stutz, CEO of Salesforce's Marketing Cloud. "It is really great to have that tool that you can use every single day to run your business."
Salesforce's chief executive, Marc Benioff, has been an outspoken proponent of the company's use of A.I., and said that Einstein has [been at every weekly senior staff meeting](http://fortune.com/2018/01/25/salesforce-benioff-einstein-davos-ai/) for the last year.
Stutz said Einstein pulls his weight on a team that has grown its quarterly revenue by 41 percent year over year.
"We are on an incredible tear right now," Stutz said in an interview with Cheddar. "It's really helping customers connect with their consumers across sales, marketing, service ー it's a real growth driver for us nowadays."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-salesforce-marketing-cloud-growth).
The start-up launched a pilot program at the Rockaways on Friday. The move comes shortly after Lime entered a partnership with Uber that allows Lime to integrate into the ride-hailing app. "To grow throughout the entire area, this is the first opportunity for us," says Caen Contee, Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and International Expansion.
The airline announced plans to launch the first direct link between Nairobi and New York, and the CEO believes this is a good first step for countries to invest in Africa. "It's statistically, by far, the youngest population on earth, and is, particularly in Kenya, heavily digitalized," Sebastian Mikosz tells Cheddar. "It's a continent of many opportunities."
The telecommunications company announced two additional unlimited plans for customers, a trend many other wireless companies are turning to. One is a basic plan that focuses on texts and calls, and the other, Unlimited Plus, allows for heavier data use. “One size doesn’t necessarily fit all,” says Brandon “Dow” Draper, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. "We're really starting to just tailor this to people's needs."
Uber laid off 100 backup drivers for in its autonomous driving division on Thursday, a sign that the fatal crash in Tempe, Ariz., has tempered the company's ambitions. "Uber is saying all the right things publicly, but the accident in Arizona has really set them back," says Mark Rechtin, executive editor at Motor Trend.
The subscription toy company creates boxes of creative DIY projects that are both educational and fun, says CEO Sandra Oh Lin. “We’re trying to instill that creative confidence as well as the tools.”
The $85 billion deal which closed last month is now back in question. The DoJ filed court papers challenging Judge Richard Leon's ruling in June that the government didn't sufficiently prove the merger violated antitrust laws. Cheddar’s Hope King and Brad Smith give us the details.
Microsoft announced on Thursday it would provide a free version of its group chatting app, betting that the platform's integration with Microsoft's other programs will give it a leg up on Slack. “We have power of the full collaboration suite in there,” says Lori Wright, GM of Microsoft 365.
Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigned as chairman of the pizza chain after it came to light that he used a racial slur on a conference call in May. Schnatter apologized for his comments, saying they were "inappropriate and hurtful."
Uber is planning to lay off more than 100 people from its autonomous car units in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. This comes as Uber is trying to recover from the fatal crash in Arizona involving one if it's self-driving cars.
And Cheddar's Alex Heath sits down with Joey Levin, CEO of IAC, to discuss Match Group's recent acquisition of dating app Hinge.
The iconic Apple founder and innovator was reportedly high "on a massive dose of LSD at the time of death," says Adam Fisher. Fisher's book also digs into Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's secret feud with Jobs.
Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin, says the partnership with the digital finance app will help expand its reach. “I think the idea is to have more adoption, to have easier ways for people to get Litecoin, and to have easier ways for people to spend it,” he tells Cheddar.
