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Automattic confirmed that Matt Mullenweg has resumed his position as CEO and chairman with the board's backing, days after the board had voted to place him on leave and install CFO Mark Davies as interim CEO. Mullenweg had resisted the removal, taking control of the company's Slack, ejecting other admins, and publicly disputing the board's authority before the company's statement settled the matter in his favor.
Less than two days after Automattic's board placed Matt Mullenweg on leave, he told staff on Slack that he was back in charge and that the board was again aligned with him. CFO Mark Davies, who had been named interim CEO, reportedly had his Slack account deactivated, while Mullenweg posted cryptic references including a LL Cool J video and a personal blog post about buying a tugboat that avoided addressing the leadership turmoil directly.
Matt Mullenweg told Automattic staff on Slack that he is back in control as CEO, just days after the board had voted to place him on leave and install CFO Mark Davies as interim chief. Davies' Slack account has reportedly been deactivated, but Automattic has not confirmed Mullenweg's claim, and Mullenweg says a formal blog post explaining the situation is coming.
Matt Mullenweg says he has resumed his role as Automattic CEO just two days after the company's board placed him on paid leave and named CFO Mark Davies interim chief. Mullenweg claims the board is now 'back in agreement' with him in control, and reports indicate Davies' Slack account was deactivated while other admin accounts were stripped of access.
Slack is rolling out Slackforce Surfaces, a feature letting users ask Slackbot to build interactive dashboards, reports, polls, and presentations directly within a chat conversation. The AI pulls data from relevant messages and connected apps like Google Drive or Salesforce to generate these tools, which can then be pinned to channels for teams to view, interact with, and comment on.
Adobe has launched a new Slack integration bringing over 70 tools from apps including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Acrobat, InDesign and Firefly directly into the messaging platform. The feature is available now to Slack Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, letting users message Slackbot to complete creative tasks using content from Slack channels, Canvases and Adobe Creative Cloud assets. An Adobe account is not required, though logging in unlocks fuller access to the tools.
Adobe announced that Slack users can now invoke apps like Firefly, Photoshop, Premiere, Acrobat and Illustrator directly through Slack's AI assistant, Slackbot, which interprets requests and calls the right Adobe tool while factoring in conversation context. Separately, more than 70 Adobe tools are being made available through a new Adobe for Slack MCP app. The integration launches first for Slack Business+ and Enterprise+ customers.
Adobe has released an Adobe for Slack MCP app that connects Slackbot to more than 70 creative and productivity tools, including Photoshop, Firefly, Acrobat, Premiere, Illustrator and InDesign. The integration lets teams generate, edit and search creative assets directly inside Slack conversations, using context from messages, files and channels to trigger the right Adobe tool. It is available now to Slack Business+ and Enterprise+ customers globally, with basic use possible without an Adobe account and full features unlocked by signing in.
Almanac, a startup from Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch, has launched an AI system designed to understand a company's internal operations, tools and communications rather than general web knowledge. In a demo, the assistant monitored a customer Slack channel, identified duplicate bug reports, and automatically filed GitHub issues with reproduction steps and linked conversation threads. The product positions itself as an operational AI layer that can act on a company's existing data and workflows rather than just answer questions about them.
Circleback, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is introducing a free subscription plan offering unlimited meeting transcription with 30-day history access, mobile and Apple Watch apps, and integrations with Linear and Slack. Previously the company had no free option, with paid plans starting at $20.83 monthly; those now start at $14 per month for full features. The move comes as rivals like Granola, Wispr, Calendly, Read AI, and Fireflies crowd the meeting note-taking market.
A term coined by developer Niklas Guhn in an August 3 blog post has gone viral online: 'meat proxy,' describing someone who copies and pastes chatbot output like ChatGPT or Claude into conversations without adding their own understanding or value. Guhn's original complaint was about receiving verbatim AI replies on Slack, and the phrase quickly spread on social media with a broader definition covering anyone who forwards AI text or code without reading or validating it themselves.
Plaud, known for AI note-taking devices like the Note and NotePin, has unveiled the Plaud One Explorer Edition earbuds ahead of IFA. The $249.99 earbuds can capture and summarize conversations independently of a phone, and use a feature called Plaud Agent to carry out tasks across apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion and Slack. They're available for pre-order now, ship in late September, come with $200 in credits, and require no subscription.