Popular neighborhood news and social media platform Nextdoor is getting a redesign that aims to boost user engagement. The platform will be offering AI-curated advice, neighbor recommendations and insights, while emphasizing urgent posts, including a “critical alerts” system with “real-time updates on everything from daily weather and traffic to critical moments like power outages, severe storms, and wildfires.” Since launching in 2011, Nextdoor has accrued more than 100 million subscribers, the company says, adding that the shift to more remote and hybrid work means “people are spending more time in their neighborhoods,” making local connections increasingly relevant. Read more

New York-based satellite and online radio provider SiriusXM is adding an ad-supported music tier to subscription offering, with SiriusXM Play coming to market for in-car streaming at “less than $7” per month for more than 130 content channels. SiriusXM already offers talk channels with ads, and also has an existing car plan that costs $9.99 per month. A $24.98 monthly “all access” plan also includes car coverage. The Play package, which SiriusXM first began talking about in May, is now available “on a limited basis,” with additional details coming later in 2025, the streamer says. Read more

Netflix revenue grew to $11.08 billion in Q2, a 16 percent year-over-year increase that helped drive net profit up 46 percent to $3.1 billion. The company’s operating margin rose to 34.1 percent in Q2, a nearly 7-point rise over Q2 2024 that along with 30 percent full-year guidance puts the streamer on par with tech giants such as Apple (31 percent) and Google (32 percent). Although Netflix no longer provides quarterly subscriber updates, the company did share results of its half-year Engagement Report, indicating members watched more than 95 billion hours of Netflix content during the first six months of the year. Read more

Adobe’s Firefly Video model has introduced new updates including Generate Sound Effects, in beta, and a text-to-avatar feature that lets users turn scripts into avatar-led videos “in just a few clicks.” Firefly becomes the second video model to generate audio, joining Veo 3, although unlike Google’s AI video tool Firefly does not yet generate dialogue. What it can do is output foley-like sound and sound effects, while text-to-avatar can generate speech. As with Firefly’s generative visuals, Adobe says Generate Sound Effects is “commercially safe,” which means they are trained only on licensed or publicly available material. Read more

AI is now part of every paid Slack subscription, and the platform continues building out its agentic OS with new features including enterprise search connectors, writing assistance, and contextual definitions embedded in the app. The Enterprise+ plan, which scales AI company-wide, now includes AI for drafting documents and answering questions using information stored in Slack chats and connected apps. Business+ is adding recaps, translations, workflow generation and AI-powered search, while the entry-level Pro tier offers AI summarization for conversations in channels, threads and huddles, making it easier to stay current on communications. Read more