Salesforce has held talks to buy Listen Labs, an AI customer research platform, for around $2 billion

Salesforce has held talks to buy Listen Labs, an AI customer research platform, for around $2 billion Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff speaks to thousands at the Moscone South Hall during Dreamforce in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Salesforce could be on the hunt for acquisitions to beef up its AI capabilities.The software giant has recently been in talks to buy Listen Labs, an AI-powered customer research platform for around $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks have not been finalized and could still fall apart, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.Salesforce and Listen Labs did not respond to requests for comment.Listen Labs provides AI-driven market analysis for brands such as Anthropic, Google, and Nestlé. If the deal were to become finalized, it would be part of a wave of AI acquisitions in recent weeks, with Nvidia acquiring HuggingFace for around $12.9 billion and Stripe buying OpenRouter for around $8 billion.Salesforce has been pushing to improve its AI efforts, with a particular focus on enterprise agents. The Information reported that they considered acquiring HuggingFace before it was sold to Nvidia.Listen Labs, cofounded by Alfred Wahlforss and Florian Juengermann in 2023, was last valued at $500 million in a financing round earlier this year. Its backers include Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Conviction Partners, Pear, and Neo. Read next I'm a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where I cover the tech industry with a focus on venture capital and startups.I can frequently be seen on CNN and other channels providing analysis on a range of business and economic topics. I also appear often at dozens of the biggest events around the world, including the World Economic Forum, HumanX, and Web Summit.Please get in touch if you have a story to tell. For tips (not pitches), you can message me securely on Signal @BenBergman.11Previously, I was a senior reporter at LAist/Southern California Public Radio, where I covered business and economics. I have also written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review and was a reporting intern at The Times. I started my career as a producer for NPR's Morning Edition and also produced award-winning documentaries for public television.I spent the 2017-2018 academic year at Columbia Business School as a Knight-Bagehot fellow. After that, I oversaw the development of The Journal, a daily podcast produced by The Wall Street Journal and Gimlet Media.Originally from Seattle, I graduated cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in politics.In my free time, I love skiing, tennis, poker, and cheering on the Seattle Seahawks. I competed in the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event but sadly did not win. Tech AI Exclusive More Salesforce Big Tech Enterprise Software Venture Capital Artificial Intelligence