Welcome to Friday’s Newsletter

In today’s scoop 🍨 

• Alibaba's Betting Billions on the Future

• Spotify x Elevenlabs: AI Takes Over Audiobooks

• Clearview AI's Leadership Shakeup: New Bosses, Same Controversy

• 3 Trending AI Tools

💰Alibaba's Betting Billions on the Future

Alibaba just went all-in on AI, and investors are eating it up. After years of regulatory turbulence, China’s e-commerce giant is bouncing back with an aggressive plan to dominate artificial intelligence. And Wall Street is loving it—Alibaba’s U.S.-traded shares spiked over 12%, while Hong Kong-listed shares jumped nearly 15%.

So, what’s got everyone so hyped?

📈 Surging Revenue & AI Ambitions

• Alibaba reported an 8% revenue increase, raking in $38.38 billion last quarter.

• Net income? A whopping $6.71 billion, a 333% increase from last year.

• CEO Eddie Wu announced plans to invest more in AI and cloud computing over the next three years than in the past decade. That’s a serious cash injection.

🤖 The AI Play: Aiming for AGI

Alibaba is gunning for artificial general intelligence (AGI)—AI that can think and learn like humans. Their latest Qwen AI models are already making waves in benchmark tests, demonstrating Alibaba's growing capabilities in the field. To further solidify its position, the company is even teaming up with Apple to integrate its AI technology into Chinese iPhones, marking a significant step in AI-driven collaborations.

🌟 Why This Matters

• Alibaba’s cloud business grew 13%, fueled by AI-powered products.

• Its international commerce division (AliExpress, Lazada) soared 32%.

• Investors are buzzing: Alibaba has added $120 billion to its market cap in 2024 alone.

🕵️ The Bigger Picture

China’s AI race is heating up. Alibaba faces competition from DeepSeek, Baidu, and ByteDance, but its aggressive AI investment signals a major comeback. After years of regulatory setbacks (remember the $2.8 billion fine and Jack Ma’s disappearance?), Alibaba seems to be back in Beijing’s good books. Even President Xi Jinping recently met with top Chinese entrepreneurs, including Ma.

🔑 Takeaway

Alibaba is transforming into an AI-first powerhouse while riding the wave of China’s renewed focus on tech supremacy. Will its AI ambitions pay off and reshape the industry? Investors seem to think so.

🎧 Spotify x ElevenLabs: AI Takes Over Audiobooks

Spotify just hit the audiobook industry with a plot twist worthy of a thriller. The streaming giant has teamed up with ElevenLabs to bring AI-narrated books to the masses. That means your next binge-listen could be voiced by an algorithm instead of a human.

🔊 What's Happening?

Spotify is now accepting audiobooks narrated using ElevenLabs’ AI voice technology. This move makes it easier (and cheaper) for authors to turn their books into audio format.

Here’s why it matters:

📚 AI narration is available in 29 languages, making books more accessible to a global audience. Authors get full control over the voice and intonation, keeping it as close to their vision as possible. Books narrated by AI will be clearly marked on Spotify so listeners know they’re hearing a digital voice.

🔎 How It Works:

• Authors create their audiobook on ElevenLabs.

• They upload it to Findaway Voices (Spotify’s audiobook distributor).

• After a review process, the book goes live on Spotify and other platforms.

🌎 The Big Picture

Spotify has been making big plays in the audiobook world, ever since acquiring Findaway in 2021. This new partnership comes after a similar deal with Google Play Books, signaling that AI-narrated content is here to stay.

But not everyone is thrilled. Some in the publishing world argue that AI voices could dilute the emotional depth of traditional audiobooks. Still, for indie authors and publishers, this is a huge opportunity to get their books into listeners’ ears without breaking the bank.

🤔 What do you think—game changer or just another AI gimmick? Let us know!

🚨 Clearview AI's Leadership Shakeup: New Bosses, Same Controversy

Clearview AI, the facial recognition startup that amassed a database of 30 billion images without consent, is stepping into a new era—or at least a new set of headlines. CEO Hoan Ton-That has resigned, citing a desire to start the "next chapter" of his life. But don’t expect a shift in the company’s playbook just yet.

👤 Meet the New Faces (Pun Intended)

• Hal Lambert, an early investor and GOP fundraiser, has stepped in as co-CEO.

• Richard Schwartz, Clearview's co-founder and former senior advisor to Rudy Giuliani, will oversee daily operations.

• The duo is eyeing "opportunities" under the Trump administration, betting on a policy climate more favorable to biometric surveillance.

🌍 The Bigger Picture

• Clearview AI has racked up over $100 million in GDPR fines in Europe for scraping images without consent.

• Despite claiming its "strongest position ever" financially, the company has struggled to land large federal contracts.

• Lambert believes the Trump administration will open doors for expanded law enforcement and government partnerships, including discussions with the Pentagon and Homeland Security.

🔎 What's Next?

With an ambitious goal of tripling revenue this year, Clearview AI is sticking to its core model: selling facial recognition tech to law enforcement. The company insists it's helping solve crimes, but critics argue it's an ethical minefield. Expect continued legal battles, political maneuvering, and privacy debates as this story unfolds.

🔧3 Trending AI Tools

• 📖 BookWatch - Uses AI to create animated book summary videos, distilling key insights from top non-fiction books into engaging visuals for visual learners.

• 🎥 MailMoo - Record one video and personalize it for thousands of leads using AI. Easily send on LinkedIn and cold email platforms to stand out and close more deals.

• 🖥️ Landing - Instantly create branded, high-converting landing pages with AI-generated copy, images, and forms—no coding required, just launch and optimize in minutes.

📩 That’s a wrap for the week!

Thanks for reading! Got any feedback or tried something cool with AI lately? Hit reply and let us know—we’d love to hear about it!

And if you know someone who’d enjoy this, pass it along and help grow the community! 🚀

Until next week—stay curious! 👋