The Old Guard's New Tricks
What I find most interesting is how the established giants are adapting. This isn't a story about plucky startups, but about behemoths like Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com finding a new lease on life. They aren't trying to be the next Google or Amazon. They are leveraging their unique strengths. Alibaba is feeding its AI with a gargantuan trove of real-world e-commerce data, using it to solve practical business problems, not chase academic accolades. Baidu, meanwhile, is building its models with a deep understanding of Chinese language and culture, something a foreign competitor could struggle to replicate. Then you have JD.com, which is embedding AI into the very bones of its logistics network, from warehouse robots to delivery drones. They are weaving intelligence into existing, profitable businesses, which strikes me as a far more sensible approach.