Chinese Marketplaces DHgate and Taobao Top US App Store.

Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, sent a letter to the company's employees informing them that neural network ownership is now considered a basic skill, so each employee is expected to master neural network tools. At the same time, Litke named the principles of effective use of neural networks that will be followed at Shopify.

A fragment of the letter below:

1️⃣ Using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify. It's a tool of all trades today, and will only grow in importance. Frankly, I don't think it's feasible to opt out of learning the skill of applying AI in your craft; you are welcome to try, but I want to be honest I cannot see this working out today, and definitely not tomorrow. Stagnation is almost certain, and stagnation is slow-motion failure. If you're not climbing, you're sliding.

2️⃣ AI must be part of your GSD Prototype phase. The prototype phase of any GSD project should be dominated by AI exploration. Prototypes are meant for learning and creating information. AI dramatically accelerates this process. You can learn to produce something that other team mates can look at, use, and reason about in a fraction of the time it used to take.

3️⃣ We will add AI usage questions to our performance and peer review questionnaire. Learning to use AI well is an unobvious skill. My sense is that a lot of people give up after writing a prompt and not getting the ideal thing back immediately. Learning to prompt and load context is important, and getting peers to provide feedback on how this is going will be valuable.

4️⃣ Learning is self directed, but share what you learned. You have access to as much of the cutting edge AI tools as possible.There is chat.shopify.io, which we had for years now. Developers have proxy, Copilot, Cursor, Claude code, all pre-tooled and ready to go. We’ll learn and adapt together as a team. We’ll be sharing Ws (and Ls!) with each other as we experiment with new AI capabilities, and we’ll dedicate time to AI integration in our monthly business reviews and product development cycles. Slack and Vault have lots of places where people share prompts that they developed, like #revenue-ai-use-cases and #ai-centaurs.

5️⃣ Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI. What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.

Everyone means everyone. This applies to all of us—including me and the executive team.

OpenAI Releases Guide to Implementing AI into Business Processes.

OpenAI has released a detailed guide for businesses on implementing generative AI into corporate processes. The entire guide consists of three key sections:

📍AI in the enterprise: here the company examines real cases of AI implementation in seven leading companies, the problems they solve, and their results.

📍A Practical Guide to Building Agents: The team explains how AI can help employees in their daily work by automating routine tasks and increasing efficiency.

📍 Scaling AI Use Cases: They explain what processes companies are focusing on when implementing AI and how to scale successful solutions.

Complete Guide: https://openai.com/business/guides-and-resources/

While Jeff Bezos was launching Katy Perry into space, his company Amazon launched an ad with the slogan Save the Everyday.

Like in a true action movie, a fearless and confident hero is battling someone while simultaneously choosing a T-shirt on the marketplace.

The UAE entrusts lawmaking to neural networks.

The UAE is launching the world’s first Regulatory Intelligence Office — a ministerial body where artificial intelligence will assist in drafting legislation.

Algorithms will analyze the legal framework, identify loopholes, and suggest amendments. The goal is to speed up the legislative process by 70%.

Companies will start hiring AI employees as early as 2026.

This opinion was expressed by Jason Clinton, a top executive at Anthropic. According to him, these AI employees will have their own job titles, corporate accounts, and passwords.

Clinton believes that virtual employees represent a new stage in AI development. However, he also warns that for employers, this could introduce additional security risks. For instance, virtual employees could potentially go out of control and hack into a company’s internal systems.

In Germany, a young mother tried to sell her baby online.

The shocking advertisement appeared on the eBay platform back in early March. A resident of Lower Saxony posted a photo of her 10-month-old son, stating that she was willing to sell him because he was "very naughty." She asked for €6.75 for the delivery of the baby. Several users reported the listing to the police.

"The mother's address was included in the ad. We didn't have to investigate for long," the police said.

When law enforcement and youth welfare workers arrived at the specified address, the 22-year-old woman opened the door herself. Inside the apartment were also her child and the child's 20-year-old father.

The mother admitted that she had posted the ad online but claimed it was meant as a joke and that she soon deleted it. No charges have been filed against the woman at this time, but the youth welfare office stated that they will now be monitoring the family.

OpenAI has added deep research to the Plus subscription.

Now there are 25 of them per month, and previously there were 10.

An eBay listing appeared offering Melania Trump's wedding dress, designed by John Galliano during his time at the House of Dior.

The wedding dress of former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, which she wore when marrying Donald Trump, has allegedly been put up for sale at a significant discount, according to Page Six.

The seller claims to have purchased the original gown for $70,000 for her own wedding, which took place in 2011. The listing notes that modifications were made to the dress's design. The seller stated that she added embroidery, straps, and an additional layer of satin fabric. It is reported that the gown is adorned with original Swarovski crystals. The starting price for the dress is set at $45,000.

Meanwhile, WWD, citing an insider, reported that the original wedding dress of the former First Lady is actually kept at the Trumps' mansion at their private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. It was also noted that the House of Dior declined to comment on the news of the dress being put up for sale.

Amazon has launched its first 27 satellites into orbit.

They will form a constellation to provide broadband internet access. This marks the beginning of a large-scale $10 billion project aimed at competing with SpaceX’s Starlink system.

In total, Amazon plans to deploy more than three thousand satellites into low Earth orbit as part of its Kuiper project. The company expects to begin offering services to customers by the end of 2025, according to Reuters.

🤖 Amazon, Etsy, and eBay Are Implementing AI to Improve Their Platforms
On April 14, 2025, the three major e-commerce platforms announced new initiatives focused on artificial intelligence:

Etsy is using AI to personalize the shopping experience by offering recommendations based on user preferences.

Amazon is applying AI to combat counterfeit products, enhancing protection for brands and customers.

eBay is introducing AI tools to simplify listing creation, making it easier for sellers to upload items.

ChatGPT recommends suitable products to users.

In the GPT-4o version, users can now select products by comparing them based on photos and reviews. For now, this feature covers home goods, as well as items in the categories of Fashion, Electronics, and Beauty.

The company stated that the recommendations are not advertisements. Pricing and availability data come directly from partner platforms.

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Amazon has released results for the first quarter of 2025.

Total revenue increased by 9% year—on-year to $155.7 billion, net profit increased to $17.1 billion compared to $10.4 billion a year earlier. Including sales of Amazon Web Services amounted to $29.3 billion (+17% YoY), advertising — $13.9 billion (+19%).

According to Amazon CEO Andy Jesse, more than 100,000 users already have access to the updated Alexa+ AI assistant. The assistant was announced at the end of February 2025.

He also commented on the business impact of the US import duties. According to Jesse, so far the marketplace does not see a weakening in demand or a "significant" increase in average prices. He noted that Amazon has a large selection of products, which means that the retailer "is often able to withstand difficult conditions better than others."

Neural networks will not replace humanity.

The researchers reassure us that AI does increase productivity and develop creativity, but it will not be a complete replacement for humans.

Experts are most concerned about the dissemination of false information by AI, the publication of personal data, and cases of technology being used for fraudulent purposes, such as when AI is impersonated.

Chinese marketplace Temu starts charging americans 145% tariffs.

Temu has started charging “import fees” to American customers due to trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Some fees are as high as 130-150%, doubling the cost of goods. In April, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%.

Temu has become popular in the US due to its low prices, despite long shipping times. After the tariffs were imposed, Temu's prices were in line with US competitors like Amazon and Walmart, but shipping still takes more than a week. To retain customers, the platform will start promoting local sellers.

After the introduction of "import fees", social networks were filled with negative comments. And the Temu app in the AppStore fell from the top 10 to 73rd place.

Top Retailers of 2025 according to the National Retail Federation and Kantar.

Leaders by Revenue:

📍Walmart – $676 billion
Walmart owes its impressive results to its IT department, which developed effective retail media and loyalty programs. These tools enabled more customers to engage with its online and omnichannel offerings.

📍Amazon – $393 billion
Instead of focusing on growth, Amazon shifted its attention to profitability. As a result, it reduced investments in physical stores and private labels, while increasing spending on cloud services and marketplace seller tools.

📍Costco – $246 billion
The wholesale giant expanded its presence beyond the U.S., successfully adapting to local consumer needs. In the overall ranking, it holds the fifth position (see methodology for details).

📍Schwarz Group (Lidl) – $182 billion
The group’s performance was driven by store modernization, online expansion, and the vertical integration of digital solutions.

📍Aldi – $155 billion
In addition to mergers and acquisitions, Aldi invested heavily in customer experience and its online channel.

A group of students from Denmark has developed a drone capable of recharging itself by latching onto power lines.

When its battery runs low, the drone uses sensors and cameras to locate electrical wires, then recharges by harnessing their magnetic field — without needing any physical connection.

The idea behind the invention is clear: this way, the drone can stay airborne not just for an hour or two, but literally for days, eliminating the need to return for recharging or battery replacement.

What do you think — could such drones one day deliver marketplace orders directly to customers?

Amazon has changed its logo for the first time in 20 years.

The new visual identity for the marketplace was developed by the design studio Koto in collaboration with Amazon’s internal team. The goal was to make the logo more visually expressive and adaptable across the corporation’s 50 sub-brands.

Koto emphasized that the focus is no longer on the arrow, but on the smile — “reflecting Amazon’s core mission: to delight customers and make their lives easier.”

Find one difference 😄

Amazon unveils warehouse robot with a sense of touch.

Amazon continues to blur the line between humans and machines.

The company has introduced a new warehouse robot — Vulcan. The main difference from previous models? It feels. Literally.

Vulcan is equipped with sensors that measure the pressure applied to an object and send that data to an AI model. The model then determines, in real time, how to pick up a box — without dropping it or crushing it.

According to Amazon:

Vulcan is capable of handling up to 75% of the product range, fulfilling orders at a human-like pace.