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Rani Molla2/12/25

Alibaba stock is up on news of Apple AI partnership

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba is up 3% in premarket trading after a big rally overnight in Hong Kong following a report from The Information yesterday that it was partnering with Apple to develop AI features for users in China.

Perhaps this relationship may help the iPhone maker sidestep lots of red tape in a major market. Apple sales have slid in China, one of the many markets where its latest AI phone features aren’t available (not that Apple Intelligence has wowed outside China, either).

This is just the latest win for China in the AI space, and the latest positive catalyst for Alibaba in particular, which is up more than 30% year to date to reapproach its peaks from the last three years.

A few weeks ago, Chinese startup DeepSeek upended the AI industry as we knew it by supposedly creating a model comparable to its US counterparts for a fraction of the cost. A week later, Alibaba said its latest AI model Qwen 2.5-Max “outperforms... almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3 and Llama-3.1-405B.”

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Apple has built an app like ChatGPT to test AI Siri

Back in 2024, Apple previewed a new AI Siri that the iPhone maker has since mostly failed to deliver, with the overhaul now slated for the spring of 2026. But Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is making moves.

Apple has built an internal ChatGPT-like app to test the new Siri, Bloomberg reports. Workers are using the app, code-named Veritas, to test Siri’s ability to search through personal data like emails and perform in-app actions like editing photos — stuff its competitor Google is already offering.

“The app essentially takes the still-in-progress technology from the new Siri and puts it in a form employees can test out more efficiently,” Gurman wrote. “Even without a public launch, the internal tool marks a new phase in Apple’s preparations for Siri’s overhaul, a high-stakes release that could reshape perceptions of its AI efforts.”

Apple Builds a ChatGPT-Like App to Help Test the Revamped Siri

Apple Builds a ChatGPT-Like App to Help Test the Revamped Siri

“The app essentially takes the still-in-progress technology from the new Siri and puts it in a form employees can test out more efficiently,” Gurman wrote. “Even without a public launch, the internal tool marks a new phase in Apple’s preparations for Siri’s overhaul, a high-stakes release that could reshape perceptions of its AI efforts.”

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T-Mobile and Verizon are seeing strong iPhone sales, too

T-Mobile and Verizon are seeing strong demand for the latest iPhone, according to a note today from Bank of America Global Research:

“As per T-Mobile mgmt., iPhone activations are up double digits (new and existing customers). Verizon mgmt. commentary also suggests strong upgrade activity in its existing base during the quarter.”

This is one of several indicators pointing to a strong upgrade cycle for the redesigned iPhone.

Early this month, a survey of iPhone users found that a higher percentage intended to upgrade than did last year. BofA and Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives have both cited longer shipment times for the latest model than last year, suggesting relatively higher demand. The Information said that Apple asked suppliers to boost production of the iPhone 17 following strong preorder activity. Bloomberg reported long lines and sold-out phones when the devices went on sale last week. BGR noted today that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro are still sold out online in the US.

Last week, Sherwood News reported that web traffic to Apple for the iPhone event and for the preorder period were elevated compared with the past few years, though we suggested that might have more to do with a natural upgrade cycle than features on the iPhone 17.

Data center vs office spending

The AI infrastructure debate’s heating up, as spending on data centers set to outpace office construction

Multiple gargantuan data center projects got announced this week — some people see huge risks of fruitless spending, while others, like Sam Altman, think the build-out could be too slow.

Claire Yubin Oh, David Crowther24h

Waymo Recalls Over 1200 Driverless Cars After Collisions Related To Software

Waymo, Lyft, Tesla: Who’s behind the wheel of the US robotaxi industry?

When it comes to autonomous ride hailing, no company is an island — except maybe Tesla. We mapped out the relationships.

Rani Molla, Max Knoblauch9/26/25

Ives raises Tesla price target to Wall Street high of $600

The Wedbush analyst said investors are “underestimating the transformation underway at the company” regarding AI.

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