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06:11et adapté à l'économie du monde de l'alibaba et d'un produit de cette société de Wall Street?
06:20C'est très difficile.
06:22La culture de la société de la société de la société de la société de la société de l'américaine,
06:27même une société de l'américaine qui est global.
06:30Et même avec tout de ma expérience, parce que je suis vivant dans l'Asie
06:34quand je travaille pour Goldman Sachs et construisent leur business de China,
06:36et leur business across Asia, et je pensais que j'ai compris un peu de la culture.
06:43Mais la culture de la société est très différente, et ça a pris des années à comprendre ça
06:47et puis pouvoir travailler avec ça et créer les choses que Jacques avait comme la vision
06:52et que les business leaders avaient comme les propriétés d'Operation.
06:58Alibaba a été très succès.
07:01And when there is a company which is so incredibly successful,
07:06you think, okay, what we need is to move on
07:11and continue with the same trajectory.
07:17And suddenly there is a decision which is made to split the company
07:21and to transform it into six Alibaba babies, like the baby bells.
07:32So, tell us, what drove the decision?
07:36Well, I think there are three important decisions
07:39to split the company into six pieces.
07:42The first was we needed to empower these individual businesses
07:49to be more agile, more flexible, more adaptable
07:52to the rapidly changing environment.
07:55The second was creativity and innovation
07:58are the key to making these businesses successful.
08:03So, in a very large, complex set of businesses
08:07where we're trying to run everything, creativity and innovation
08:11weren't expanding in a way that was consistent
08:14with being a true competitor,
08:17but more importantly, with keeping up
08:19with the rapidly evolving customer requirements,
08:22both merchants and consumers.
08:24And then the last thing that we realized was
08:27that we need to align the employee incentives
08:30with the business they work in
08:32as opposed to the conglomerate that they're part of.
08:34And if we do that, then we'll create the value
08:37that will also make our shareholders happy.
08:40So, in a nutshell, that's why we did it.
08:43So, if I understand well,
08:46it was so big that it was not as fast
08:50as it could have been, and that it was.
08:54And to continue to get the best of creativity
08:58and innovation, you have to make them startups again.
09:03Correct.
09:05That's...
09:05As usual, Maurice said it better than I did.
09:08Okay.
09:09Very good.
09:11So, let's go to another topic
09:15because you are in Paris.
09:17You know, this is France.
09:19France is part of Europe.
09:23And I had the fortune of interviewing Daniel Zhang
09:28on the second year of VivaTech.
09:31Jack, as you know, we had some great relationships.
09:34And both, we are very keen to invest in Europe.
09:37So, what is now the strategy of the six Alibaba Bells babies regarding Europe?
09:49Will we be lost in translation,
09:51or will Europe still be something interesting and important
09:56for the new conglomerate or babies?
10:02Europe's a top priority for all of the businesses
10:06that have an international component.
10:09So, by that, I mean the international commerce businesses,
10:13the cloud business, the logistics business in particular.
10:17Those three businesses are very focused on globalization,
10:21whereas local services in Taobao, Tmall,
10:24and digital media and entertainment
10:25are very much China-focused businesses.
10:28So, the future is of what we do in Europe,
10:32which is probably the top priority region for these businesses,
10:37is a function of continuing what we do today
10:40and doing a few new things going forward.
10:42What do we do today?
10:43Today, 16,000 brands in Europe are on our platform
10:48selling their products to China.
10:51Food to fashion, electronics to toys,
10:54every category you can think of
10:56and almost every brand you can think of.
10:58Thousands of French brands.
11:00And we sell tens and tens and tens of billions of dollars
11:06of those products, consumer products, to Chinese consumers.
11:09Why do Chinese consumers like European products so much?
11:13They're very high quality.
11:15They're safe.
11:16They fit the emerging lifestyle
11:19of both young Chinese consumers and old Chinese consumers.
11:23So, this is a natural fit
11:25between the largest consuming population in the world
11:28and producers of the greatest products.
11:31We'll continue doing that.
11:33But what we'll focus on more for the future
11:35is to build local businesses.
11:38So, you will see something called T-Mall,
11:41which we have in China become T-Mall in Europe,
11:44which means we will serve local brands
11:47and local consumers in the local market.
11:51And we've already started to do that.
11:53We're starting with a pilot project in Spain,
11:55which will expand across Europe.
11:57But there's another very important group
11:59that we're focused on,
12:00which is small businesses.
12:02Small businesses in France and across Europe.
12:04Because our heritage,
12:06Jack's foundational strategy
12:09was always to serve the little guy,
12:12the small businesses.
12:13So, in France,
12:14we now have a partnership with the government
12:16to help small businesses sell their products,
12:18not locally.
12:19They already do that globally,
12:21to China, to Asian markets,
12:23to markets outside their home market.
12:26These are the two biggest focuses and priorities
12:29of how we want to build in Europe,
12:31which we think is good for Europe.
12:34It's good for consumers.
12:35It's great for the small businesses and brands.
12:38We need local partners.
12:40We're a guest in this country
12:42and a guest in Europe.
12:44We need great relationships
12:46with governments and regulators,
12:47and we need to comply with the rules.
12:49So, this is not something we'll do by ourselves.
12:51We'll do this with lots of other people.
12:53So, you are inviting all the people
12:56who have interest in developing their businesses,
13:01both in Europe and vis-a-vis China,
13:05to write to you
13:08and to come to you and to say,
13:10oh, we are a candidate
13:12and we want to grow with Alibaba.
13:15Yes, and I'm spending time here
13:19at this massive showcase,
13:22wandering around and looking
13:23for interesting ideas and partners
13:26that we can work with
13:28to help develop our business
13:29because technology will be foundational
13:32to the development of what we do
13:34in Europe going forward.
13:35You should listen.
13:36You have heard.
13:38If there are some candidates in the room
13:41that are ready to work with Alibaba
13:43and to grow with them,
13:45speak up.
13:47Don't write to me.
13:48Come to our showcase.
13:50Say you want to do something with Alibaba.
13:52Our showcase is so easy to get to.
13:54It's right beside Audi.
13:55And that's a great place
13:58to make the connection
13:59and start the relationship.
14:03If you go back
14:06to the question of splitting,
14:09when you are a very large company
14:12like Alibaba is B for the splitting
14:17and you move to a split company,
14:21how this work with AI
14:24where you need to invest massively
14:26and will you still have the resources?
14:31And if we read the earning report,
14:37we read that the world is standing
14:39at the new starting point
14:42in the age of AI.
14:44So can you explain a little bit
14:48what is implied
14:52and how Alibaba will invest in AI?
14:57This is the moment.
15:01Well, to say that AI
15:04is a transformative opportunity
15:07and we think about it
15:09in the context
15:10of something as important
15:12as the mobile internet was
15:14nine, ten years ago
15:16when it just started
15:17and people weren't really sure
15:19how will the mobile internet work.
15:21This we think is as big
15:22and as transformative
15:24or even larger.
15:26What are we actually doing?
15:28The foundational models
15:29are already being built
15:31in Ali Cloud.
15:33So our cloud business.
15:35And even though
15:36that's a separate business,
15:38it's a great opportunity
15:39to use those capabilities
15:40across all of our businesses.
15:43We're already rolling out.
15:44We did in April
15:46our large language model.
15:48In June, we rolled out
15:50what we call
15:51an AI-powered digital advisor
15:55or assistant
15:56which does simple things,
15:59efficiency tools
16:00that organizations can use,
16:02including our own.
16:04The biggest
16:05and most interesting applications
16:06are going to be
16:07for brands and consumers.
16:09So I'll give you an example.
16:10We want to redesign
16:12the entire process
16:14of both onboarding
16:15onto our platform
16:16but all of the operations
16:18that brands need to do
16:19in order to run
16:21a digital storefront.
16:24It would usually take
16:25about four to five months
16:26to make that happen.
16:28Using AI,
16:30we believe we'll be able
16:31to do it in five hours.
16:33Five hours.
16:34The human requirement
16:36from brands,
16:37from Taobao partners,
16:39from Alibaba
16:40to actually run
16:41these stores
16:42is around 120 people.
16:44We think we'll be able
16:45to do it with 10.
16:46So the brand applications
16:49of AI are enormous.
16:51The consumer application
16:52is just as interesting
16:54because we want to redefine
16:56the consumer journey.
16:57What does that mean?
16:58We want every consumer
17:00to have a digital assistant
17:02which means texting
17:04back and forth continuously.
17:06The digital assistant
17:06is the AI.
17:07texting back and forth
17:10consistently about
17:11what they're browsing,
17:12what they're searching for,
17:13what they really want.
17:15Here's a number for you.
17:16Every day on our platform,
17:18there are 100 million
17:20consumer queries
17:23that we never get to
17:25because we don't have
17:26the people to actually
17:28answer the questions
17:29that consumers are asking
17:30about a product,
17:32about an opportunity.
17:33How do they find something?
17:34about customer service.
17:37Applying AI to those
17:38100 million queries
17:39will give us much richer
17:41texture of information
17:42about what people
17:43are interested in,
17:44will improve the customer
17:45experience,
17:46make it more fun,
17:47more interesting,
17:48more entertaining,
17:49and more valuable.
17:50These are just
17:51some initial ideas.
17:54This is leading me
17:56to another question
17:58which is regarding
17:59the fund
18:00because I understand
18:02that you have
18:03an Alibaba fund
18:05for startups
18:08and this is operating
18:09in Europe?
18:11The fund is...
18:12You can invest
18:13in Europe
18:14in startups?
18:15Yes.
18:16because there are
18:17people in the room
18:18who might be interested.
18:21How this works?
18:23You can think
18:23of it two ways.
18:25Alibaba could be
18:26an investor
18:27in your business
18:27but more importantly
18:28what would happen
18:29if you actually
18:29partnered with Alibaba
18:31and we worked together
18:32on the business?
18:33That's the much more
18:34interesting opportunity.
18:36Capital is available
18:37from everywhere
18:39but strategic collaboration
18:42is what benefits us
18:44and will ultimately
18:45benefit you
18:45so that's the way
18:46I would get you
18:46to think about it.
18:47Yes, we have funds
18:48and we invest.
18:50Much more important,
18:51what's the opportunity
18:52for strategic collaboration?
18:54Great.
18:55I have one last question.
18:59Jack Ma is a very good
19:00friend of you.
19:01You know that
19:02he's also a very good
19:03friend of me.
19:04I like him a lot
19:06and we always connect
19:08extremely well
19:09when we are meeting.
19:12I would like
19:13just to know
19:14how he is
19:15and I have read
19:16in the press
19:17that he has
19:19bought a big chunk
19:20of shares
19:21which means
19:22that he still believes
19:23in Alibaba.
19:25Can you tell us
19:27a little bit
19:27what is going on?
19:29Where is he?
19:30How is he?
19:32Is he happy?
19:33And if the news
19:36regarding the shares
19:37is true or not?
19:40Well, first of all,
19:42Jack is alive,
19:43he's well,
19:44he's happy,
19:46he's creative,
19:47he's thinking.
19:49He's teaching
19:50at a university
19:52in Tokyo,
19:53spending more time
19:54in China.
19:55I can't comment
19:56on his investment
19:59interests,
20:00what he invests in
20:02and what he doesn't.
20:03But I can tell you this,
20:04he is the largest
20:05shareholder at Alibaba.
20:08Still?
20:09Yes.
20:09And this is
20:10his company.
20:12So he cares
20:13about as much
20:15about this company
20:16today
20:17as he did
20:18when he started it.
20:19And I expect
20:20that that will continue
20:21for as long
20:22as Alibaba
20:23and Jack Ma are here.
20:26Michael,
20:27a big,
20:29big merci.
20:30Thank you.
20:31It was great
20:32to hear from you
20:33and great to hear
20:35about the opportunities.
20:38And if you see
20:41Jack soon,
20:42you tell him
20:43that we are missing him.
20:45And whenever you want,
20:47he will be our guest.
20:48Thank you.
20:49Cheers.
20:50Thank you.
20:54Thank you.
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