Alibaba Retools Entire AI Organization | Rewire Evening Update

Publication Date: 2026.03.16 · BlockBeats

Trump will announce the "Strait of Hormuz Alliance" within this week and is also considering whether to send ground troops to seize the Harq Island. Brent crude oil doesn't buy it, surging over $3 per barrel on Sunday, breaking through $105. On another front today, Alibaba packaged all AI assets into one business group, directly under the CEO, while China's second chipmaker prepared for battle on 7nm on the same day.

1 | Strait of Hormuz Alliance + Harq Island Option: Trump Falls Into His Own Trap for the First Time

Four sources told Axios that Trump is contacting multiple countries to form the "Strait of Hormuz Alliance," with the announcement expected within the week, aiming to forcibly open the strait. Meanwhile, the White House is evaluating another option: sending US ground troops to directly occupy the Harq Island, through which 90% of Iran's oil exports are transited. The market is skeptical, and Brent crude oil surged over $3 per barrel on Sunday, surpassing $105. The WSJ also confirmed that the alliance's announcement itself failed to suppress oil prices.

The fundamental difference between the two options is that the alliance is a diplomatic display, which can be reversed, while sending ground troops to the island is a substantive commitment with no "one-click recall." In the third week of the Iran war, Trump is truly pushed to an extreme for the first time. His usual style is a mix of intuition and improvisation, with playing and folding being equally casual. However, Axios' behind-the-scenes analysis says that this war is the first time he cannot unilaterally control the outcome; Iran's drones do not care whether he tweets in the afternoon, and the strait does not automatically reopen because he holds a press conference. On the same day, he accused Iran of using AI to spread false information, officially bringing AI into the information warfare framework of the Iran war.

The morning news talked about the Cabinet tearing apart, with Sacks wanting to withdraw and Hegseth calling for "no prisoners." The evening signal is that the Cabinet is not yet unified, but Trump is simultaneously advancing more radical military options externally. It's not a unified strategy but two opposite directions moving at the same time.

(Source: Axios / WSJ / Reuters)

2 | Alibaba ATH + China's Second 7nm Factory: The "Core" of the Sanctions System is Expanded

Alibaba today established the Alibaba Token Hub (ATH) business group, directly led by CEO Wu Yongming, combining Tongyi Labs, MaaS business line, Qianwen, Wukong, and AI Innovation Business Unit, from basic model research and development to consumer-end applications, all under one roof. Pre-market trading of the US stock rose nearly 3%. This is the first clear move among China's internet giants to organize the entire AI chain, not by merely "setting up an AI department" but by "restructuring into an AI company."

On the same day, Reuters exclusively reported that China's second-largest chipmaker is preparing for 7nm production on a newly acquired plot of land in Taiwan. The previous market consensus was that only SMIC could achieve advanced processes, but now it has become at least two. Concurrently, Reuters Breakingviews published an article stating that the AI influence of Chinese technology veterans such as Baidu and 360 is being eroded by newcomers like DeepSeek and Kimi.

The logic behind U.S. sanctions is to target the top players, restricting TSMC's supply and blocking GPU exports. However, China's response is taking a different path, integrating AI into the application layer of the largest commercial entity and allowing a second-tier manufacturer to move into 7nm. With each additional node, the precise impact of sanctions diminishes. This is not circumventing sanctions but transforming a single point into an area.

(Source: 36Kr / Reuters / Bloomberg)

On the eve of GTC, Thompson said it's not a bubble, and Foxconn used profits to say, "But the demand hasn't arrived yet."

Ben Thompson today posted the most timely article, with the title "Agents Over Bubbles," which is a statement in itself. AI is neither a bubble about to burst nor just hype; the business model of the Agent era is the real issue. Nvidia GTC will open tomorrow, and The Information reports that Groq chips will be unveiled at that time.

However, on the same day, Bloomberg's headline was that Foxconn's profits fell short of expectations, sparking concerns about AI demand. Foxconn is one of Nvidia's largest hardware manufacturing partners, and the profit miss has led the market to start wondering if AI hardware shipments have already hit a ceiling. Meanwhile, Meta announced a commitment of up to $27 billion to Nebius for AI infrastructure. Following the earlier report of a "20% layoff," Meta continues to ramp up investment in computing power while cutting jobs.

These three signals overlapping: Thompson is saying you're asking the wrong question, Foxconn is saying there is still a gap on the demand side, and Meta is saying I don't care, let's keep building. GTC is the moment when the exam paper is given, and Nvidia needs to clarify how the computing power of the Agent era is monetized.

(Source: Stratechery / Bloomberg / Wired / The Information)

4｜The Two Gray Market Trends Forking, Predictive Market Whitening, AI Deepfake Scams Expanding

Wired reports that the legal battle of the predictive market is far from over, with Wall Street financial institutions already making their own bets. The legal gray area did not prevent capital from flowing in, a storyline that is nearly identical to the precursor of cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, another Wired report reveals that dozens of Telegram channels are openly recruiting "AI face models," mainly targeting women. The job involves collaborating with an AI video calling tool to engage in up to 100 scam video calls per day, using real faces to package the AI-generated scripts for money fraud. This is no longer "AI tools being used for scams," but rather a complete gray labor market with recruitment, division of labor, and a salary structure.

The structure of both stories is the same: after the widespread adoption of AI, where regulation has not yet arrived, the market is already in full swing. The predictive market is moving towards legalization, with institutional capital inflow usually being a precursor to regulation catching up; AI deepfake scams are moving towards scale and industrialization, making them even harder to combat. While they are not on the same path, they both started from the same point, where the popularization of AI capabilities is outpacing governance.

(Source: Wired / Wired)

Worth Knowing ↓

On the day Ali ATH announced, large-cap US tech stocks rose in pre-market trading, with Chinese concept stocks collectively strengthening. Meta and Intel rose over 3%, Alibaba rose nearly 3%, Bilibili rose nearly 3%, NIO and XPeng rose over 2%, marking the strongest performance of Chinese concept stocks in the past week. (Source: 36Kr)

Intesa Sanpaolo of Italy launched a $28 billion bid to acquire the remaining shares of Deutsche Bank. After UniCredit acquired a minority stake in Commerzbank last year, today it raised the offer to a controlling level. The stance of German regulators is a key variable, signaling that the consolidation of the European banking industry has entered a true merger phase. (Source: WSJ)

Lixiang Automotive achieved its first full-year profit, demonstrating that "half-price NIO" has learned how to make money like NIO. In the two-year price war on the Chinese EV track, the first to achieve a profitable model is not a leading player but Li Auto, priced at half of NIO. The next step for survivors is not to continue lowering prices but to build a moat. (Source: Huxiu)

Google and Accel reviewed 4,000 pitches from Indian AI startups, with 70% being wrappers, but only 5 were ultimately selected. None of the truly selected startups resorted to shell games. In the most vibrant AI startup market, those that caught the attention of Google and Accel were the ones that did not follow the trend. (Source: TechCrunch)

LinkedIn Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roth launched two iOS apps on Claude Code without writing a single line of code. Coming from a journalism background with zero programming experience, he used a "builder + reviewer" dual-Agent mechanism to get the app on the App Store. This is a real event, not a demo. The line of programming barriers has been pushed forward again today. (Source: Lenny's Newsletter)