#213 – Amazon Offsite, Adolf Yeezy, & Paid Subreddits

by Shopifreaks | Feb 17, 2025 | Recent Newsletters

Hi Shopifreaks

I've finally got an edition for you that isn't completely about tariffs! This week I get to cover… antisemitism? Yikes….

I've also got stories for you about Amazon encroaching on Google's territory, Elon Musk attempting to sabotage OpenAI, and Reddit's quest to monetize at all costs!

In this week's edition I cover:

Amazon taking shoppers offsite
Kanye West's antisemitic stunt
Reddit adding premium subreddits
YouTube's 20th birthday
Elon Musk's attempt to “buy” OpenAI
AppLovin going all in on advertising
Shein & Temu moving out of China
Amazon's control over e-books
Australia's legislation to fight scammers
TikTok is back on iOS & Android
Temu merchants using fake USPS labels
Meta's Project Waterworth is real!

All this and more in this week's 213th Edition of Shopifreaks. Thanks for subscribing and sharing!

Stat of the Week

YouTube celebrated its 20th birthday! To my fellow millennials — feels like it's been around longer, doesn't it? It's hard to remember what life was like without streaming videos…

YouTube first went live on Feb 14, 2005, founded by three former PayPal employees. The platform was acquired by Google on Nov 13, 2006 for $1.65B.

1. Amazon is taking shoppers to other websites to purchase

Amazon is testing a new shopping experience in beta where it shows select products in search results that it doesn't sell on its own marketplace — instead linking the shopper to the items on the brand's D2C website.

Here's how it works:

A customer searches for a brand or product via Amazon's search bar.
Amazon shows products in its own store alongside products that are available directly on another brand's website.
Tapping on “See More” directs customers to view more results from that brand within Amazon's app.
When a customer clicks on a product that is sold in a brand's store off Amazon, they receive a notification that they are leaving Amazon and will be directed to the brand's website.

Amazon wrote in its blog post, “If the brand has Buy with Prime enabled products, Prime members can enjoy fast, free delivery, easy returns, and 24/7 customer support for items purchased directly on the brand’s website.” — but it did not indicate whether the feature was exclusively for brands that have Buy with Prime enabled on their websites (although that would make sense if so).

From what I could gather in their FAQ for brands, this isn't a sponsored result (at the moment). Rather, Amazon is experimenting with scraping the brand's website and displaying their product results alongside their own. Similar to how Google Shopping pulls product info directly from a brand's website.

I can only assume that the current beta experience is a precursor for Amazon integrating sponsored results from 3rd party websites into its marketplace via the new Amazon Retail Ad Network, which I reported on in January.

Rick Watson of RMW Commerce Consulting made some additional predictions:

The fact that the experience is in Amazon's mobile app means that Amazon has a pretty good idea where you are as well which could increase the localized experience.

The fact that a lot of this messaging around this announcement is for “brands” and not “sellers” gives you some idea where their priorities lie. I expect this could be tied to Brand Registry even. More information to display means users can ask Amazon more questions and get better answers. It also ultimately gives Amazon more ad surface to display.

Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping, said:

We’re continuously working to expand selection and make shopping even more convenient for customers. We’re testing bringing more selection and brands into our search results to help customers find even more of what they want and further improve our shopping experience for customers.

The experience is currently live for a subset of US customers in the Amazon Shopping app on both iOS and Android, with plans to roll out to more US customers based on feedback.

2. Kanye West is an antisemitic POS

And no, that doesn't stand for “point of sale”…

Last Sunday during the Super Bowl, Kanye West aired ads on local stations in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Philadelphia in which he appeared sitting on a dentist's chair and directed viewers to visit his Shopify-powered apparel website, Yeezy-com. Within an hour of the ad going live, the website wiped all of its inventory except for one item: a $20 t-shirt featuring an image of a swastika.

Just days earlier, Kanye had posted on X, “I’m a Nazi,” alongside multiple posts supporting the actions of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who currently sits in jail for federal charges surrounding sex trafficking, racketeering, and prostitution.

Shopify removed the store on Tuesday, but subsequently faced backlash for taking 36 hours to do so, as well as for its generic statement which did not directly address the hateful product or provide it as the reason for the store's removal.

All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms, so we removed them from Shopify.

I defended Shopify in a LinkedIn post that went semi-viral after Shopify President Harley Finkelstein left a “❤️” comment on it.

In the post I wrote:

I'm no Shopify apologist… and I'm also Jewish. So keep those two things in mind when you read this post…

I think that Shopify is getting unnecessary heat today over the Yeezy hate store. They removed the store in one business day.

I'd imagine that given the high profile of the erratic store owner and/or contracts in place outside of their standard TOS, legal had to be consulted before action was taken.

Could they have moved any faster? Sure. Maybe they will next time.

Could they have made a bigger statement about it? Sure, but what else is there to say other than what they said? “The merchant violated our terms so we removed the store.”

How much more attention does Shopify want to bring to this topic? Does Harley Finkelstein as a fellow Jew need to personally tell you that antisemitism is bad? Again?

Shopify took the right action, and they did it relatively swiftly.

I went on to reject the conspiracy that Shopify kept the t-shirt online for longer so that it could profit from the transactions. I wrote:

The idea that a platform like Shopify cares so much about their slice of a 2.9% payment processing fee on any one particular store — let alone an antisemitic store featuring a swastika — that they'd keep it up for an extra day to profit from the transactions…. well, the notion seems absurd to me.

Shopify isn't counting pennies, especially ones that cost them dollars in brand reputation.

Then I wrote that we should point the heat where it belongs — at Kanye's antisemitic ass — and anyone else who bought those t-shirts (if they actually sold).

Some readers agreed with my assessment of the situation. Kimberly DeCarrera of Springboard Legal commented, “1 day is moving very fast here.”

Others disagreed that Shopify moved fast enough, blasted the company for not directly speaking out against West's actions, and pointed to other examples of Shopify permitting hateful content on its platform.

All are fair points in my opinion.

West has since moved his website off of Shopify and replaced it with a landing page that reads, “Yeezy stores coming soon,” with the letters “I” and “N” shaped in a way that resembles a swastika. West later deactivated his X account, with his last tweet expressing gratitude to Elon Musk for allowing him to ‘vent'. It was also reported that West and his wife Bianca Censori are headed towards a divorce. Might it have anything to do with him being a self-proclaimed Nazi?

On one hand, I hate to bring more attention to Kanye West, as perhaps it's best to suffocate him with lack of attention. On the other hand, it's my obligation to report major industry news — and this issue with his Shopify store certainly made headlines last week.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Should Shopify have removed the store faster and made a more direct statement addressing the issue? Or were their actions sufficient? Hit reply and let me know or join the conversation on my original LinkedIn post.

3. Reddit to add paywalls to some of its subreddits

In a video Ask Me Anything session last week, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed that the platform is actively testing ways to add paywalls to certain content, including plans to roll out a “paid subreddit” feature later this year.

Huffman described the paid content model as a “work in progress,” but mentioned it would be one of the “new, key features” that Reddit intends to introduce in 2025.

His comments during the AMA confirmed his intentions stated last year about building a new type of subreddit that would include “exclusive content or private areas” hidden behind a paywall.

Reddit has been exploring new ways to monetize its site and userbase prior to going public in March 2024, including entering into a $60M licensing agreement with Google in February 2024 that allows the company to utilize Reddit's extensive user-generated content to train its AI models, and making a similar deal with OpenAI in May 2024, which Search Engine Land estimates to be worth around $70M. The two AI licensing deals account for around 10% of the platform's revenue.

Paid subreddits wouldn't be the first time that Reddit has offered premium features and subreddits. The company has sold a subscription called Reddit Gold since 2010, which offers users an ad-free experience on the platform as well as access to the r/Lounge subreddit, which can only be seeing by Gold members.

Questions about the paid subreddits remain to be answered including:

Will moderators get paid to moderate these premium subreddits?
Will content creators get paid to contribute content to these subreddits? (Reddit has already launched a Contributor Program in September 2023, where popular posts can make Reddit users money.)
Will anyone be able to launch and monetize premium subreddits? Or will the feature be limited to select content creators and communities?
Will the paid communities also have ads? Or will users be required to me a Gold member, which simultaneously offers an ad-free experience.
Would anyone actually join a premium subreddit? Reddit users have historically never been very receptive to the platform's previous moves towards monetization.

I'll continue to cover new developments in this story as it progresses this year. In the meantime, if you're a Redditor, be sure to join me on r/Shopifreaks to keep up with and contribute the latest e-commerce news throughout the week.

4. Elon Musk either wants to buy OpenAI or disrupt its fundraising

A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4B to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI last Monday.

Musk said in a statement provided by his attorney Marc Toberoff:

It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens.

Sam Altman promptly replied with a post on X that read:

no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.

To which Musk replied:

Swindler

Bret Taylor, chairman of OpenAI's board, followed up with a more professional statement:

OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition. Any potential reorganisation of OpenAI will strengthen our non-profit and its mission to ensure AGI [artificial general intelligence] benefits all of humanity.

Here's a brief history of the feud between Musk and Altman:

December 2015: Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.
2018: Musk departed from OpenAI's board after an unsuccessful attempt to assume control, expressing concerns over the organization's direction and transparency.
2022: Following OpenAI's release of ChatGPT, Musk criticized the company for deviating from its original open-source mission and transforming into a for-profit entity.
March 2024: Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, and co-founder Greg Brockman, alleging that the company had strayed from its founding principles by prioritizing profit over public benefit.
August 2024: Musk revived his lawsuit against OpenAI, this time including Microsoft as a defendant, accusing them of creating a lucrative monopoly and betraying OpenAI's original mission.
December 2024: OpenAI released a timeline of events showing that Musk wanted OpenAI to transition to a for-profit as far back as 2017 and at the time demanded “majority equity, absolute control, and to be the CEO of the for-profit” — but that the organization rejected his terms, which was the real reason Musk left OpenAI.

Was it a legitimate offer from Musk? Or just a way to harass Altman?

Either way, Musk would likely need to bring more to the table than $97.4B. OpenAI was valued at $157B in its last funding round, and SoftBank is currently in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40B in OpenAI at a valuation of $300B.

Some experts believe that the offer was not made in earnest and was intended solely to complicate OpenAI's ongoing fundraising efforts and its transition to a for-profit structure. Musk’s bid for just the nonprofit organization (and not for the new for-profit division that would own equity in the nonprofit) sets a high bar and could mean whoever runs the nonprofit would end up with a large and possibly controlling stake in the new for-profit OpenAI.

On January 7, Toberoff submitted a request to the attorneys general of California, where OpenAI operates, and Delaware, its state of incorporation, urging them to initiate a bidding process to assess the true market value of its charitable assets, arguing that OpenAI might undervalue its nonprofit entity when transitioning it into a for-profit company. Musk's investor group said it is prepared to match or exceed any bids higher than their own.

Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson, said, “The offer seems to be backed by more credible investors … OpenAI may not be able to ignore it. It will be the fiduciary responsibility of OpenAI’s board to decide whether this is a better offer, which could call into question the offer from SoftBank.”

5. AppLovin is going all in on its advertising business

AppLovin, a mobile tech company specializing in advertising and app monetization, announced its plans to offload its entire apps business and go all in on its advertising platform. (Am I the only one who thinks of McLovin every time I read their name?)

The company signed a term sheet to fully divest the 10 remaining gaming studios in its portfolio at a $900M asking price by next quarter so that it can become — in the words of its CEO Adam Foroughi — a “pure advertising platform.”

Foroughi told investors on AppLovin’s Q4 earnings call Wednesday evening:

Seven years ago, we began acquiring gaming studios to help train our earliest machine learning models, an invaluable step in shaping the AI that underpins our Axon platform. However, we've never been a game developer at heart.

For the past decade, AppLovin's bread and butter has been helping game publishers monetize by advertising other games in their apps. However last year, the company launched a limited pilot program for e-commerce advertisers to promote their products and services in apps. And now it sees more upside to concentrate on that ad platform than on developing its own apps.

While making the pivot, the company's top priority is to roll out more automated ad buying tools and to eventually automate the entire system, so that it doesn't have to go on a hiring spree to scale its ad revenue. In fact, the company has been actively downsizing — laying off 120 people in 2024 and 89 more at the start of the year.

AppLovin reported total Q4 revenue of $1.37B, a 44% YoY increase, and is projecting more than $1.03B in revenue for its advertising segment in Q1 2025.

6. Shein & Temu are asking suppliers to move production out of China

Shein and Temu are working with suppliers to move production out of China, following the Trump administration's recent actions surrounding tariffs and de minimis exemptions, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Shein is encouraging suppliers to set up production in Vietnam, meeting with them to offer incentives like interest-free loans and increased order placements. The company has also offered help with raw materials and logistics, such as shipping fabrics from China to Vietnam and helping with local hires, and has encouraged suppliers to register as independent local entities or through a Hong Kong entity to avoid potential compliance risks in the future, according to WSJ sources. However Shein denies the rumors.

Meanwhile, Temu raised prices on its website and is pushing suppliers to store inventory in its US warehouses, which currently fulfill around one-third of US orders, according to insiders. Temu also started offering some sellers higher wholesale prices to buy up their inventories, which they would likely ship to their US facilities.

Additionally, Temu is boosting its efforts to sell in countries other than the US, which is currently its biggest market. Inside Retail reports that Temu is stepping up its preparations to directly enter the South Korean market and is in the process of hiring Korean employees for HR, admin, PR, marketing, and logistics functions.

Earlier this month, I reported that President Trump delayed his plans to close the de minimis exemption on Chinese goods to allow the Commerce Department time to set up a system to process inspections and levies on the shipments. However manufactures and sellers aren't waiting around to see what the US decides to do and are instead proactively making plans to move production and/or diversify their businesses.

As one factory owner told the WSJ, “U.S. policies are too volatile, it’s too big of a risk to put inventory there”

7. Amazon is taking even more control of your e-book experience

Amazon is ending a feature that enabled owners of Kindle e-books to strip them of their Digital Rights Management (DRM) and move them onto other devices.

The function known as “Download & Transfer via USB” was developed in the early days of Kindle, which launched in 2007, back when users did not have easy access to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at all times, and consumers often used cables to transfer documents.

However now that most consumers have ongoing Internet access to their Kindle devices, Amazon is taking more control of the transfer process by requiring that readers go through their cloud-based “Deliver or Remove from Device” option, beginning Feb 26th.

Matthew Sholtz of Android Police wrote:

The thing to remember here is that it is illegal to remove DRM, even for personal use, but that doesn't stop everyone, creating a problem when people do share their cracked files across the web, otherwise known as pirates, and frankly, it's kind of surprising Amazon has left this Download & Transfer via USB feature open for so long. So soon enough, one of the easiest avenues for removing DRM from Kindle e-books will be gone, begging the question of whether this is just the start of a larger crackdown.

Here's the thing though… not everyone who wants to remove DRM from e-books are “pirates.” Some readers just want to send the books that they legitimately purchased to other e-readers — such as ones with physical buttons, older readers with no Internet access, or readers that aren't compatible with Kindle formats.

The Amazon Kindle currently accounts for 70% of the e-book market, and this move further locks readers into their ecosystem.

8. Australia passes legislation to fight back against scams

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission adopted the world's first legislation of its kind to help protect residents from scams and the cybercriminals behind them.

The Scams Prevention Framework Bill will require designated entities including banks, telecommunication companies, social media networks, and other digital platforms to proactively detect and disrupt scams and report scam activity. One of the rules specifically directed at social media platforms requires that they verify their advertisers, while banks must be able to identify who the payee is.

The goal of the bill is to take some of the responsibility to combat scammers away from consumers and onto the networks and platforms that host the scammers and allow the scams to take place.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said:

The financial crime type, scams, present an unacceptable threat to the Australian community and have had a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Australians. This Bill is a critical step in the fight against scams – creating overarching principles that all members of designated sectors must comply with. We know scammers will exploit weak links in the system – so these principles are key to a consistent approach.

Under the new legislation, the ACCC will closely monitor platforms' compliance with principles to prevent, detect, disrupt, respond to and report scams. Businesses that do not meet their obligations under the new framework can face fines of up to $50M.

9. Other e-commerce news of interest

Apple and Google restored TikTok to their respective US app stores on Thursday evening, several weeks after they removed the app to comply with the new law that banned it in the country. Last month, President Trump paused enforcement of the TikTok ban with an executive order, but Apple and Google were reluctant to bring TikTok back until they were certain they would not be breaking the law. After receiving letters from the Justice Department assuring them that they would not face fines for carrying TikTok in their app stores, both companies re-activated the app listings. Sucks for anyone who paid $50k last month for an iPhone with TikTok preinstalled on it!

Some Temu merchants are using fake USPS postage labels to ship their products to customers for free. Posts on Chinese social media openly promote fake labels for as little as 60 cents — a scam that costs the USPS millions of dollars a year, according to Rest of World. One merchant admitted to purchasing between 1,000 and 2,000 fake labels per day, which would typically cost more than $8 each. He justified his actions by saying he would never be able to make money if he paid for legitimate shipping because the prices listed on Temu were so low.

Meta launched the Facebook Marketplace Partner initiative, which allows rival classified ad service providers to publish listings of ads on the Facebook Marketplace. The listings will be displayed alongside those from Facebook users and other third-party providers. The initiative comes three months after Meta was hit with a €797M antitrust fine for using anticompetitive practices to grow its classifieds market share.

Meta's recent “low performer” layoffs are not going well. Many former employees are striking back at the company publicly, claiming that the low performer label is “misleading” or “flat-out wrong” and that the subjective label could affect a worker's future job prospects. Other affected employees have accused Meta of laying them off while they were taking approved leave such as parental or medical leave.

Apple resumed advertising on X for the first time since pausing ads more than a year ago over concerns for brand safety following Elon Musk's purchase of the social network. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features and the @AppleTV account has been running ads for the Apple TV+ show Severance. Jess Weatherbed of The Verge wrote, “While X’s approach to content moderation has changed little since then, Big Tech’s relationship with Musk has shifted since President Donald Trump took office.”

Google implemented its data privacy change this past Sunday that now permits “fingerprinting,” a practice that allows online advertisers to collect more data about users including their IP addresses and information about their devices. Google says this data is already widely used by other companies and that it encourages responsible data use by its advertisers. Google previously came out strongly against this type of data collection, claiming in a 2019 blog that fingerprinting “subverts user choice and is wrong,” but the company has since changed its tune.

TikTok is testing a subscription feature that lets users receive recurring repeat shipments, similar to Amazon's subscribe-and-save tool. The subscription tool encourages users to make repeat purchases of items like vitamins or snacks in exchange for a discount and helps sellers lock in recurring revenue. It is not available to all sellers or customers yet.

Jeep introduced full-screen pop-up ads on its infotainment systems that appear every time the vehicle comes to a stop, even if the vehicle isn't in park. Jeep owners are reporting being bombarded with advertisements for Mopar's extended warranty service, which the drivers have to manually close to return to their GPS navigation or access basic vehicle functions. After outrage sparked across the web, Jeep told The Autopian that the repetitive recurring ads were a result of a “temporary software glitch” and that “instant opt-out is the standard for all our in-vehicle messages.” So I guess “ads” are called “messages” now?

Uber filed a lawsuit against DoorDash, which holds the largest share of the food delivery market in the US, accusing it of stifling competition by intimidating restaurant owners into exclusive arrangements. Uber claims that DoorDash handles first-party deliveries for more than 90% of the largest restaurant chains in America, and that the company used anticompetitive practices to win the market. A DoorDash spokesperson said that the “claims are unfounded and based on their inability to offer merchants, consumers, or couriers a quality alternative.” Damn, shots fired!

Amazon workers voted overwhelmingly against a bid to unionize their warehouse in Garner, North Carolina in the latest setback in labor organizing efforts at the company. Workers voted 2,447 to 829 against unionizing with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, an upstart union founded by warehouse workers in 2022. I wonder if the outcome had anything to do with the fact that Amazon announced just a few weeks ago that it was closing its warehouse in Quebec and laying off 1,700 workers after it unionized?

Bing added a new ad slot to its shopping e-commerce cards, which the search engine began testing back in December. The ads appear as “Related Products” and display sponsored results related to the user's search. The variation was spotted by Sachin Patel who posted the examples on X.

TikTok began highlighting top-rated products for sale within TikTok Shop using a new “Most Loved” tag that appears at the bottom left of the product image gallery. TikTok says a range of variables will factor into which products receive the badge including star ratings, return rates, shipping times, and overall customer service feedback, and that users can help to improve the shopping experience for others if they leave feedback on purchased items.

India's proposed comprehensive e-commerce policy, which seeks to regulate data governance, competition, and foreign direct investment, is being put on hold as the government reassesses its approach amid shifting global trade dynamics. The delay reflects concerns over foreign investment impacts and resistance from global e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart, while regulators cautiously navigate geopolitical uncertainties and broader trade negotiations, particularly with Washington adopting a more protectionist stance under the Trump administration.

Modern Retail appointed Jill Manoff as its new editor-in-chief. Manoff previously served as editor-in-chief of Glossy, a Digiday Media brand covering luxury beauty, wellness, and fashion. The publication also named Anna Hensel as its new executive editor. Hensel previously served as the Modern Retail's managing editor since Mar 2021 and as a reporter since Feb 2019.

YouTube Shorts is integrating with Google DeepMind's latest video model, Veo 2, to allow creators to generate AI videos clips for their posts. YouTube previously allowed creators to generate AI backgrounds for their Shorts with a text prompt through a feature called Dream Screen, and Veo 2 extends the capability to allow for standalone video clips.

Rivian opened sales of its commercial electric vans to any US business that wants one, more than a year after ending its exclusivity deal with Amazon, which has invested more than $1.3B in the company. Rivian will sell two vans, its smaller 500 and larger 700, only to registered businesses. Rivian started producing the commercial vans in 2021 and now powers 20,000 vans in Amazon's commercial fleet.

BigCommerce appointed Michelle Suzuki as Chief Marketing Officer and Rob Walter as Chief Revenue Officer. Suzuki brings over 25 years of experience from companies like EMC, Ancestry, and Ivanti, and previously served as CMO at Glassbox. Walter has 20 years of e-commerce experience, having held positions at Salesforce, eBay, ChannelAdvisor, and served as CRO at Amplience and OroCommerce.

Klarna was hit with a lawsuit accusing it of stealing commissions from influencers who direct their audiences to purchase products using affiliate links. Similar suits have been filed since the new year against other coupon browser extensions, most notably PayPal's Honey extension, but also Microsoft, Capital One Financial Corp. and its e-commerce subsidiary Wikibuy.

Squarespace is planning to create over 120 jobs in Ireland over the next two years, expanding its workforce in the country to over 400 employees. The company, which opened its Irish office in Dublin in 2013, is looking to immediately hire for a variety of engineering and product roles.

Amazon is looking to hire more than 2,000 workers across Southern California at its two new inbound cross-dock facilities in Fontana and Jurupa Valley, which are designed to receive and prepare goods for Amazon's fulfillment centers. The starting pay will be $20.75 per hour (which is practically minimum wage in California) and includes benefits such as healthcare, dental and vision coverage, a 401(k) with company match, up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave, pre-paid college tuition, and upskilling opportunities.

14 publishers including Condé Nast, The Atlantic, and Forbes filed a lawsuit against Cohere, a Canadian AI startup, for allegedly engaging in “massive, systematic” copyright infringement. In the complaint, the publishers accuse Cohere of using at least 4,000 copyrighted works to train its AI models and display large portions of articles (sometimes full articles) for users, harming the publishers' referral traffic.

Meanwhile in the US… a judge in Delaware delivered a landmark ruling in the first major AI copyright case in the country, siding with Thomson Reuters in its lawsuit against legal AI startup Ross Intelligence for reproducing materials from its legal research database to build a competing AI-powered legal platform. Judge Bibas rejected Ross Intelligence's fair use defense, a key argument used by AI companies in copyright disputes.

USPS is planning on applying Nonstandard Fees to more types of packages in July, as part of its twice-yearly rate changes. The postal service introduced Nonstandard Fees in April 2022 on items like movie posters and golf clubs, and now it's expanding the fee to include all cylindrical tubes or rolls and on any package with contents that may cause the parcel to roll.

Apple chose Alibaba to provide AI services to its iPhones in China after speaking to a number of AI companies in the country including ByteDance and Tencent. Apple phones outside of China utilize a combination of its proprietary Apple Intelligence and OpenAI's ChatGPT, but the company did not specify whether its partnership with Alibaba would follow a similar model.

Italian prosecutors are investigating Amazon and three of its executives over alleged tax evasion worth €1.2B. According to the investigation, Amazon's algorithm allows it to sell in Italy goods from non-EU sellers, mostly from China, without disclosing their identity, helping them avoid paying Italian VAT. Under Italian law, an intermediary offering goods for sale in the country is co-responsible for the non-payment of VAT by non-EU sellers.

Western Union discontinued its payments services in Cuba after the Trump administration put pressure on the country. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio relaunched the Cuba Restricted List, which features ban son financial transactions that have links to government-linked organizations. Former President Biden had loosened restrictions on money transfer to Cuba.

Affirm and FIS are partnering up to allow FIS's bank clients to add biweekly and monthly payment plans to their own debit card programs, similar to the way Affirm Card works. Banks will also be able to tap into merchant-funded financing offers such as 0% APR, longer terms, and higher credit limits. The deal was announced the same day that Klarna teamed up with JPMorgan Chase's merchant network to offer its installment options, including interest-free BNPL, at the point of sale for more than 900,000 businesses. The integration is scheduled to launch later this year.

Apple released an Apple TV+ app for Android phones last Wednesday, significantly expanding its market, particularly with international users where Android claims a 72% market share. Apple's Services business is its second largest behind iPhone sales, hitting a $100B per year revenue rate last year from subscriptions like AppleTV+, iCloud, AppleCare warranties, and payment fees from Apple Pay. Smart move, Apple! Why should your streaming video division be limited to just Apple users? Opening the door to Android users subscribing more than doubles your advertising reach.

Google Tag Manager was exploited by cybercriminals to hide malware in Magento-powered e-commerce sites and steal payment information from customers. The attackers obfuscated the script, making it difficult to detect, and used it to capture payment details from the checkout page before sending them to a remote server.

Meta is launching a new AI-powered humanoid robotics division with its Reality Labs division, aiming to compete with Tesla, FigureAI, and Apptronik, which just raised $350M in part from Google. Initially the company's robots will focus on household chores, but Meta's bigger ambitions is to make the underlying AI, sensors, and software for robots that will be manufactured and sold by a range of companies.

Meta confirmed Project Waterworth, a 50,000 kilometers long subsea cable project that will connect five continents with landing points in the US, Brazil, India, South Africa, and other key regions. When completed, the subsea cable will be the longest of its kind in the world. The new cable project will be the first wholly owned by Meta itself.

10. Seed rounds, IPOs, & acquisitions

Stripe is in talks to arrange sales of stock by employees at an $85B valuation, which would add $15B to its valuation, but still be $10B lower than its $95B valuation at its last money raise in 2021. Bloomberg reports that the transaction is still being negotiated and the terms could change. Stripe has been a longtime contender for an IPO, but the company has repeatedly said that it's in no rush to list.

Tabby, a Saudi Arabian BNPL provider, raised $160M in a Series E round led by Blue Pool Capital and Hassana Investment Company, at a $3.3B valuation. Since its last funding round in October 2023, the company has almost doubled its annualized transaction volumes to over $10B while growing profitably. It also recently acquired Tweeq, a Saudi-based digital wallet, to expand its product portfolio.

Tofu, an AI-driven B2B marketing platform that brings all of a company's potential marketing campaigns into one space, raised $12M in a Series A round led by SignalFire. The platform integrates with tools like HubSpot and Salesforce and uses AI to automatically modify and personalize marketing copy for different channels and customer types.

Shein is looking to delay its London IPO following changes to import tariffs in the US. The company previously informed investors that it would seek to go public as soon as April, but is now pushing back its IPO until at least the second half of the year. Last week I reported that Shein had cut its valuation to around $50B, nearly a quarter less than the company's 2023 fundraising value.

Ecom Express, an Indian logistics and supply chain company specializing in e-commerce fulfillment, also put on hold its plans for an IPO and laid off at least 500 employees as it attempts to trim costs. The company's IPO was approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in December and is valid until later this year.

Clutch, a Canadian online car retailer that offers a fully digital, hassle-free car buying experience, including home delivery and a 10-day money-back guarantee, raised $50M in a round led by Altos Ventures at a more than $575M valuation. Two years ago, Clutch cut 65% of its staff, pulled out of Western Canada, and considered selling or pulling the plug. However now the company is back in the race, booking more than $320M in revenue last year, up 81%, and turning its first profit in the third quarter.

Wyrld, a Hamburg-based social commerce platform that merges traditional e-commerce with the creator economy, raised €1M in a pre-seed funding round from investors including Jochen Krisch, Sven Rittau, Kevin Tewe, and Matthias Schrader to support its launch and expansion efforts. Set to launch this year, Wyrld is currently being tested by influencers and select brands, targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Taager, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform that provides merchants with sourcing, logistics, and fulfillment services, raised $6.75M in a Pre-Series B round led by Norrsken22. The company will use the funds to expand its services across the Middle East and North Africa while reinforcing its position as a data-driven e-commerce solution.

Keychain, an AI-powered platform that connects the consumer packaged goods industry with manufacturing partners, raised $5M in a round led by Bright Pixel Capital, bringing its total amount raised to $38M. The new funding will support the company's expansion, including the launch of two new platforms focused on packaging and ingredients, as well as its planned entry into the European market later this year.

MarketLeap, an AI-driven platform that helps D2C brands automate and scale their marketplace management, logistics, and fulfillment operations, raised $8M in a Series A round led by Smedvig Ventures, bringing its total amount raised to $10.6M. The company will use the funds to accelerate platform development, expand its presence in the US, and add to its headcount with the opening of offices in Madrid and New York City.

Kodiak Hub, a Stockholm-based platform that helps businesses manage relationships with suppliers and optimize their supply chain efficiency, raised $6M from Oxx to expand its operations into the US. The platform uses AI to produce supplier profiles enriched from multiple sources, as well as provide insights into a supplier's likely future performance, helping customers identify risks to make informed decisions.

Apptronik, an Austin-based company developing AI-powered humanoid robots designed to collaborate with humans in the workforce, raised $350M in a Series A round co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory with participation from Google, bringing its total amount raised to $378M. The company is currently working on deploying a humanoid robot designed for industrial work named Apollo, and the new funding will help it scale its development into manufacturing and health care.

Tom Brady, the seven-time NFL Super Bowl Champion quarterback, acquired a 50% stake in CardVault, a sports card and memorabilia retailer. As part of the agreement, the company will now be called CardVault by Tom Brady and expand its retail footprint with a new flagship store opening this spring at American Dream, a retail and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, NJ.

Shopfront, an Australian e-commerce platform that allows sellers to list their products quickly across multiple marketplaces using AI, raised $800k in a pre-seed funding round led by Antler, Co-Ventures, and others. The company is currently developing automation tools for secondhand, damaged, returned, sample, and other one-off products to help keep items out of landfills.

Suger.io, a San Francisco-based API-driven platform that enables businesses to list, transact, and co-sell across major cloud marketplaces, raised $15M in a Series A round led by Threshold Ventures. In 2024, the company more than quadrupled its ARR and scaled to roughly 200 customers, powering companies like Snowflake, Intel, Fivetran, DBT Labs, Notion, and ContentSquare, and claims that it has enabled customers to 3x their marketplace volumes and increase average contract values by over 140%.

Meta is in talks to acquire FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip maker founded by former Samsung and AMD employees, as soon as this month, according to Forbes sources. The company develops chips that speed up the running and serving of AI models, including text-generating models like Meta's Llama 2 and Llama 3. The move is likely an effort to reduce its reliance on Nvidia and complement its in-house attempts to build efficient AI accelerator chips.

Steve Madden entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kurt Geiger, a UK-based footwear and accessories brand, for £289M in cash from a group led by private equity firm Cinven. Kurt Geiger opened its fourth US store last month and has another five in development, iwth plans to eventually operate 50 locations in the region.

Kevel, a North Carolina-based platform that provides API-driven ad serving solutions, acquired Nexta, an automated advertising self-serve platform, to enhance its API-based retail media solutions, for an undisclosed amount. The integration of the two platforms will offer Kevel's retail clients a full-stack solution for managing both on-site and off-site advertising.

Ageras, a Danish financial software platform that integrates accounting, banking, and administrative solutions to streamline operations for small businesses, acquired Storebuddy, a solution designed to help digital merchants automate online payments, order reconciliation, payouts, accounting processes, and VAT reporting, for an undisclosed amount. Ageras says that the acquisition will enable it to expand its reach within the e-commerce sector.

Raenest, a Nigerian fintech that provides financial management tools for African remote workers and global businesses, raised $11M in a Series A round led by QED Investors, bringing its total amount raised to $14.3M. This investment aims to support the company's expansion into the US and Egypt, while strengthening its presence in core markets like Nigeria and Kenya.

Salla, Saudi Arabian e-commerce platform that enables merchants to create and manage online stores, entered into an agreement to acquire Sweply, a digital advertising platform that offers AI-driven solutions to create, manage, and optimize multi-channel marketing campaigns, for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Sweply will be rebranded as Salla Ads and become the official advertising solution within Salla's ecosystem.