Search Captions & Ask AI

Alibaba's Joe Tsai on US-China Rivalry, AI Future, Owning the Nets/Liberty, Caitlin Clark's Impact

October 08, 2025 / 27:07

This episode features Joe Sai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets and chairman of Alibaba, discussing basketball, the WNBA, and the impact of AI on business.

Joe Sai shares insights on the WNBA, highlighting Caitlin Clark's influence on viewership and ticket sales, and addressing the league's challenges in protecting its stars.

He compares the physicality of the WNBA and NBA, emphasizing the need for a balanced view of both leagues. Sai also discusses his role on the NBA's competition committee and the importance of product improvements.

Transitioning to Alibaba, Sai reflects on the company's evolution, competition, and regulatory changes in China, noting the importance of education and innovation in the workforce.

Finally, he addresses the geopolitical dynamics between the US and China, advocating for cooperation in AI development and discussing the implications of technology on job markets.

TL;DR

Joe Sai discusses the WNBA's growth, Alibaba's evolution, and US-China relations in AI and business.

Video

00:00:01
For people who don't know who he is,
00:00:03
please give us an introduction to Joe
00:00:05
Sat. He's the owner of the Nets and he's
00:00:07
now chairman of Alibaba. We like
00:00:10
innovation from the bottom up.
00:00:11
Alibaba just dropped their secret
00:00:13
weapon, Quinn 2.5 max. Alibaba surged 14
00:00:17
1.5% overnight, beat estimates on nearly
00:00:19
every metric. A massive rally alone this
00:00:21
year, adding about 100 billion to the
00:00:24
stock's value. You have to have a growth
00:00:26
mindset when you compete.
00:00:30
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joe
00:00:33
Sai.
00:00:42
Hey, my man. Good to see you.
00:00:44
Good to see you, brother.
00:00:46
How are you?
00:00:46
Good to see you.
00:00:46
Good to see you,
00:00:47
David. How are you?
00:00:49
The Brooklyn Nets.
00:00:52
Brooklyn Nets.
00:00:53
Nets and the New York Liberty.
00:00:54
And the New York Liberty. Exactly. It's
00:00:56
not easy running a team, is it?
00:00:58
It's uh not easy at all.
00:01:01
Not easy at all
00:01:02
because
00:01:04
uh a basketball any professional team is
00:01:07
uh both a uh business and also it's an
00:01:10
institution. You need to keep the fan
00:01:12
base happy. So there's sort of this
00:01:14
church and state element.
00:01:15
Yeah.
00:01:16
It's almost like running a news
00:01:17
organization.
00:01:18
Yeah, there it is. Can we uh maybe start
00:01:20
with the WNBA and we can shift to
00:01:22
business and we can shift to basketball,
00:01:23
but I think Caitlin Kark is out for the
00:01:25
season and there's just been a lot of
00:01:27
controversy and attention that the WNBA
00:01:29
is getting. What has it done right? What
00:01:31
has it done wrong? Did the has the
00:01:33
league been doing enough to protect her
00:01:34
as a as a star in the face of the
00:01:36
league? It's been a almost a microcosm
00:01:39
for just a social discussion. Do you
00:01:41
want to just talk about that as what you
00:01:43
see?
00:01:43
Clayton Clark definitely had an effect
00:01:45
on uh the WNBA. All the metrics went up.
00:01:48
So, this was last season, right, when
00:01:51
she first came into the league from
00:01:53
college. And uh uh we've seen all of our
00:01:56
metrics from viewership, ticket sales,
00:02:00
sponsorship, everything went up like
00:02:02
almost 4x 4x.
00:02:05
4x,
00:02:06
right?
00:02:06
I mean, that's incredible.
00:02:07
That's incredible. So, so the so the
00:02:10
economic impact that she's made to the
00:02:12
league is is extraordinary.
00:02:14
Undeniable.
00:02:14
Undeniable. But because of who she is,
00:02:17
um, you know, she's a a little bit of a
00:02:19
different, uh, kind of player. You know,
00:02:23
she is a she's a point guard. She's
00:02:24
she's a smaller player. Uh, the knock on
00:02:27
her was was she going to be able to
00:02:29
withstand all the physicality of the
00:02:31
league, and she's proven that she's able
00:02:33
to do to do that. Um, unfortunately,
00:02:36
there's been uh I think I think it's
00:02:39
always good to have rivalries, right? uh
00:02:41
you know she she has this rivalry with
00:02:43
Angel Ree that dated back to college.
00:02:45
But some people would like to pit it as
00:02:48
uh a kind of a racial thing or is it uh
00:02:52
you know this or that. I um I think we
00:02:55
need to look past that uh and just look
00:02:57
at the skill set that's being brought
00:02:58
into the league now. We have so many
00:03:00
great college players. I mean uh the the
00:03:03
the rookie of the year potential
00:03:06
candidate uh is Sonia Citron. Have you
00:03:09
ever heard of her before she came into
00:03:11
the league? I mean, no, she I think she
00:03:13
just uh broke the record for the highest
00:03:16
three-point uh shooting percentage in
00:03:18
the league. Uh so, you know, you you see
00:03:21
tremendous amount of talent and I think
00:03:24
uh you you ask what have what have they
00:03:27
done, right? I I don't I think it's a
00:03:29
matter of just uh a confluence of good
00:03:31
things coming into the league.
00:03:32
And what about the NBA? So you guys did
00:03:35
just an enormous
00:03:36
Yeah. Just let me let me just But but
00:03:38
the one thing that's really changed that
00:03:40
is prior to the Kaylin Clark uh season
00:03:45
uh your average fan base that watches
00:03:48
ESPN basically you guys are not watching
00:03:52
women's basketball. Maybe some some of
00:03:54
them follow college but certainly not
00:03:57
the WNBA. But now your average ESPN fan
00:04:00
base, they are watching the mainstream
00:04:03
sports fan base are watching the
00:04:04
I think she's a I I have an observation
00:04:07
about this and you and I are old school
00:04:08
basketball heads, you know, watching
00:04:10
having watched the 80s and 90s and
00:04:12
Patrick Euing and Charles Barkley. It's
00:04:14
more physical. They're tougher in the
00:04:16
WNBA. And every time LeBron goes up and
00:04:19
he gets fouled and he's just and he's
00:04:22
flopping all the time.
00:04:22
How does he do it? You know, it's a
00:04:25
foul. It's a foul. So maybe you could
00:04:27
comment on LeBron being like
00:04:29
or just generally the NBA product
00:04:31
actually.
00:04:31
Yeah. The I mean the NBA and then
00:04:33
they're so tough and they're throwing
00:04:35
each other around. It's a better game.
00:04:38
The NBA product is great.
00:04:40
Um I I I don't think it's fair to
00:04:42
compare whether uh the men's league is
00:04:44
more less physical than the women's
00:04:45
league or more one the other the I mean
00:04:48
they're both very physical. I mean if
00:04:49
you are sitting there on the floor you
00:04:52
are watching physicality.
00:04:54
Sure. uh and and also athleticism,
00:04:56
right? But the game has, you know, the
00:04:59
NBA has this uh uh committee called the
00:05:02
competition committee. So I I got put on
00:05:03
the competition committee. They call me
00:05:06
and they say, "Joe Joe, we want, you
00:05:07
know, want to be on the competition
00:05:09
committee, you know, it's about rules
00:05:10
about, you know, like what is this
00:05:12
transition, take foul?" So the committee
00:05:15
is every season they're they make these
00:05:17
tweak changes. They make changes to
00:05:20
refing to make the product better. I
00:05:22
mean, when I got the call, I'm like, you
00:05:24
want me to sit on the committee with
00:05:26
Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, and uh Coach K?
00:05:30
Like, what do I know about basketball
00:05:32
that can, you know, really
00:05:34
be smarter than them? But, uh, but what
00:05:37
I've seen is uh I've said to ads so the
00:05:40
competition committee should be called
00:05:42
the product committee because that is
00:05:44
the product the fans see on the floor.
00:05:46
If you change, let's say if you change
00:05:47
the three-point line,
00:05:49
that is a product decision. sound
00:05:51
competition.
00:05:52
Should they?
00:05:53
Is it too?
00:05:54
I I don't think so. I don't think so.
00:05:56
When you watch the the Boston Celtics
00:05:58
throw up 43 threes in a game, you think
00:06:00
it's a good product?
00:06:01
I think it's a great product because
00:06:02
there are 18 different ways you can
00:06:04
throw up 43 threes in a game.
00:06:06
Okay, let's uh transition to Alibaba for
00:06:09
a second. It's an incredible journey you
00:06:12
and Jack Ma and the whole story has it's
00:06:15
I mean it's written in books and there's
00:06:17
just tremendous lore but can you take us
00:06:19
back to your mindset? I mean I think
00:06:21
we've heard it's well documented Jack's
00:06:23
mindset but how you got involved what
00:06:25
you were thinking in that moment the
00:06:27
risk you were taking. I was just
00:06:29
mesmerized by Jack's personality. uh
00:06:32
every people see the public side of Jack
00:06:35
which is very charismatic but what I saw
00:06:38
was he was able to instill faith in
00:06:40
people. I mean, he had a when I walked
00:06:42
into his apartment, there were like 12
00:06:45
to 15 sort of very young people roughly,
00:06:48
you know, uh, students that were just
00:06:52
coming out of college and Jack was kind
00:06:54
of the teacher that's 10 years older and
00:06:57
he's able to communicate. He's able to
00:06:59
paint a a very strong vision. Uh, that
00:07:03
was the part that I really signed on to.
00:07:05
His ability to lead is an amazing
00:07:08
ability and you know he's a teacher uh
00:07:11
by training he taught at Zojang
00:07:14
University he taught English actually
00:07:16
you know teachers in a way make natural
00:07:19
leaders uh because a you have to
00:07:21
communicate well and b you can identify
00:07:25
talent I think a lot of teachers love to
00:07:28
see their students and say oh this kid
00:07:31
is gonna do really well so they write a
00:07:33
recommendation they do whatever And also
00:07:36
teachers are have enough humility that
00:07:39
they're willing, they're very happy if
00:07:41
their students go off and then they come
00:07:44
back and become more successful than
00:07:45
they are. And in a comp in building a
00:07:47
company, you need to be able to
00:07:49
accommodate all sorts of people that are
00:07:50
smarter than you are. And that's that's
00:07:52
really important. There was a phase I
00:07:54
guess in the maybe the early 2010s where
00:07:57
it was a lot of it felt like tremendous
00:08:00
freewheeling capitalism in China where
00:08:02
there was just a just a Cambrian
00:08:04
explosion of incredible entrepreneurs
00:08:06
yourself and Jack and all these others
00:08:07
pony and then I think almost starting
00:08:11
with the antipo it things changed a
00:08:14
little bit. Can you walk us through the
00:08:16
dynamics of how that changed and then I
00:08:18
think it all kind of leads to you know
00:08:20
the lot of foreign direct investment
00:08:21
into the Chinese ecosystem has changed
00:08:23
pretty dramatically. Just give us a
00:08:25
sense of what has happened over that arc
00:08:27
that you've been in it working in it
00:08:30
observing it.
00:08:30
Alibaba has been around for 26 years. I
00:08:34
would say the first 15 years were it was
00:08:37
a complete free market kind of you know
00:08:40
way of growth and uh uh we built a lot
00:08:44
of business organically and then you we
00:08:48
went into a phase where there was
00:08:49
extreme competition uh everybody wanted
00:08:52
to do e-commerce why it's because if you
00:08:55
have traffic online e-commerce was the
00:08:58
best way to monetize your traffic and
00:09:00
and today in today's market we have five
00:09:02
or very very strong competitors
00:09:05
including the parent company of Tik Tok
00:09:07
bite dance they are doing e-commerce
00:09:09
they're not known as an e-commerce
00:09:10
company but they are one of our fiercest
00:09:12
competitors so there's a you go through
00:09:15
a a a period of extreme competition and
00:09:18
then the government felt that this
00:09:21
sector has gotten out of line a little
00:09:24
bit first there's too much competition
00:09:27
and then there are some uh platforms
00:09:29
that have exhibited monopolistic
00:09:32
behavior
00:09:33
So then there was a uh you know people
00:09:36
may call it a crackdown whatever more
00:09:38
regulations came in regulations some of
00:09:40
the regulations are very good actually
00:09:42
they protected privacy uh uh anti-
00:09:45
monopoly type uh regulation and uh uh
00:09:49
now we kind of are in a new normal where
00:09:53
uh we are we believe that the regulatory
00:09:57
environment is more predictable. We know
00:09:59
what the red lines are uh and we we know
00:10:02
where to go and where not to go and it's
00:10:05
actually made uh a a a better operating
00:10:08
environment because of the predict
00:10:10
predictability of it. On a geopolitical
00:10:12
level, it seems to be the rhetoric in
00:10:14
the United States. What they keep
00:10:16
drilling into Americans is to look at
00:10:19
China as an existential threat to
00:10:22
America that we're rivals that we cannot
00:10:24
operate and lead the world to
00:10:27
prosperity.
00:10:28
What do you think?
00:10:31
I I I
00:10:33
don't agree with that view of uh the
00:10:36
world. I'd be interested in your view,
00:10:38
David.
00:10:38
I mean, I don't believe in that either.
00:10:39
I mean, I'm I don't know why this has to
00:10:42
be the only dialogue we have is that we
00:10:45
are bitter rivals.
00:10:46
Yeah. I mean, look at this. the I I
00:10:49
think I I I could understand why sitting
00:10:52
here in America you look at the rise of
00:10:54
China over the last 20 years 25 years uh
00:10:57
China has become strong in terms of um
00:10:59
manufacturing that's why it's such an
00:11:01
export juggernaut it has become because
00:11:04
of the economic development it's uh you
00:11:07
know China has become a technology
00:11:10
juggernaut as well and the fear is well
00:11:13
all that stuff economic strength and
00:11:15
technology strength is going to flow
00:11:18
into military strength and that becomes
00:11:21
kind of a national security issue. I I
00:11:23
understand that. I I get it. Uh but I
00:11:26
think it's um uh it uh I these are the
00:11:30
two largest economies in the world and I
00:11:34
think you just need to take a step back
00:11:35
and say well yeah on the one hand we
00:11:37
should compete with China right that's
00:11:39
fine we our comp the hyperscalers
00:11:42
companies compete with the Chinese
00:11:44
internet companies globally um but then
00:11:46
on the other hand there there is just so
00:11:49
many trouble spots in the world uh that
00:11:52
what did President Trump say that he
00:11:54
stopped Seven wars, right?
00:11:56
Yeah.
00:11:56
Okay. Well, China has didn't start any
00:11:59
of them. China has not started a war in
00:12:02
the last how many years? You know, 30
00:12:04
years, 40 years. Um I think uh China was
00:12:08
part of the uh Korean war. Uh maybe the
00:12:12
Vietnam war, but that was uh a long time
00:12:14
ago in history. Uh so in a way China you
00:12:18
know if you observe the behavior of the
00:12:21
the Chinese people and the Chinese state
00:12:23
it's a very peaceful nation. China cares
00:12:26
about econ its own economic development.
00:12:29
They care about uh the well-being of its
00:12:32
citizens and uh I think there's a lot of
00:12:35
friction in in the in the course of
00:12:37
competition where China feels that the
00:12:39
United States is trying to contain China
00:12:42
and and stop the rise of China
00:12:43
economically. Just speaking about the
00:12:45
the welfare of its citizens. Um you
00:12:48
mentioned bite dance. I think there was
00:12:49
reported bite 10's revenue just passed
00:12:51
meta's revenue. I mean it's a
00:12:53
juggernaut.
00:12:54
It's a private company so I don't know.
00:12:56
You were telling Yeah.
00:12:56
Yeah. They actually released it but
00:12:59
um
00:13:00
one of the core products Tik Tok it's a
00:13:02
fundamentally different product here
00:13:04
than in than in China. And because of
00:13:06
that regulation and a focus on the
00:13:08
welfare of its citizens, there's like
00:13:09
strict rules in terms of the content and
00:13:12
the curation and the algorithms. Whereas
00:13:14
here, you know, it's like cat videos and
00:13:17
like, you know, all kinds of nonsense.
00:13:19
Although now I noticed that Tik Tok put
00:13:21
a STEM section inside of Tik Tok in the
00:13:24
American product for whatever reason.
00:13:26
There's a wherewithal that China has to
00:13:28
think about its citizenry like that. And
00:13:31
I'm just curious, how do we embrace more
00:13:34
of that principle because that sort of
00:13:37
gets lost in this?
00:13:38
Such a good question. Yeah. What can we
00:13:39
learn from China? Yeah.
00:13:40
Yeah. What should we be doing more of
00:13:42
that China does? Well, first education.
00:13:46
I mean, you have a extremely highly
00:13:49
educated population. And you know, you
00:13:52
talk to every Chinese parent, they want
00:13:54
their kids to take the ent college
00:13:56
entrance exam and get into the best
00:13:58
universities.
00:14:00
you know, if they want to send their
00:14:02
kids away to school, they want to go to
00:14:03
the Ivy League or Stanford or, you know,
00:14:06
all of that. So, I I think I think the
00:14:10
emphasis on education, I think there are
00:14:12
some structural issues here in the
00:14:13
United States, like the teachers union
00:14:15
that is getting in the way, but uh
00:14:21
uh but there are no teachers unions in
00:14:23
China. So, David, what's your David? I'm
00:14:27
curious looking at this um not in any
00:14:30
official capacity but kind of the same
00:14:33
question Chimath and I are sort of um
00:14:36
probing about here. What is your take on
00:14:39
America and China succeeding together?
00:14:41
And are we destined to be in conflict
00:14:44
with this country forever or is there a
00:14:46
path forward with our incredible amazing
00:14:50
dynamic President Trump?
00:14:53
Well, I think you know, Professor
00:14:55
Mirshimer explained it at all in some of
00:14:57
the last year that the US and China are
00:14:59
in a high-tech competition. They're in a
00:15:01
security competition, economic
00:15:02
competition. And the the reason is
00:15:05
because China's become rich and
00:15:06
powerful. And the United States does not
00:15:08
tolerate pure competitors. We want to be
00:15:10
the number one country. We want to be
00:15:11
the most powerful country. The balance
00:15:13
of power is to some degree a zero- sum
00:15:16
game. Economics are not, but power is.
00:15:19
And the the history of the United States
00:15:21
is we want to be number one and we don't
00:15:23
we don't like having pure competitors.
00:15:24
And I mean that's the bottom line. Now I
00:15:26
mean there are good reasons for this. We
00:15:28
live in a an Arctic world meaning
00:15:30
there's no higher authority. If you get
00:15:32
in trouble in the global system you
00:15:34
can't call 911. And so countries
00:15:38
privilege their survival over all their
00:15:40
considerations. And the way to survive
00:15:42
in the international system is to be
00:15:44
powerful. and you measure your power
00:15:46
based on the gap between you and the
00:15:48
next most powerful country. And I think
00:15:51
that 20 years ago, China wasn't seen as
00:15:53
a threat because it wasn't rich and
00:15:54
powerful, but now it is. And I think
00:15:57
that's what's led to a much more hawkish
00:15:59
environment in Washington. And I, you
00:16:01
know, I can't disagree with all of it
00:16:03
because I think it's very important that
00:16:05
the United States win the AI race. We
00:16:07
don't want China, for example, to
00:16:09
dominate in AI or or in chips. We want
00:16:12
the as Americans, we want the United
00:16:14
States to be the most powerful country.
00:16:15
Now, if I were Chinese, I would want
00:16:17
China to be the most powerful country.
00:16:19
And I don't have any resentment towards
00:16:21
Chinese people who want their country
00:16:23
the most powerful country. So, um
00:16:24
there's no animosity in saying this, but
00:16:27
I want the US to be the most powerful
00:16:29
country. And you know, in my little part
00:16:32
of the world, that means winning the AI
00:16:33
race.
00:16:35
Can I respond to that?
00:16:37
Yeah.
00:16:38
Yeah. Uh I I think it's really important
00:16:40
that the uh as an you you know you as a
00:16:44
patriotic American, you want America to
00:16:45
win. Uh but I think when it comes to AI,
00:16:49
there's no such thing as winning the
00:16:51
race. I think it's a long marathon. And
00:16:55
you know, you could just see by these
00:16:56
model companies, uh every week there's a
00:16:59
model that's leading, but then the next
00:17:01
week another model overtakes them,
00:17:03
right? So uh and the other thing is it's
00:17:06
um AI is one of those uh we haven't
00:17:09
figured out what is the business model
00:17:11
is but in our business in e-commerce we
00:17:14
have a marketplace model with network
00:17:16
dynamics but I'm not sure if the
00:17:19
development of models has those uh
00:17:22
network effects that means winner take
00:17:25
all right so I don't think AI is a
00:17:29
winner take all uh field I think what My
00:17:33
definition of winning,
00:17:36
you know, is not who comes up with the
00:17:38
strongest AI model, but who can adopt it
00:17:42
faster. And I think uh uh people here in
00:17:47
the United States uh a lot of resources
00:17:50
should go into adoption and diffusion of
00:17:54
the technology as opposed to just
00:17:57
plowing you know bill I mean literally
00:17:59
each of the hyperscaler companies is in
00:18:02
each of them is investing something like
00:18:04
$80 billion a year. But you know I I
00:18:08
think if you look at China a couple
00:18:10
things are going on. Number one, China
00:18:12
has espoused open- source. Um, and and
00:18:15
second, uh, a lot of the companies
00:18:17
including ourselves have launched models
00:18:20
that are smaller. You know, not the
00:18:23
trillion parameter models, but you know,
00:18:25
we have a model that's 1.7 billion
00:18:27
parameters, another that's four, another
00:18:29
that's 8 billion for like mobile devices
00:18:32
and laptops. So, so with these types of
00:18:36
uh uh development uh I think it's more
00:18:39
conducive to faster adoption. Uh you
00:18:42
want AI to proliferate.
00:18:44
So, so now you know you look at China ch
00:18:47
you know I'm not saying China
00:18:49
technologically is winning in the model
00:18:51
war. Uh but in terms of the actual
00:18:54
application and also people benefiting
00:18:56
from AI, it is uh has made a lot of uh
00:19:00
uh development. Uh I I've seen a survey
00:19:04
uh of Chinese firms last year only 8%
00:19:07
have are using AI were were using AI in
00:19:11
their business. Uh now that number is
00:19:14
approaching half 50%. So so the adoption
00:19:18
rate has been fairly uh fast and I think
00:19:23
that the two countries AI is such an
00:19:25
important element of life. It's almost
00:19:28
like air.
00:19:29
Right.
00:19:29
Right. And uh why would any one country
00:19:33
say we have a sole claim to to air? We
00:19:36
we we should uh there's so many things
00:19:38
that AI can do that that that could you
00:19:40
know in medicine in in biology uh that
00:19:43
you know we we I think there's a lot of
00:19:46
room for cooperation. Joe, one of the
00:19:48
key questions that everybody asks when
00:19:50
we talk about AI and whether you spin
00:19:52
your own models, which you do, which
00:19:53
you've done a good job, and some people
00:19:55
just take them off the shelf, is the
00:19:57
actual net impact in the operations of
00:20:00
the business. Does it change the number
00:20:02
of people you hire? At what level does
00:20:04
it change it? Does it change the
00:20:05
efficiency? Does it change the way you
00:20:06
think about certain jobs? What's the
00:20:08
practical
00:20:10
application that it's doing for you guys
00:20:12
on the ground inside of Alibaba?
00:20:14
Yeah. Um the uh I I would definitely
00:20:18
made our uh operations more more
00:20:20
efficient. So we we actually can don't
00:20:23
have to hire as many people. Um I'm
00:20:26
still I'm on on this sort of uh mission
00:20:28
to uh write our quarterly earnings
00:20:30
release with AI uh and and maybe just
00:20:33
have a model, right?
00:20:34
Yeah. Yeah. Put Yeah. And and also put
00:20:36
uh AI on the on the analyst conference
00:20:39
call. See if people can, you know, tell
00:20:41
the difference. Uh but anyway then then
00:20:44
they'll get rid of everybody in the
00:20:45
finance department. Um but uh the the
00:20:48
most the biggest impact AI has made is
00:20:52
with our uh we incorporate AI into all
00:20:55
of our uh consumerf facing apps. So
00:20:57
we're in e-commerce, we're in maps, uh
00:21:00
we have a food food delivery business,
00:21:03
uh and uh once once you infuse AI, uh
00:21:06
the consumer have a massively better
00:21:08
experience and that generate more user
00:21:11
base for us. So so we're seeing the
00:21:13
impact uh from the uh sort of the the
00:21:17
uplift on the on the revenue side.
00:21:18
Is is the workforce then naturally
00:21:20
attritting as more and more of the
00:21:22
workload is done? Yeah, it we haven't
00:21:24
you know announced any layoffs because
00:21:26
of AI but I think um uh you know I keep
00:21:30
asking our our engineering leads about
00:21:33
how uh how much of the code is written
00:21:36
by AI today. I think the answer I get is
00:21:39
all over the map depending on which
00:21:41
department you make you you ask but I
00:21:44
think it's maybe 30%. at this point
00:21:46
already.
00:21:48
Yeah,
00:21:48
already
00:21:49
I'm doing kind of a weighted average of
00:21:52
the different
00:21:53
Yeah,
00:21:54
Alibaba is an enormous business. Uh it's
00:21:56
in so many countries around the world.
00:21:59
How do you build a culture? How do you
00:22:00
manage like just the insanity of having
00:22:03
so many employees, so many needs, so
00:22:05
many issues? How do you deal with it?
00:22:07
Uh focus. Uh so I came into the chair,
00:22:10
you know, I was sort of kind of phasing
00:22:12
out. I was focused on the Brooklyn Nets.
00:22:15
Then about a year and a half ago, I came
00:22:17
back into the chairmanship of the
00:22:18
company. Uh the first thing I said is we
00:22:21
we can't talk about our company as being
00:22:23
in six different businesses. It's just
00:22:25
too confusing. Uh we're in two
00:22:27
businesses, e-commerce and cloud
00:22:29
computing, you know, with an AI element
00:22:31
in it. Those are our two businesses,
00:22:33
core business and and so having that
00:22:36
focus was absolutely crucial to get our
00:22:38
people, our teams to focus and uh and
00:22:43
execute. Maybe end with just
00:22:46
forecast for the season,
00:22:50
the whole league or just the Brooklyn
00:22:51
Nets.
00:22:52
Maybe just the Nets.
00:22:54
Well, I have to say we're in a we're in
00:22:56
a we're in a rebuilding year. Um we
00:22:59
You have a lot of picks.
00:23:00
We've spent all of our picks. We picked
00:23:02
We have five for draft picks this past
00:23:05
summer. Uh we have one pick uh in 2026
00:23:09
and we hope to get a good pick. So you
00:23:10
can uh you can predict uh what kind of
00:23:14
strategy we will use uh uh for the
00:23:16
season. But we have a we have a very
00:23:18
young team. So
00:23:19
we were talking to Dar on the last panel
00:23:22
on
00:23:23
how China is a bit different in how it
00:23:25
looks at autonomy, self-driving. There
00:23:28
are tests going on there, but they want
00:23:30
to also make sure that there is
00:23:32
tranquility and peace in the country and
00:23:34
people don't lose those jobs, those
00:23:36
driver jobs. And so what's the climate
00:23:39
in China? What do the Chinese working
00:23:42
class think when they see self-driving
00:23:44
cars and they see tens of millions of
00:23:47
people employed as drivers? There have
00:23:49
been protests already in Wuhan and
00:23:51
protests in China are a very rare thing.
00:23:54
Um based on what I know, I could be
00:23:56
wrong. I have a superficial knowledge.
00:23:58
Obviously, you have a deep knowledge.
00:24:00
What can you tell us a little bit about
00:24:02
how you know the the government and the
00:24:04
people of China think of this incredible
00:24:07
revolution and the impact on jobs? I
00:24:10
think the government is all in um
00:24:13
embracing it and uh in fact the
00:24:16
government just a few weeks ago launched
00:24:18
a kind of a AI plus policy uh and they
00:24:22
say in 2030 which is 5 years from now
00:24:25
they want to see 90% penetration of AI
00:24:29
agents and devices and things like that
00:24:31
in in society. That's what the
00:24:33
government has publicly officially said.
00:24:36
just an all-in just
00:24:37
just just all in. Um there's really not
00:24:40
a lot of talk about uh uh people AI
00:24:44
replacing human jobs. Uh maybe there's
00:24:47
isolated
00:24:48
incidents. Uh but in general there is an
00:24:51
anxiety about jobs. Uh uh China
00:24:55
graduates about 10 million uh college
00:24:58
graduates every year. uh and today if
00:25:01
you look at the youth unemployment rate
00:25:04
uh which is age between 16 and 24
00:25:07
including graduates
00:25:09
it's 18%.
00:25:11
It's actually quite high. Uh so there's
00:25:13
a lot of anxiety about about that. uh it
00:25:16
partly it's because the economy uh is
00:25:19
even though the overall uh conditions of
00:25:22
the uh of the Chinese economy is is
00:25:25
pretty good in terms of infrastructure
00:25:27
access to energy and all those things
00:25:30
but there is still a malaise right now
00:25:33
because China has gone through the last
00:25:36
four or five years of a property slump
00:25:39
uh everybody's uh average uh home prices
00:25:42
are down like 30% so there's a very
00:25:45
negative neative wealth effect and
00:25:47
that's uh still lingering.
00:25:49
Just quickly, is there any fear of AGI
00:25:51
in China? You know what I mean by that?
00:25:53
That out of control super intelligence.
00:25:55
Is that is that a fear or is that just
00:25:56
an American thing? I um we
00:26:01
people in government don't um talk about
00:26:04
it too much because they believe that uh
00:26:08
they could control it uh better maybe
00:26:11
better than in a you know society here
00:26:14
in in the US. Um but there's some some
00:26:18
some lingering fears. Um but you know I
00:26:21
was just listening to Denny's uh about
00:26:24
you know he's predicting 5 to 10 years
00:26:27
but if he's saying 5 to 10 years I think
00:26:31
AGI is probably 20 years from now and uh
00:26:36
uh and and it's because the the emphasis
00:26:39
is on the word general. You have to be
00:26:41
able to your AI has to be able to
00:26:43
generalize uh and apply uh principles to
00:26:48
scenarios that you've never seen before.
00:26:50
Right,
00:26:51
Joe? Thank you very very much.
00:26:54
Great to see you.
00:26:57
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
00:26:59
Pleasure. Thank you.
00:27:01
Fantastic. Thank you, brother.

Episode Highlights

  • Joe Sai Introduction
    Meet Joe Sai, owner of the Nets and chairman of Alibaba, a visionary in innovation.
    “We like innovation from the bottom up.”
    @ 00m 10s
    October 08, 2025
  • WNBA's Economic Impact
    Caitlin Clark's presence in the WNBA has led to a 4x increase in metrics.
    “The economic impact that she's made to the league is extraordinary.”
    @ 02m 14s
    October 08, 2025
  • Alibaba's Journey
    Joe Sai reflects on Alibaba's evolution from a free market to a regulated environment.
    “Alibaba has been around for 26 years.”
    @ 08m 30s
    October 08, 2025
  • AI and Global Competition
    A discussion on the importance of AI and the competition between the US and China.
    “AI is such an important element of life. It's almost like air.”
    @ 19m 28s
    October 08, 2025
  • AI's Impact on Consumer Experience
    Incorporating AI into consumer-facing apps has significantly improved user experience and revenue.
    “The consumer have a massively better experience.”
    @ 21m 06s
    October 08, 2025
  • China's AI Ambitions
    China aims for 90% AI penetration by 2030, reflecting strong government support.
    “The government just launched a kind of AI plus policy.”
    @ 24m 16s
    October 08, 2025
  • Youth Unemployment in China
    With a youth unemployment rate of 18%, there's growing anxiety among graduates.
    “There's a lot of anxiety about jobs.”
    @ 25m 11s
    October 08, 2025

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Introduction to Joe Sai00:03
  • WNBA Controversy01:27
  • Jack Ma's Leadership06:32
  • Alibaba's Evolution08:30
  • AI as Air19:28
  • AI Integration20:52
  • Business Focus22:21
  • China's AI Policy24:13

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Related Episodes

Podcast thumbnail
E21: Media misalignment, subjects controlling narratives & more with bestie guestie Draymond Green
Podcast thumbnail
Sequoia’s Roelof Botha: Why Venture Capital is Broken & How Great Companies Are Built
Podcast thumbnail
OpenAI's GPT-5 Flop, AI's Unlimited Market, China's Big Advantage, Rise in Socialism, Housing Crisis
Podcast thumbnail
Nasdaq CEO Reveals the Next Era Of The Stock Market - Adena Friedman | All-In Summit
Podcast thumbnail
Winning the AI Race Part 1: Michael Kratsios, Kelly Loeffler, Shyam Sankar, Chris Power
Podcast thumbnail
IPOs and SPACs are Back, Mag 7 Showdown, Zuck on Tilt, Apple's Fumble, GENIUS Act passes Senate
Podcast thumbnail
NBA Gambling Scandal, Billionaire Tax, Tesla's Future, Amazon Robots, AWS Outage, Dangerous AI Bias