Zalando is leaning hard into AI to drive growth, and the results are showing. The European fashion giant beat third-quarter sales forecasts, with revenue climbing to EUR3.17 billion ($3.55 billion). B2B sales surged 23.4% to EUR1.13 billion, and the company launched an AI-driven platform to support that demand. Zalando said AI agents helped improve both sales and customer service, and it now expects full-year sales and net profit to grow 10-12%. The company also plans to roll out AI-assisted checkout on its Zalando Extended platform in 2027, with a pilot already underway with retailer Westwing.
Key Takeaways
- Zalando beat Q3 sales forecasts with revenue of EUR3.17 billion ($3.55 billion), driven by AI agents and strong B2B demand
- DeepSeek will train its V5 AI model entirely on Huawei Ascend 950DT chips, ordering 160,000 units starting Q4 2026
- Snowflake launched free foundational AI and data training courses globally for customers and partners
- Oumi, founded by former Google Gemini engineers, updated its FAiE platform to retrain models behind AI agents
- China plans to update patent examination rules for AI technologies, tightening scrutiny of bad-faith filings
- NVIDIA reportedly restricts China's access to advanced AI chips through new cloud partner rules
- Supermicro and Arista Networks beat expectations despite AI spending concerns
- US House committee ranking member urges Congress to regulate AI
- Investors are growing less patient with AI stocks that fail to deliver tangible results
- New report from Vistatec and Slator outlines human oversight framework for Language AI systems
Zalando beats sales forecasts with help from AI agents
Zalando, Europe's largest online fashion retailer, reported third-quarter sales above expectations. The company's sales rose 12.4% to 2.43 billion euros, beating analyst forecasts. B2B sales grew 23.4% to 1.13 billion euros while B2C sales rose 10.4% to 1.30 billion euros. Zalando said its use of AI agents helped improve sales and customer service. The company now expects sales to rise 10-12% and net profit to rise 10-12% for the year.
Zalando reports strong sales amid AI shopping trends
European online fashion retailer Zalando reported third-quarter revenue of EUR3.17 billion, above the EUR3.15 billion expected by analysts. Gross merchandise value rose 7.5% to EUR4.54 billion. The company's gross profit margin dropped 0.9 percentage points to 38.7%, which finance chief Anna Dimitrova said was due to targeted investments in sneakers. Zalando plans to launch AI-assisted checkout on its Zalando Extended platform in 2027, with a pilot project underway with retailer Westwing. The company sells products from brands including Nike, Hugo Boss, and Coach.
Zalando revenue grows with AI platform and B2B demand
Zalando's Q3 sales surpassed forecasts, growing revenues by 5.1% year-on-year to EUR3.17 billion ($3.55 billion). B2B demand was strong and the company launched an AI-driven platform. Gross merchandise value rose 7.5% to EUR4.54 billion. The company reported a 0.9 percentage-point drop in gross profit margin to 38.7%, which finance chief Anna Dimitrova attributed to investments in sneaker offers. She forecast a broadly flat gross margin in 2026. JPMorgan warned the stock could drift lower due to ongoing structural risk from agentic commerce development.
China to update patent examination for AI technologies
China plans to adapt patent examination to AI-driven invention and emerging industries. The country's top intellectual property regulator announced plans to tighten scrutiny of bad-faith filings and abuse of patent invalidation proceedings. The updates aim to address new technologies and protect intellectual property more effectively. These changes were detailed in a new plan released on November 4, 2026.
US House committee member urges Congress to regulate AI
The ranking member of the US House Science Committee called on Congress to regulate artificial intelligence. The official statement highlights growing concerns about AI oversight and the need for legislative action. The call was reported by MLex, a specialist news outlet covering legal risk and regulation. This development adds to ongoing discussions about AI governance in the United States.
DeepSeek to train V5 AI model on Huawei Ascend 950DT chips
DeepSeek will train its upcoming V5 model entirely on Huawei's Ascend 950DT-based Atlas SuperPoDs. The company has ordered about 160,000 Ascend 950DT chips, with deliveries starting in Q4 2026. This would be China's first full AI training run on a wholly domestic hardware stack. DeepSeek and Huawei developed a TileLang kernel compiler that raises chip efficiency to 45 percent MFU. The effort aims to reduce China's reliance on NVIDIA hardware for frontier AI training.
How to spot AI-generated malware, experts say
Lindsay Kaye, VP of Threat Intelligence at HUMAN Security, explains how to identify AI-generated malware. She looks for code comments, well-written log messages, and even emojis that large language models often produce. She notes that not every code sample with these traits is AI-generated. The interview also covers the need for tighter patch windows and keeping humans involved in malware analysis.
New report guides human oversight for Language AI
Vistatec and Slator co-authored a report on keeping human quality control in Language AI systems. The report, called Trusted AI plus Human Expertise, was published in October 2026. It presents a four-tier routing matrix that matches content risk to the level of human review needed. Critical content like medical or financial material requires full review and audit evidence. The report also lists seven areas for buyer and vendor collaboration to improve AI governance.
AI stocks face investor scrutiny in strong US economy
A weekly webcast examines lessons from recent financial market turbulence. Investors pulled back on AI-related stocks, dragging down the S&P 500 even though most sectors performed well. The segment notes that investors now have little patience for AI companies that fail to deliver. Still, the US economy showed strength, with Q3 real GDP growth exceeding expectations and underlying demand even stronger than reported.
Oumi tool now retrains models behind AI agents
Oumi released an update to its Frontier AI Engineer, called FAiE, that builds AI agents and retrains the models behind them. The platform lets teams describe agent goals in plain language and then defines the tools and environments needed. Production failures are turned into evaluation sets and training data for the next round. Oumi added direct preference optimization and reinforcement learning through group relative policy optimization. The Seattle-based startup was founded by former engineering leaders from Google Gemini.
NVIDIA blocks China backdoor access to AI chips
NVIDIA reportedly limits China's access to advanced AI computing through new cloud partner rules. The Big Money Show panel discussed export controls and cloud rental restrictions. They debated whether Chinese firms will find workarounds for the computing power they need. The panel also highlighted the large economic and geopolitical stakes involved.
Snowflake offers free AI and data training worldwide
Snowflake launched Snowflake Practitioner, a free foundational training course for all customers and partners globally. The course is available in instructor-led and self-paced formats. It includes three tracks for Data Analysts, Data Engineers, and Platform Administrators. Snowflake CoCo is integrated into hands-on labs across all tracks. Swedbank praised the training and scheduled regular sessions through 2027.
Supermicro and Arista Networks beat expectations in AI infrastructure
Supermicro and Arista Networks reported strong quarterly results despite AI spending concerns. Supermicro's sales rose 298% and its gross margin improved to 12.8%. The company guided for earnings of $1.66 to $1.90 per share on sales of $19.5 billion to $21.5 billion. Arista saw 58% revenue growth and guided for fourth-quarter earnings of $1.26 to $1.30 per share on sales of $3.95 billion. Arista CEO Jayshree Ullal expressed surprise at the strong performance.
Sources
- Retailer Zalando beats quarterly sales expectations as it taps on AI agents
- Retailer Zalando beats quarterly sales expectations as it taps on AI agents
- Retailer Zalando beats quarterly sales expectations as it taps on
- China plans patent examination updates for AI, tougher filing scrutiny | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
- US House Science Committee ranking member calls on Congress to regulate AI | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
- China Going For Domestic Full-Stack AI Dominance: DeepSeek Will Train Its Upcoming V5 Model From Scratch On Huawei’s Ascend 950DT-Based Atlas SuperPoDs
- What AI-generated malware looks like under the microscope
- Vistatec and Slator Co-Author Report on Human Quality Governance for Language AI
- WEEKLY WEBCAST: Some AI Lessons In A Booming Economy
- Oumi's Frontier AI Engineer now builds AI agents and retrains the models behind them
- NVIDIA curbs China's backdoor access to AI chips with new cloud partner rules
- Snowflake Expands Access to Data and AI Education with Free Global Training for Everyone
- Supermicro and Arista Networks crush expectations as AI infrastructure wins again
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