How Alibaba Cloud, Python’s Surge, and GitLab’s Policies Reveal Tech Shifts

Alibaba Cloud reports that China's internet market is slowing, but demand from industrial equipment is rising. In the three months ending June 30, Alibaba Cloud generated $3.57 billion in revenue, with $2.64 million from customers outside Alibaba’s own businesses, a 10% year‑over‑year increase, while Alibaba’s overall revenue grew only 1% due to COVID‑related slowdown.

Non‑internet sectors contributed 53% of cloud revenue, up over 5 percentage points year‑over‑year. Executives said the slowdown in the internet sector hampers cloud growth, and that “industrial digitalization” is a structural, long‑term opportunity. Alibaba Cloud plans to build proprietary capabilities in computing, big data and AI, and to enhance security.

The company also highlighted its custom SmartNIC, launched in June 2022, as a core component of the next‑generation cloud infrastructure.

According to the TIOBE index for August, Python reached a record 15.42% market share, gaining 2% and remaining the most widely used language except in safety‑critical embedded systems, where C and C++ are gaining traction. Swift and PHP swapped positions, Rust approached the top 20, Kotlin returned to the top 30, and Google’s new language Carbon entered the index at rank 192.

GitLab announced a policy to prohibit the use of Windows on company devices, citing security concerns, and will delete dormant projects in free accounts to save hosting costs, potentially saving up to $1 million annually. The move has drawn criticism from open‑source advocates.