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Since it launched two years ago, Spotifys AI DJ has been a one-way experience. It curates old favorites and helps listeners discover new tracks based on past listening experience and what similar users like. But now its getting interactive. Spotify unveiled the ability to request songs from the DJ based on mood, genre, and vibe. The feature, which launched across 60 markets, is exclusive to Spotify Premium users, who can access the DJ by searching for the tool in the app. Its the latest AI feature to come from Spotify, which introduced an AI-generated playlist builder for Premium users in the United States last fall. But Molly Holder, Spotifys senior director of product for personalization, says that tool was designed for people who want to take an active role in their listening experience. The new DJ request feature, by contrast, is designed to give users more input into an essentially lean back experience. We know that even in a lean back moment, users still want some semblance of control,” she says. How does the DJ request feature work? After a user searches for and calls up the DJ in the app, they can make a request by holding down the DJ icon and speaking a prompt. (The feature requires microphone access.) After receiving the prompt, such as upbeat songs for running or ambient for a rainy day, the DJ will “think” for a bit before launching into a tailored playlist. [Image: Spotify] Focusing on mood or moment along with a genre tends to be the best approach for using the feature. Wanting to give it a slam dunk, I asked for early 2000s patriotic country and immediately got Toby Keiths Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. Not too hard. But when I asked for undiscovered African gems for a summer barbecue, expecting Afrobeats and Amapiano, the DJ instead served songs from the African diaspora. (The first was by Timbuktu, who Spotify describes as one of Swedens most well-known hip-hop artists.) Once I specified the genre, the results were better, but Id forgotten to make clear I wanted undiscovered artists, so I got a lot of Tyla. With several of the requests, the DJ seemed somewhat buggy, abruptly stopping a song and launching into its more default mode. When I asked for DIY indie rock from the mid-2010s, it played a few bars from an early Mitski song, then reset itself and introduced my top songs from 2023. Pairing insight with a human touch Spotify’s Holder says that while the DJs content-surfacing abilities are powered by AI, many of the comments and insights that it delivers in between songsthe bits that make the tool feel like a personalized and expert experienceare powered by humans. We have music experts and editors who have built whats called the writers room for the DJ product, she says. These folks come together with generative AI to build the commentary that DJ offers throughout the experience. This commentary can increase listener engagementwhich can be beneficial for artists who are trying to break through as well. In that writers room, when we build that commentary, it helps to bring artists stories to life to bring a little bit more context to the content were recommending,” Holder says. One thing we see is that users who hear commentary about a track in the DJ experience are more likely to listen to a track they might have otherwise skipped. Holder also positions the new feature in Spotifys long history of using machine learning to build personalization into the user experience, from Discovery Weekly to Daylists and now the DJ requests. Were really applying AI strategically across our product portfolio in ways that enhance the value proposition of our products.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump opened his four-day Middle East trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.Prince Mohammed warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital and kicked off his Middle East tour.The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun-belts. Fighter jet escort The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital.Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a lunch at the Royal Court, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue accents and massive crystal chandeliers.As he greeted business titans with Trump by his side, Prince Mohammed was animated and smiling.It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump with then-President Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom.Biden had decided to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia as he looked to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe.At the time, Prince Mohammed’s reputation had been badly damaged by a U.S. intelligence determination that found he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.But that dark moment appeared to be distant memory for the prince as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in front of the cameras and with Trump by his side.Later, the crown prince will fete Trump with a formal dinner. Trump is also slated to take part Tuesday in a U.S.-Saudi investment conference.“When Saudis and Americans join forces, very good things happen more often than not, great things happen,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said. Oil production Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC+ nations have already helped their cause with Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The Republican president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.But Saudi Arabia’s economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of $96 to $98 a barrel to balance its budget. It’s questionable how long OPEC+, of which Saudi Arabia is the leading member, is willing to keep production elevated. The price of a barrel of Brent crude closed Monday at $64.77.“One of the challenges for the Gulf states of lower oil prices is it doesn’t necessarily imperil economic diversification programs, but it certainly makes them harder,” said Jon Alterman, a senior Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Qatar and UAE next Trump picked the kingdom for his first stop, because it has pledged to make big investments in the U.S., but Trump ended up traveling to Italy last month for Pope Francis’ funeral. Riyadh was the first overseas stop of his first term.The three countries on the president’s itinerary Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are all places where the Trump Organization, run by Trump’s two elder sons, is developing major real estate projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.Trump is trying to demonstrate that his transactional strategy for international politics is paying dividends as he faces criticism from Democrats who say his global tariff war and approach to Russia’s war on Ukraine are isolating the United States from allies.He’s expected to announce deals with the three wealthy countries that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and perhaps new arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The administration earlier this month announced initial approval to sell $3.5 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets.But Trump arrived in the Middle East at a moment when his top regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are far from neatly aligned with his approach. Trump’s decision to skip Israel remarkable, expert says Before the trip, Trump announced that Washington was halting a nearly two-month U.S. airstrike campaign against Yemen’s Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route.The administration didn’t notify Israel which the Houthis continue to target of the agreement before Trump publicly announced it. It was the latest example of Trump leaving the Israelis in the dark about his administration’s negotiations with common adversaries.In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t notified by the administration until after talks began with Hamas about the war in Gaza. And Netanyahu found out about the ongoing U.S. nuclear talks with Iran only when Trump announced them during an Oval Office visit by the Israeli leader last month.“Israel will defend itself by itself,” Netanyahu said last week following Trump’s Houthi truce announcement. “If others join us our American friends all the better.”William Wechsler, senior director of the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council, said Trump’s decision to skip Israel on his first Middle East visit is remarkable.“The main message coming out of this, at least as the itinerary stands today, is that the governments of the Gulf are in fact stronger friends to President Trump than the current government of Israel at this moment,” Wechsler said. Restarting efforts to normalize Israel-Saudi ties Trump, meanwhile, hopes to restart his first-term effort to normalize relations between the Middle East’s major powers, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Trump’s Abraham Accords effort led to Sudan, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco agreeing to normalize relations with Israel.But Riyadh has made clear that in exchange for normalization it wants U.S. security guarantees, assistance with the kingdom’s nuclear program and progress on a pathway to Palestinian statehood. There seems to be scant hope for making headway on a Palestinian state with the Israel-Hamas war raging and the Israelis threatening to flatten and occupy Gaza.Prince Mohammed last week notably hosted Palestinian Vice President Hussein Sheikh in Jeddah on the sheikh’s first foreign visit since assuming office in April.Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the crown prince appeared to be subtly signaling to Trump that the kingdom needs to see progress on Palestinian statehod for the Saudis to begin seriously moving on a normalization deal with the Israelis.“Knowing how the Saudis telegraph their intentions, that’s a preemptive, ‘Don’t even think of asking us to show any goodwill toward normalization,'” Abdul-Hussain said. Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
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Bids are due on Tuesday for companies hoping to acquire Rite Aids prescriptions business, which it calls its most valuable economics assets. While the pharmacy chain has indicated that there are multiple potential buyers, it has also warned of risks to itself and its customers if a buyer doesnt step up quickly. The Philadelphia-based chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, and as part of its court filings, Rite Aid said a timely sale is necessary to minimize significant customer attrition that could erode the value of the companys assets. If the sale of Rite Aid’s pharmacy assets is done in a disorderly and ad hoc manner, the company said, then customers with prescriptionsnot just at Rite Aid but at competing pharmaciescould also face service disruptions if other pharmacies are inundated with requests and cannot efficiently process” the transfer of prescriptions. Rite Aid is a distant third to CVS and Walgreens, though grocery store chains like Walmart to Albertsons also have pharmacy divisions. Still, Rite Aid said it fills more than 100 million prescriptions a year, which could equal a lot of extra time and labor for nearby pharmacies on the receiving end of transfers. Those pharmacies must receive legal prescriptions, integrate them into their systems, acquire a sufficient supply of medication to fill the prescriptions, and be staffed to handle the additional prescriptions, the pharmacy chain said in the filing. This is no small task. Reached for comment by Fast Company, Rite Aid emphasized that its customers can continue to access services such as prescriptions and immunizations during the sale process and that it is still in “active discussions” with potential buyers. The company didnt directly respond to questions about potential bidders or how much customer attrition it has seen so far. ‘This is it for Rite Aid’ Rite Aid previously filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 and its very unlikely there would be a third bankruptcy, says Scott Stuart, CEO of the Turnaround Management Association in Chicago. This is it for Rite Aid, he says, adding that the dynamic explains why the company wants a rapid and successful sale of its assets. While theres some urgency, for sure, the court will have to make the determination if the urgency is as great as theyre making it out to be, Stuart says. What also remains to be seen is what will happen with the 1,200-plus stores that Rite Aid currently operates in 15 states. The company is looking to sell its assets in two phases, with the pharmacy business up for auction first. In court documents, it has already marked dozens of locations for closure, saying it saw “limited to no value” in keeping them open. Once the sale process is complete, all Rite Aid stores will either be closed or sold to other owners. Its difficult to speculate about the future because there are several different potential scenarios for the outcome of these auctions, says Sarah Foss, a bankruptcy attorney and head of legal at Debtwire, who has been tracking the companys filings. Because of the licenses and regulations related to filling prescriptions, there is a limit to the number of buyers that could step up to buy Rite Aids pharmacy assets, she adds. Its likely the pharmacy assets will be absorbed by one of the standing pharmacy brands, Stuart adds. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, he adds, because these chains have already been rethinking their retail footprints and some consolidation is necessary. Will other pharmacies be inundated with prescription transfers? There could be some fearmongering at play by Rite Aid about the risks of disruptions to pharmacy care, though competitors may be incentivized to sit back and await an influx of customers that will naturally flow to them, says Joe Camberato, CEO of National Business Capital, a lending platform for business owners. But pharmacy customers who choose to go to competitors to get their prescriptions filled upon hearing of the bankruptcy and impending sales could mean the value of Rite Aids assets deteriorate quickly, which is a valid risk for debtors, Foss says. That said, because customers have prescription needs ranging from ad hoc to those that are regularly filled, customer attrition may be less problematic if the pharmacy assets are sold quickly, she adds. We should know by the end of week with a little more clarity whats going to happen, Foss says. Customers may win in the end There may be a silver lining here for customers because a degree of reinvention and innovation is sorely needed in these pharmacy-retailer chains, Camberato says. Whereas Walgreens has been working to automate the prescription filling process to speed things up, for example, Rite Aid dragged its feet, he adds. While its unfortunate to see a company as big and familiar as Rite Aid go bankrupt, Camberato says it could be part of a long-overdue reset for an industry that hasnt evolved in years. If it pushes the rest of the industry to actually improve the customer experience, streamline operations, and treat pharmacy workers better,” he says, “then maybe something good comes out of it.”
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