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Jason Zhu's AI Blog: in-depth AI tool reviews, coding tutorials, global growth strategies, and industry insights with 70+ original articles.
Getting Paid Internationally for $168: Hands-On Notes on a US LLC + Mercury + Stripe (via XuanTong)
XuanTong (@XuanTongAI) walks through what actually worked: a Wyoming LLC + EIN + Mercury + Stripe, for a one-time $168 and done in under a week. Here's the four-stage chain, the costs, the five documents most likely to get rejected, and a pre-flight checklist.
How to Turn a Video Into a Live Photo on iPhone (4 Ways, 2026)
The iPhone Photos app can turn a Live Photo into a video, but not the other way round. Here are the four ways that do work — TikTok's share menu, a converter app, an online converter, and Android's Motion Photos — plus how to set the result as a moving Lock Screen wallpaper.
I Ran Six Experiments on TypeSafe Jev: What It Can and Can't Do
Six experiments, five open-source repos, 210,000 judgments: zero-shot Jev is worth a few hundred labels, but its best role is as a feature, not as a model.
AI Money Map (2026): Seven Business Layers + Five Transaction Types
From selling compute to selling companionship — mapping every AI business in 2026 into seven layers. Look closer and you'll find only five types of transactions underneath.
I Audited 200+ Open-Source AI Agent Skills — 97.8% Have Never Had a Security Review
Who actually reviewed those open-source skills your AI agent installed last week? I put 200+ open-source agent skills through a 5-dimension audit framework and did deep security reviews on a subset. The scariest finding isn't a single number — it's this: out of 100,000+ skills, 97.8% have never been security-audited by anyone.
UK Company First-Year Filing, DIY: £228 All-In + Two Tax Breaks Most Founders Miss
Just completed my UK company's entire first-year compliance solo: Confirmation Statement ✅, Annual Accounts ✅, CT600 pending HMRC activation code. Total cost £228 (vs £200+ for an agent), done in 5 weeks of waiting plus one afternoon of work. Full timeline checklist + two legal tax breaks indie founders usually miss.
The Complete Map of Free AI Learning: 10 Official Platforms, $0 Total Cost
Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, AWS, Meta, IBM, DeepLearning.AI, Hugging Face — every official AI course from all 10 platforms is free. This is the master index: one comparison table + learning paths by role.
AWS Skill Builder Free AI Courses Guide: 600 Free Out of 1,500 — But You Have to Follow the Learning Paths
AWS Skill Builder has the largest course catalog of any major tech company — 600 free courses out of 1,500. But it's also the easiest to get lost in: search directly and you'll be buried in paid results. This guide shows you how to navigate by learning path, with 3 fully free generative AI tracks.
DeepLearning.AI Complete Course Guide: 120 Courses, Taught by the Authors Themselves — 6 Goal-Based Learning Paths
DeepLearning.AI now has 120 courses — more than the previous eight major tech companies combined. What really sets it apart, though, is something no one else can offer: the courses are taught directly by the people who built the models and tools. This guide breaks down course selections across 6 goal-based learning paths.
Google Skills Complete Roadmap: AI Learning Gamified — Earn Skill Badges to Show Off on LinkedIn
Google has rebranded Cloud Skills Boost as Google Skills and reimagined AI learning as a series of 'dungeon runs' — each path has 5–8 activities, and you earn a Skill Badge to display on LinkedIn when you finish. This post covers the 3 paths beginners should take, plus direct links to each.
The Complete Hugging Face Learn Guide: 12 Courses to Run, Fine-Tune, and Deploy Models Yourself
Hugging Face quietly grew its Learn section to 12 courses this year — half of them brand new. Unlike every other platform out there, HF teaches you how to run, fine-tune, and publish models yourself. You walk away with something real. Here are the 10 courses worth prioritizing.
IBM SkillsBuild Free AI Courses: The Most Courses of Any Big Tech Platform (1,000+) — But One Wrong Click at Signup Cuts Your Library in Half
IBM SkillsBuild offers more free courses than any other major tech platform — 1,000+ and counting. There's one major trap though: pick the wrong account type at signup and you'll lose access to half the catalog. This guide shows you how to avoid it, walks through the three-stage AI learning path, and explains the official IBM digital badges.
Meta's Official PyTorch Tutorials: The De Facto 'Deep Learning Field Manual' — 9 Steps from Training to Deployment
Meta never built an AI academy, but it turned the official PyTorch tutorials into an industry standard — the de facto deep learning field manual. Completing them is the equivalent of working through a full modern deep learning curriculum. This post maps out the recommended 9-step path plus Llama companion resources.
Microsoft Learn AI Certifications: The Big Tech Company That Gives Out Certs Most Generously — One Skill, One Badge
Microsoft is the most cert-friendly major tech company in the AI space — one skill gets you one certificate. The Microsoft Learn AI framework has four tiers, but most people only need the first two. This post breaks it down tier by tier, with direct official links and tips to avoid common pitfalls.
NVIDIA DLI Free Courses (2026): What's Still Free, Certificates, and Best Picks
Is NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute free? Partly. I re-checked the whole DLI catalog in October 2026: the 10 courses that are free right now, which ones give a certificate, what the $30/$90 courses and $125 certification exams cost, and the free open-source deep learning course most guides miss.
Anthropic Claude Certified Architect Complete Roadmap: 8 Free Courses + $99 Exam
Anthropic launched the Claude Certified Architect certification on March 12, 2026, with 13 self-paced courses — all completely free, no registration required, no paywalls. The exam itself costs just $99. This post walks through a 12-week roadmap covering the 8 key courses in Weeks 1–9, with direct links to each.
OpenAI Academy vs Anthropic: A Complete Comparison of Two Leading AI Companies' Free Learning Paths
Both of the top AI companies offer official free learning platforms — together that's 25+ courses and hundreds of hours of content, enough to take you from AI newcomer to resume-worthy engineer. This post maps out all 15 OpenAI Academy courses along a 10-week roadmap and provides a full side-by-side comparison with the Anthropic learning path.
Andrew Ng 2026 《AI Prompt Engineering》Module 2 Complete Notes: Turning AI into Your True Thinking Partner
Complete English notes for Andrew Ng's 《AI Prompting for Everyone》Module 2. 8 lessons covering: how to brainstorm with AI, manage context, use desktop agents, apply deep reasoning, avoid AI sycophancy, iterate on writing, and conduct objective reviews. 10 ready-to-use prompt templates you can copy right away.
Andrew Ng's 2026 AI Prompting Course – Module 3 Complete Notes: Let AI Generate Images, Build Apps, and Analyze Data
Complete notes for Andrew Ng's AI Prompting for Everyone, Module 3. Six lessons covering multimodal cost awareness, image understanding and generation, building mini apps with prompts, AI-assisted coding and data analysis, and a final project walkthrough. Includes 9 ready-to-use prompt templates.
Andrew Ng's 2026 'AI Prompting for Everyone' — Complete Module 1 Notes: How AI Has Rewritten the Way We Find Information
Full notes for Module 1 of Andrew Ng's 2026 course 'AI Prompting for Everyone' — 6 lessons plus 7 ready-to-copy prompt templates. The one-sentence takeaway: 90% of people are still using AI like Google, and they're leaving most of its potential on the table.
How to Apply for OpenAI Startup Credits: Get Up to $2,500 in API Credits
Based on the latest official page and real application experience, this step-by-step guide walks you through applying for official OpenAI API credits. Standard applications typically yield $1,500–$2,500; VC-backed startups can receive $10K–$100K+. Also covers two alternative channels via Ramp and Microsoft.
£148 for UK Company Annual Review, Taobao Charges ¥2000 Excluding Tax
Opened a UK Ltd last year. This year, after completing the full annual compliance and tax filing process, the total service fee came to £148, roughly ¥1,406. The same bundled service on Taobao costs ¥2,000, and that price doesn't even include the Corporation Tax you're required to pay to HMRC. On an apples-to-apples basis, going the DIY route saves ¥594 a year — plus you avoid the potential risks of letting Taobao agents file a nil return on your behalf.
OpenAI Agents SDK Major Upgrade: Harness and Sandbox Now Built Into the SDK — The Opposite Approach from Anthropic
OpenAI has shipped a major upgrade to its Agents SDK, with the headline changes being harness and sandbox support built directly into the SDK. Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK takes exactly the opposite approach — one gives you everything pre-assembled, the other hands you a toolbox.
My Go-To AI API Proxy Services: A Curated Roundup
A roundup of the AI API proxy services I actually use, covering use cases like AI image/video generation and coding — all recommended by friends I trust, zero paid promotions.
Same Name, Different Game: Comparing Two SEO Audit Skills and Which to Use
The Claude Code Skills ecosystem is growing fast — fast enough that naming collisions are starting to happen. Two skills both called seo-audit exist, and they take completely different approaches. Here's a side-by-side breakdown and recommendation.
How I Built JasonZhu.AI: Tech Stack, Architecture, and Full Cost Breakdown
A complete record of building the JasonZhu.AI personal brand website — from choosing the tech stack to going live, including the full stack, implementation details, development tools, and cost breakdown. How an AI blogger built a website using AI tools.
Skill, Harness, Memory, Safety: After 60 Articles and 20 Projects, We've Mapped the Complete Puzzle of AI Agents
Over the past three months, we wrote 60 articles on AI Agents covering four directions: the Skill system, Harness governance, memory architecture, and safety defense. This article brings all four pillars together to draw one complete picture.
AIP Overseas Self-Media Playbook: 14 Days to Build X Platform Writing Skills and Monetization Loop
A complete X/Twitter overseas growth playbook. From cold start to monetization, covering positioning, content operations, follower growth paths, and full monetization workflow. Subscribe to get the complete playbook.
Practical Community Management Experience and Book Recommendations
Lessons learned from running free groups all the way to premium coaching cohorts, plus two highly recommended community management books by Qiu Ye.
Receiving Emails for Your Product: Set It Up for Free with Cloudflare Email Routing
Resend handles outbound email just fine, but what about incoming? Cloudflare Email Routing takes care of inbound email for your product — completely free.
The Ten Most Inspiring Books I've Ever Read
Last year I read 77 books. Here are the ten that inspired me most — covering life exploration, entrepreneurship, learning strategies, and writing craft.
Meta + Manus: Building the First Trillion-Dollar Commercial Flywheel for AI Agents
Meta + Manus — 2 million creator database + 3 billion users — building the first trillion-dollar commercial flywheel for AI agents.
AI Product Marketing Blueprint: Using Localhost Demos to Gauge Market Reaction
The lightest-weight approach to AI product marketing: run a localhost demo, gauge market reaction, collect waitlist signups.
DIY US Company Annual Tax Filing: Total Cost — $3
File your US company's annual taxes yourself — download the forms from the IRS website, fax them in, and get it done for just $3. Save hundreds on accountant fees.
10 Must-Watch YouTube Videos to Master Product, Growth, and PMF
A curated list of 10 high-quality YouTube videos to help you systematically master product management, growth, and PMF.
The IDE Is Dead. Long Live the ITC.
The IDE will soon be unnecessary. The ITC (Integrated Thought Clarifier) finds where your thinking is fuzzy and forces you to articulate exactly what you mean.
droidHZ's 10-Month Retrospective: Amplifying SaaS Traffic and Growth Strategy
After hitting a milestone for his website, indie developer droidHZ reflects deeply on how to further amplify traffic value and expand new growth channels, sharing battle-tested SaaS growth strategies.
Five-Day Enterprise AI Training Syllabus: From Awareness to Real-World Implementation
A five-session enterprise AI training syllabus that takes teams from understanding AI to hands-on deployment — helping companies actually put it to work.
Enterprise Training Share: AI Website Development from 0 to 1 and Beyond
Website development insights shared at an enterprise training session — from building a site from scratch (0–1) to iterative optimization (1–100), covering a variety of AI-assisted development approaches.
Vibe Coding Website Development: Four Ways to Build from Scratch
A summary of four website development approaches from my enterprise training sessions — from dumping raw requirements straight into AI, to leveling up with an AI Website Cloner combined with Design Skills.
How to Choose an E-Signature Platform? Comparing Six Major Options — We Ended Up With Tencent E-Sign and SignNow
Used Manus AI to run a full comparative study of e-signature platforms — four domestic options plus overseas alternatives — and ultimately landed on Tencent E-Sign and SignNow.
Niko's One-Year SaaS Journey: The Complete Path from Zero to Profitability
Indie developer Niko's full one-year retrospective on building a global SaaS product — from landing his first sale on day 105 to achieving steady profitability. Covers product validation, SEO, link building, Stripe payments, conversion rate optimization, and Reddit growth strategies.
The Complete Workflow for Creating Educational Training Videos: Four Skills to Take You from Slides to Video
Use four Skills to build a complete pipeline from course PDF to content extraction, quiz generation, mind maps, and video.
OpenClaw Data Collection Capabilities Research: Tools for Social Media and Website Data Extraction
A survey of the tool ecosystem for social media and website data extraction, including agent-reach, opencli, bb-browser, and more.
A Practical Guide to Claude Code Skills: Your Secret Weapon for Developer Productivity
A deep dive into Claude Code's Skills system, covering Design Skills evaluations, SEO audits, code quality guardrails, and other hands-on techniques.
UK Company Annual Review + Dormant Filing: DIY for ~£100 and Save Half
Taobao agents charge ¥2000 for a UK company annual review + dormant accounts filing. Do it yourself through 1st Formations + TinyTax for just €122 (~¥1000). The information gap is money.
Creating Presentation Skills Slides with Manus and Zara Zhang's HTML
A walkthrough of using Zara Zhang's HTML technique to build presentation slides, deployed on Manus and accessible as a live webpage.
Overseas Business Models: SaaS vs. Cross-Border E-Commerce
The two main overseas business models are SaaS and cross-border e-commerce — each with its own cost structure and path to profitability.
How to Subscribe to Claude at Half Price with Bitget Wallet
A step-by-step guide to subscribing to Claude at half price using Bitget Wallet — just align three things: IP, address, and card.
From AI Engineer to Corporate AI Trainer: Lessons from the Field
After transitioning from AI algorithm engineer to corporate AI trainer, I share my hands-on experience, methodology, and thoughts on what it really takes to bring AI into the enterprise.
Xiaoerduo Sir's Global Web Journey: From Zero to a $40K/Month Worldwide Vending Machine
A complete retrospective on how Xiaoerduo Sir built a global web product earning $40,000/month — covering demand discovery, traffic growth, SEO, and paid ads to dissect the making of a globally automated SaaS money machine.
Sending Emails for Global Products: Why You Should Use Resend Instead of Your Platform's Built-in SMTP
Email is core infrastructure for any global product. Built-in platform SMTP has poor deliverability — use Resend instead to make sure your emails actually land.
Anthropic's Entire Growth Marketing Team Is Just One Person
The most surprising thing I learned today is that Anthropic's growth marketing is run by a single person.
Three Companies Worth Watching for Cutting-Edge Agent Development
If you had to pick three companies to follow for the latest frontiers in AI agents — Anthropic, OpenAI, and Manus — each occupies a distinct position.
Three Things You Should Embrace in 2026
The future belongs to Agents — embrace the CLI; manage AI with a manager's mindset; stop fixating on execution-level details.
Why I Say n8n Is Dead? Why SaaS Is Dead?
Building and debugging in n8n still requires a programmer. It costs me just ¥1.6 RMB to set up a workflow — the era of SaaS is over.
Building a Chinese Twitter Influencer Leaderboard with Manus
Using Manus's free daily 300 credits to build a ranked list of Chinese-language Twitter bloggers — categories and organization handled entirely by Manus.
LemFi as a Withdrawal Intermediary: Zero Fees on Your First Transfer Plus 10% Cashback
A great find for routing withdrawals through LemFi — your first remittance is fee-free, and you can earn a 10% cashback reward, netting around 400+ RMB.
Breaking Down How Manus Wraps OpenClaw
Manus wraps OpenClaw — when it comes to wrappers, the butterfly effect is real. Give users the shortest path to value, and less is more.
Ban's Marketing Playbook: Mutual Wins and Genuine Communication
The core of Ban's marketing philosophy: find partners through mutual benefit, and communicate with sincerity.
How to Cash Out Your Crypto Profits? A Complete Guide from Small to Large Amounts
How to cash out your crypto profits? A complete guide covering everything from small amounts with Bitget's U-Card to large-amount compliant channels via Kraken Pro.
Tencent Yuanbao's Marketing Tactics Are Infuriating
Tencent Yuanbao's marketing approach is downright off-putting — mass spamming people is a surefire way to get blocked.
Using Manus with SimilarWeb Data for Competitor Research
Using Manus integrated with SimilarWeb data to research websites related to specific keywords and analyze their SEO and paid advertising strategies.
A-Meng's Overseas SaaS Video Site Breakdown: Building a Shell Site Isn't Just Building a Site — It's Product-Led Operations
AI video / shell sites aren't a 'build it and they'll come' game — they're product-led operations. What actually matters is your conversion funnel, LTV, iteration speed, and risk management.
Using Manus to Research Content Topics for a Xiaohongshu AI Influencer
Using Manus to generate a Xiaohongshu AI influencer topic report, covering low-follower viral post analysis and trending topic research.
Building an X Influencer Tweet Analytics Plugin with Manus
Built a plugin to analyze an X influencer's tweet data in under 3 minutes with Manus. Building the tool is no longer the hard part — knowing what to analyze is.
Philosophy in the Age of AI: The Usefulness of the Useless
A friend with zero coding experience used Manus to build an image-based location inference website in two days. It's a reminder that philosophy — seemingly impractical — is exactly what gives people an edge.
The Global Expansion Trio: Template Sites, API Sites, and Knowledge Monetization
A breakdown of the business models behind the global expansion trio — how template sites, API sites, and knowledge monetization each make money.
Indie Developer vs. Businessperson: A Developer Who Can't Market Is Just a Backend Contractor
Indie developers chase interesting problems to build their dream products, while businesspeople repackage those same products and sell them directly to customers. A developer who can't market is nothing more than a backend contractor.
Bitget U-Card Review: Zero-Fee Alipay Payments — A Great Pick for Remote Workers
The Bitget U-Card supports zero-fee Alipay payments with a free monthly quota of 400U, making it an excellent choice for remote workers.
Google Nano Banana Pro vs Alibaba Tongyi Z-Image-Turbo — An In-Depth Review
The gods of AI image generation go to war. I spent a full day putting Google Nano Banana Pro and Alibaba Tongyi Z-Image-Turbo through their paces.
Essential Tools for Indie Developers Going Global
A curated toolkit for indie developers expanding internationally, covering three key phases: market research, product development, and growth marketing.
Black Friday Premium Deal Tutorial (With Regional Price Comparison)
A complete guide to getting the Black Friday Premium discount, including regional price comparisons and step-by-step instructions.
Web3 Enterprise AI Coding Training + Web2 Enterprise AI Productivity Training: A Successful Wrap
Successfully completed two corporate training sessions: AI Coding for a Web3 company and AI productivity enhancement for a Web2 company.
My Current AI Tools List | 2025 Edition
The AI tools I shared at a corporate training session — if you can't be bothered sorting through options, just use the best ones.
Essential for Going Global: A Guide to Applying for and Activating a GiffGaff UK SIM Card
If you're expanding overseas, a foreign SIM card is a must. Here's how to get and activate a GiffGaff UK SIM card.
Investment Reading List: A Recommended Reading Order from Beginner to Advanced
My recommended reading order for learning about investing — from building a foundation in funds and accounting to advanced macroeconomics and political economy.
Andy W's Systematic SEO Strategy Breakdown
SEO is fundamentally a win-win — a value exchange between you and Google. Here's a breakdown of Andy W's systematic approach to SEO.
Opening a Wise Business Account for Your UK Company: No Monthly Fees, Multi-Currency Payments
Once your UK company is registered, open a Wise business account — no monthly fees, a one-time setup fee, global multi-currency payments, and access to Stripe for Business.
AI Productivity Tools Guide | 2025 Updated Edition
A hands-on tested roundup of AI tools covering chat, search, coding, image generation, and audio/video — vetted across the web.
Marketing Strategy: The 10x Rule of Price Anchoring
Don't lead with features — lead with money and outcomes. Make sure customers get at least 10x the value of what they pay.
2025 Update: Register a UK Company in 2 Hours for Just £50
Skip the agents — register directly on the official UK government website in about 2 hours, for a total cost of just £50 + ~¥400 for a registered address.
Storytelling — Turning User Interest Into Belief
Storytelling is a core skill in both marketing and product development — it's what turns user interest into genuine belief.
Wise Account Address Verification for UK Companies: Your Proof of Address Must Include the Company Name
When your Wise account triggers an address verification, the supporting document must include your UK company name. A CMB (China Merchants Bank) credit card statement may be worth trying.
How Should Programmers Do Business? Shifting from an Employee Mindset to a Marketing Mindset
The key to programmers succeeding in business — shifting from an employee grind mentality to a marketing mindset, and splitting your revenue ten ways to tie others to your success.
My Favorite Hidden Gems for Downloading eBooks
A curated list of go-to eBook download sites covering both Chinese and English resources, so you can easily find whatever you want to read.
Why Reddit Is the
Reddit gets indexed by Google fast and is the
Research Tools for Going Global: AITDK, SEOquake, and Wappalyzer
Three essential browser extensions for competitive research when going global: AITDK, SEOquake, and Wappalyzer — helping you quickly analyze competitor websites.
"Hustling Your Way to a Business": Solo Companies and Creator Businesses Are Really Just Running a Market Stall
This book is fundamentally about running a street stall — and the so-called entrepreneurship behind solo companies, SaaS ventures, and content creation is really just that.
A One-Month Post-Mortem on My "Unsuccessful" Global Website Launch: What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong
A one-month retrospective on my first attempt at building and launching a full-stack website for a global audience (brickrecipes.ai): registering a company and learning SEO were the right calls; weak demand validation and wasting money on a domain and server were the wrong ones. Includes an MVP component checklist and recommended resources for going global.
Marketing Is the One Level You Can Never Skip in Indie Development
Marketing isn't an optional, low-priority item on your to-do list — it's a level you can never skip in indie development.
Paths Taken by Those Who've Gone Global — Which One Is Right for You?
A breakdown of the different strategies used by veterans of the global expansion game, to help you find the approach that fits you best.
How to Start Selling SaaS Globally or as an Indie Dev? Begin with a Wrapper
The first step in going global with SaaS or indie development — start by wrapping an existing product. Ship something fast, and you'll quickly discover what you're actually missing.
Indie Developer's Guide to Going Global: US Company + EIN + Stripe + Bank for $193
A complete hands-on guide for indie developers going global — from registering a Wyoming LLC to applying for an EIN, opening a Mercury bank account, activating Stripe, and setting up Wise.
Reddit Indie Hacker Marketing Tips: 7 Practical Pieces of Advice
A Reddit post summarizing 7 battle-tested tips for indie hackers, covering everything from ideas and experimentation to staying the course.
Zero-Cost Global Launch Toolkit for Indie Developers
Deep Earn shares a zero-cost global launch toolkit for indie developers, helping you kick off your international project at minimal expense.
Complete Payment Setup for Global Websites: US Company Registration, EIN Application, Bank Account Opening, and Stripe Activation
A step-by-step guide to registering a US company from scratch, applying for an EIN, opening a bank account, and activating Stripe to accept payments on your global website.
Payment Solutions for Individual Developers in China: Integrating WeChat Pay and Alipay via Zpay
How can individual developers in China accept payments? Open an account with Zpay for just ¥88 and start accepting WeChat Pay and Alipay — a much cheaper alternative to registering a sole proprietorship.
UK Data Protection Fee: The £40/Year Compliance Must-Pay for SaaS Businesses
If your overseas company is registered in the UK and you're running a SaaS business, the data protection fee is a mandatory compliance requirement. Miss the deadline and you're looking at a £4,000 fine.