JD.com expands physical AI in logistics with 3 million robots
JD.com is increasing AI and robotics throughout its logistics community beneath a brand new Physical AI Acceleration Plan, whereas reiterating a five-year goal to acquire 3 million robots, 1 million autonomous autos, and 100,000 supply drones.
The firm launched the plan at JDDiscovery 2026 in Beijing. JD Logistics additionally unveiled its industrial Wolf Robot sequence, designed for duties throughout warehousing, sorting, transport, and supply.
Specialised techniques embrace tools designed to function in temperatures as little as minus 20 levels Celsius, automated pharmacy dispatch techniques, autonomous supply autos, and drones.
The five-year procurement plan builds on automation that JD Logistics already has in operation. As of June 30, its LangzuTech Goods-to-Person automated warehousing system had been deployed in greater than 30 warehouses throughout China, with deployments additionally launched in the UK and Germany.
JD Logistics’ broader warehouse community included greater than 1,800 self-operated warehouses and greater than 2,000 third-party cloud warehouses on its Open Warehouse Platform as of June 30. The community coated greater than 36 million sq. metres in combination.
The firm additionally had 1000’s of unmanned autos in common operation throughout greater than 20 Chinese provinces by the tip of June. More than 100 home drone routes had been working throughout purposes together with parcel and meals supply, emergency medication transport, and catastrophe reduction.
From AI choices to physical execution
JD Logistics is connecting its physical tools with Meta Brain, an AI system used throughout warehousing, transportation, and supply. JD mentioned Meta Brain 3.0 can calculate optimum routes for tons of of hundreds of thousands of parcels in seconds, in contrast with minutes beforehand.
Meta Brain additionally powers JD Logistics’ LangzuTech Packer robotic arm, which mixes the mannequin with multimodal sensor information to trace, grasp, and place parcels with totally different shapes.
JD Logistics mentioned in a first-quarter regulatory submitting that the Packer makes use of parallel reinforcement studying in simulated environments to optimise parcel-placement sequences and loading layouts. The firm mentioned the system is designed to enhance sorting effectivity and the usage of accessible provider area.
JD upgraded the robotic arm’s force-control expertise throughout the second quarter to assist extra exact cage-loading operations. By June, the Packer was working across the clock at a number of JD Logistics parks, based on the corporate’s interim report.
JD can also be including computing capability to assist AI growth. JD Cloud plans to work with Chinese chipmaker Moore Threads on a cluster containing 100,000 GPUs for large-model coaching, inference, and embodied-AI workloads.
The two firms have beforehand labored on a ten,000-GPU cluster, based on Data Center Dynamics. Details of which Moore Threads GPU fashions will likely be used in the deliberate 100,000-GPU system haven’t been disclosed.
JD Cloud additionally plans to gather greater than 10 million hours of video displaying real-world human actions over the following two years for embodied-AI coaching.
Beyond warehouse operations, JD Logistics has expanded its autonomous automobile community into night-time supply. Its interim report mentioned the corporate had launched night-time autonomous routes in Shenzhen, permitting autos to function across the clock.
JD can also be utilizing drones in rural logistics. In June, JD Logistics launched a drone supply community in Zizhong, Sichuan province, masking 78 administrative villages, and mentioned deliveries to some mountain villages might be accomplished in as little as seven minutes.
Scaling automation throughout JD’s logistics community
JD didn’t disclose the entire anticipated value of the five-year procurement programme at JDDiscovery or present a network-wide return-on-investment goal.
JD Logistics spent RMB2.3 billion on analysis and growth throughout the first half of 2026, up 23.7% from RMB1.9 billion a 12 months earlier. The firm attributed the rise to continued funding in expertise and innovation however didn’t present a breakdown displaying how a lot was spent particularly on AI or robotics.
Depreciation of property and tools and amortisation of different intangible property rose 18.7% to RMB2.6 billion throughout the first half of 2026, from RMB2.2 billion a 12 months earlier. JD Logistics attributed the rise primarily to further logistics tools and autos.
Purchases of property and tools and funding properties totalled RMB3.09 billion over the identical six-month interval, in contrast with RMB2.70 billion a 12 months earlier. Those figures cowl the broader logistics enterprise and are usually not disclosed as spending particularly related with the brand new physical AI programme.
JD’s automation plans additionally come as China’s main ecommerce platforms develop fulfilment infrastructure. Reuters reported on September 3 that competitors between JD.com, Alibaba, and Meituan had moved from heavy spending on supply subsidies in the direction of logistics infrastructure, broader provide, and order-level economics.
Alibaba and JD have been opening darkish shops and fast-fulfilment “lightning warehouses” in densely populated areas to assist deliveries inside an hour, whereas Meituan has been constructing supermarkets to develop its grocery operations. Ministry of Commerce analysis cited by Reuters estimates China’s instant-retail market will attain RMB1.2 trillion, or about $178 billion, by the tip of 2026.
JD and firms inside its ecosystem make use of round 700,000 supply and logistics personnel, based on the South China Morning Post.
JD founder Richard Liu mentioned earlier this 12 months that robots would finally take over parcel-delivery work now carried out by human couriers. The Financial Times reported in June that JD had signed agreements with round 120 academic establishments to retrain employees for roles together with robotic restore and upkeep.
JD mentioned JD Logistics at present operates eight robotic restore centres in China and plans to develop its robotics after-sales capabilities over the following 5 years. The firm expects the growth to assist greater than 100,000 robotics service engineer jobs.
(Photo by JD.com)
See additionally: (*3*)
Want to be taught extra about AI and massive information from business leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo going down in Amsterdam, California, and London. The complete occasion is a part of TechEx and is co-located with different main expertise occasions together with the Cyber Security & Cloud Expo. Click here for extra data.
AI News is powered by TechForge Media. Explore different upcoming enterprise expertise occasions and webinars here.
The submit JD.com expands physical AI in logistics with 3 million robots appeared first on AI News.
