JD.com has unveiled a five-year plan to procure millions of robots and autonomous vehicles, integrating AI across its global logistics network.
Key facts
- •JD.com's five-year procurement target includes 3 million robots, 1 million autonomous vehicles, and 100,000 delivery drones.
- •The Meta Brain 3.0 AI system is designed to calculate optimal routes for hundreds of millions of parcels in seconds.
- •JD Cloud plans to collect over 10 million hours of video data for embodied-AI training over the next two years.
- •JD Logistics reported RMB 2.3 billion in R&D spending for the first half of 2026.
- •The company has signed agreements with 120 educational institutions to retrain workers for robotics-related roles.
JD.com has launched its Physical AI Acceleration Plan at the JDDiscovery 2026 event in Beijing. The initiative aims to expand the company's use of robotics and AI across its logistics network, with a five-year procurement target of 3 million robots, 1 million autonomous vehicles, and 100,000 delivery drones.
By the numbers
Robotics and AI Integration
The company is connecting its physical equipment to Meta Brain, an AI system designed to optimize logistics tasks. The latest version, Meta Brain 3.0, can calculate parcel routes in seconds. Additionally, the LangzuTech Packer robotic arm uses reinforcement learning to improve parcel sorting and loading efficiency. JD Cloud is also partnering with Moore Threads to develop a 100,000-GPU cluster for large-model training and embodied-AI workloads.
Logistics Network Expansion
As of June 30, JD Logistics operated over 1,800 self-operated warehouses and 2,000 third-party cloud warehouses, covering 36 million square meters. The company has deployed its LangzuTech Goods-to-Person system in more than 30 warehouses across China, with additional sites in the UK and Germany. Autonomous vehicle operations have expanded to include night-time delivery routes in Shenzhen, while drone networks now support parcel and food delivery, emergency medicine, and disaster relief.
Workforce and Financials
JD Logistics reported RMB 2.3 billion in research and development spending for the first half of 2026, a 23.7% increase from the previous year. To address the shift toward automation, the company has signed agreements with approximately 120 educational institutions to retrain workers for roles such as robot maintenance. JD currently operates eight robot repair centers and plans to expand its after-sales capabilities to support over 100,000 robotics service engineer jobs.
Timeline
- June 30JD Logistics reported its warehouse network and automation deployments as of this date.
- September 3Reuters reported on the shifting competitive landscape among China's major e-commerce platforms.
- 2026JD.com launched its Physical AI Acceleration Plan at the JDDiscovery 2026 event.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by AI News.
