JD.com’s AI Logistics Revolution | Tech News

0:00It's September 10th. I'm Cory with the story. This is Tech News today, driven by AI and Bill for Tech Enthusiasts. JD.com is going all in on physical AI, rolling out a new plan to supercharge their logistics with robots and autonomous vehicles. They're talking about acquiring 3 million robots, 1 million self-driving vehicles, and 100,000 delivery drones over the next five years. This isn't just talk. They've already got automated warehouses in China, the UK, and Germany, plus thousands of unmanned vehicles and over 100. Drone routes already in operation. This push is powered by their Metabrain AI system, which is now in its third version. It can figure out the best routes for millions of packages in mere seconds, a huge leap from before. They're also using this AI to control robotic arms, like the packer, which can precisely grab and place packages, optimizing how they're loaded into. Delivery trucks. They're even upgrading the force control on these arms for even more accuracy.

1:04The company is also investing heavily in the hardware to support all this AI. JD Cloud is teaming up with a chipmaker to build a massive cluster of 100,000 GPUs, which are essential for training these advanced AI models. On top of that, they plan to gather over 10 million hours of real-world video footage to train AI for tasks that involve physical interaction. Beyond the warehouses, JD Logistics is expanding its autonomous vehicle operations to include nighttime deliveries in cities like Xinjiang. They're also bringing drone delivery to rural areas, cutting down delivery times to remote mountain villages to as little as seven minutes. This shows a commitment to reaching every corner, no matter how challenging the terrain. This massive automation push comes as e-commerce competition heats up, shifting focus from delivery subsidies to optimizing the entire logistics. Infrastructure. JD's founder has even suggested robots will eventually handle parcel delivery, and the company is already working with educational institutions too.

2:06Retrain workers for roles in robot maintenance and repair, planning to create over 100,000 new jobs in robotic services.