JD Logistics is putting 3 million robots to work
JD Logistics robots are central to a new Physical AI plan that aims to automate warehousing, sorting, transport and delivery across the company’s fulfilment network.
JD Logistics is putting some very big numbers behind its robotics ambitions. The Chinese ecommerce giant has announced a five-year Physical AI Acceleration Plan for its logistics arm. The target is to procure 3 million robots, 1 million autonomous vehicles and 100,000 delivery drones.
The plan was unveiled at JDDiscovery this year in Beijing. It shows how JD sees robotics becoming a much bigger part of how parcels are stored, sorted, transported and delivered.
Robots across the delivery chain
JD Logistics is not building robots for just one job. Its new Wolf Robot series is designed for different parts of the logistics chain, including transport, warehousing, sorting, and delivery. The company is also developing systems for cold-chain logistics and pharmacy dispatch, alongside autonomous vehicles and drones.
The idea sits within what JD calls Physical AI. Unlike AI that only analyses information, Physical AI connects software intelligence with machines that can act in the real world. For the firm, that means AI systems making decisions while robots, robotic arms, vehicles and drones carry them out.
The AI behind the machines
A key part of the system is Meta Brain, JD Logistics’ AI platform for warehousing, transportation and delivery.
The company also said the latest Meta Brain 3.0 can route hundreds of millions of parcels in seconds, down from minutes.
The system also works with the LangzuTech Packer robotic arm. It uses sensor data to identify, pick up and place parcels of different shapes. JD says this can improve sorting efficiency and help make better use of space during loading.
JD already has a head start
The five-year plan is building on an already sizeable automated network. As of June 30, 2026, JD Logistics’ LangzuTech Goods-to-Person automated warehousing system had been deployed in more than 30 warehouses in China. Deployments had also begun in the UK and Germany.
Its wider network included more than 1,800 self-operated warehouses and over 2,000 third-party cloud warehouses. Together, they covered more than 36 million square metres.
JD also had thousands of self-driving vehicles operating across more than 20 Chinese provinces. Its network included drone routes and more than 100 domestic service uses ranging from parcels and food to emergency medicine and disaster relief.
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A huge bet on physical AI
JD Logistics spent RMB2.3 billion on R&D in the first half of 2026, up 23.7% from RMB1.9 billion a year earlier.
The robotics push could also create new jobs. JD says its robotics service expansion could support more than 100,000 robotics service engineer jobs over five years.
Right now, the firm thinks that the next generation of ecommerce logistics will be increasingly run by intelligent machines working alongside people.