Pandemic pushes Chinese tech giants to roll out more courier robots


A person inputs a code on a screen of an autonomous delivery vehicle by JD Logistics, the delivery arm of JD.com, as he tries to pick up goods, in Beijing, China. — Reuters

BEIJING: More than a thousand robots are set to join the delivery personnel ranks of Chinese behemoths Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com over the next year as the pandemic fuels demand for contactless services.

The firms expect to operate over 2,000 robots between them by 2022, up about four-fold from now, their executives said, encouraged also by falling costs of making robots.

Subscribe or renew your subscriptions to win prizes worth up to RM68,000!

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
   

Next In Tech News

Former BP boss Looney to chair US data company Prometheus Hyperscale
Indian regulator rejects Apple request to put antitrust report on hold
Share too much info on social media and risk being hacked, warns MCMC
What is Bluesky and why are people leaving X to sign up?
Opinion: Messages can gobble up storage space
ChatGPT writes better poetry than Shakespeare, most people think
Game review: Help the sleeping Smurfs wake up from Gargamel's spell
TikTok CEO sought Musk's input ahead of Trump administration, WSJ reports
How 'CoComelon' became a mass media juggernaut for preschoolers
Evolution of smartphone damage: From drips to drops

Others Also Read