Cainiao opens warehouse network to AI & robotics partners

Cainiao has launched an industry partnership for AI and embodied intelligence, opening its warehouse network to external partners.

It is making dozens of logistics operating scenarios available for technology training, validation and deployment, as robotics and AI companies seek practical settings beyond laboratory testing.

These scenarios cover warehouse picking, intelligent navigation, delivery, high-altitude inspection, security work, aviation logistics and auto parts management. Partners will be able to use the network for joint research and development, real-machine training and business validation.

Cainiao is also introducing a service called Global Tech in Three Days for AI computing businesses, robotics companies and component suppliers. The service is designed to support supply chains from prototype testing to scaled delivery and overseas operations.

It draws on Cainiao's express delivery, air freight and warehousing operations, and includes customs support, forward and reverse logistics, insurance for high-value cargo, forward warehousing and spare-parts management.

Under the model, global express services are intended for research and development testing, customer demonstrations, product fulfilment and small-batch replenishment. Air freight is aimed at larger shipments, including AI infrastructure equipment, control systems and core modules, while the warehouse network is positioned for regional stockholding, multi-country warehousing and local delivery.

The partnership reflects a broader push by logistics groups to position their physical networks as training grounds for AI systems that need exposure to varied, changing environments. Warehouses, sorting centres and delivery networks offer repeatable tasks as well as unpredictable conditions, both of which are important for companies trying to move robots from pilot projects into routine operations.

Cainiao's network spans multiple countries, industries and operating environments, covering domestic pickup, cross-border line-haul and overseas fulfilment. That breadth, the company said, allows embodied intelligence companies to train and validate systems in settings that are larger and more representative of commercial use.

It has also expanded pilot deployments across express delivery, eCommerce, fast-moving consumer goods and auto parts. These deployments fall into three task types: basic work such as parcel feeding and labelling; mid-level precision work such as small-item sorting; and more complex, long-horizon work such as palletising and depalletising.

Industrial shift

The effort comes as businesses across logistics, manufacturing and transport test whether advances in AI can be translated into machines operating in physical workplaces. Interest in embodied intelligence, which focuses on AI systems that can perceive and act in the real world, has risen as developers look for commercial uses beyond software-only applications.

Cainiao said physical AI is emerging as an important driver of industrial change as intelligence moves from digital systems into physical operations. It said the next decade could bring significant efficiency gains, although that outlook depends on progress in hardware reliability, cost and deployment at scale.

Speaking about the programme, William Xiong, Chief Executive Officer of Cainiao Global, said: "AI has become a new engine of productivity. Over the past decade, Cainiao has built an open, efficient and sustainable smart logistics network. As AI and embodied intelligence move from the lab into real industry, we want to leverage our global network to help partners accelerate value creation."

Cainiao said it has signed initial cooperation agreements with companies in AI computing and embodied intelligence, but did not identify them or disclose commercial terms.

Founded in 2013, Cainiao is best known for logistics services linked to eCommerce. Its network reaches more than 200 countries and territories, with operations in cross-border express delivery, supply chain services and logistics technology.

For AI hardware makers and robotics groups, one challenge in international expansion is not just selling products, but managing testing shipments, spare parts, returns, customs processes and local storage. Cainiao's new offer is aimed at that operational layer, using services originally built for eCommerce merchants and cross-border sellers.

Xiong described the move as an extension of the company's existing logistics base into a new industry segment. "We want to extend the global logistics capabilities we have built for eCommerce into AI and embodied intelligence. Our goal is to make intelligent technologies go global as efficiently and simply as eCommerce parcels," he said.