Cainiao Opens Its Global Warehouse Network as a Real-World Training Ground for Embodied AI

Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics arm, said on November 5 that it is opening its global warehouse network to industry partners as a real-world training, testing and deployment site for AI and embodied intelligence companies. The announcement came at an AI and embodied intelligence partnership event held at the Cainiao Smart Gateway in Hong Kong, according to IT Home and Sina Tech. Cainiao described the network as the world's largest real-world logistics training cluster for AI and embodied intelligence. The company also launched a three-day delivery service aimed at AI computing and robotics companies shipping overseas.

Cainiao is making dozens of industries and more than 100 proof-of-concept scenarios available to partners for joint development, training on physical robots and business validation. The scenarios cover warehouse picking, smart navigation and delivery, high-altitude inspection, security operations, air logistics and auto parts management. The company said it has already run large-scale pilots across express delivery, e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods and auto parts for three kinds of tasks: basic work such as feeding parcels and applying labels, mid-range precision work such as piece picking, and long-horizon tasks such as mixed-case packing and complex palletizing and depalletizing.

Xiong Wei, president of Cainiao International, argued that robot testing today relies largely on simulation environments that companies build themselves, which are costly, slow and often fail to reproduce the complexity of real operations. Cainiao says its cross-border network, which spans domestic pickup, international trunk routes and overseas fulfillment and handles large volumes of varied SKUs during shopping-festival peaks, offers a larger and more realistic environment. Xiong said embodied intelligence could mature over the next decade and might raise efficiency by 10 to 50 times. Cainiao said it reached a first round of partnerships with several AI and embodied intelligence companies at the event, without naming them.

The new delivery service draws on three Cainiao capabilities: its global express line, global air freight and global warehouse network. It offers customs declaration, forward and reverse fulfillment, insurance for high-value goods, forward warehouses and spare-parts management. The express line covers prototypes for testing, customer demos and small-batch restocking. Air freight handles large, heavy and high-value equipment such as AI computing hardware, control systems and core modules, with door-to-door white-glove delivery that can include scheduled delivery, placement inside the building and unboxing at handover. The warehouse network supports regional stocking, multi-country storage and local delivery for direct sales, distribution and after-sales parts.

Xiong said Cainiao wants to bring the experience of its Global Three-Day Delivery and Global Five-Day Delivery e-commerce services to AI and robotics companies, making it as simple to ship intelligent hardware abroad as to send an e-commerce parcel.

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