Guang Zhou Ri Bao·2025-07-24 15:40Core Insights - The competition between Meituan and JD.com has shifted towards embodied intelligence, with both companies making significant investments in this area to capture new growth opportunities [1][8] - Embodied intelligence is seen as the next frontier in artificial intelligence, with major tech companies like Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu already developing large models and integrating them into their businesses [1][9] Investment Activities - JD.com has invested in three leading companies in the embodied intelligence sector: Qianxun Intelligent, Zhujidongli, and Zhongqing Robot, highlighting its strategic focus on the robotics field [3][4] - Meituan has made substantial investments in various robotics and related companies, totaling 30 investments over the past three years, with a focus on "retail + technology" [5][6] Market Performance - JD.com's self-operated sales of intelligent robots increased threefold during the 618 shopping festival, while sales of embodied intelligent robots surged by 17 times [4][3] - Meituan's investment in autonomous decision-making robots aims to fill gaps in complex scenarios, potentially enhancing automation in last-mile delivery and warehouse sorting [5][6] Strategic Focus - Both companies are leveraging their existing logistics and service capabilities to enhance the application of embodied intelligence in various sectors, including retail and logistics [7][8] - JD.com is developing its own AI operating system, JoyInside, to integrate with various robotic hardware, enhancing user experience and product competitiveness [4][8] Industry Challenges - Despite the excitement in the embodied intelligence sector, commercial viability remains a challenge, with the industry still in its early stages of development [9][10] - Key obstacles include high costs, technological limitations, and the need for broader societal acceptance of robots in everyday applications [9][10]