Meituan Adds Nvidia, Valeo, and Icona to Autonomous Delivery Platform
China's largest food delivery service, Meituan Dianping, partners with Nvidia, Valeo, and Icona to advance its autonomous delivery vehicles at CES.
Meituan Dianping announces three major partnerships at CES to accelerate its Meituan Autonomous Delivery (MAD) platform. The Chinese food delivery giant teams up with Nvidia for research and development, Valeo for sensors and engines, and Icona for vehicle and robot design. This expansion builds upon existing partnerships with companies like Segway-GX and iDriverPlus to grow the open delivery platform.
Despite these technological advancements, most deliveries still rely on human drivers for at least part of the journey. Autonomous vehicles and drones currently handle specific segments, such as gathering orders from multiple restaurants or completing final drops in controlled environments like office parks and universities. This hybrid approach aims to increase efficiency while navigating complex urban settings.
Meituan conducts trial operations in a dozen locations across China, including Beijing and Shenzhen, to commercialize this technology. The company aims to leverage its massive scale of 382 million users to push large-scale autonomous delivery, gaining a competitive edge over rival Alibaba's Ele.me. Beyond food delivery, Meituan also operates as a major e-commerce platform for dining and owns the Mobike bike-sharing service.