Strategic Partnership to Revolutionize Urban Delivery via Lidar Technology
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 23, 2025 — In a significant move that underscores the rapidly evolving landscape of urban logistics, Hesai Technology (NASDAQ: HSAI; HKEX: 2525)—a distinguished leader in lidar solutions—has forged a strategic partnership with Keeta Drone, the autonomous urban delivery sub-brand of Meituan. This collaboration aims to propel the commercialization of the low-altitude economy, optimizing the delivery of goods through innovative drone technology.
Under the terms of this partnership, Hesai Technology will provide its cutting-edge second-generation solid-state lidar system, the FTX, specifically designed for Keeta Drone’s latest fleet of autonomous delivery drones. This agreement not only highlights the capabilities of lidar technology in navigating complex environments but also positions both companies at the forefront of the burgeoning delivery drone market.
The importance of this partnership is accentuated by a recent report from Morgan Stanley’s Global Embodied AI team titled The Robot Almanac. This report details a staggering projection that global robot hardware revenue is anticipated to soar to trillion by the year 2050, with an expected annual sales figure of 1.4 billion robots. These robots will manifest in diverse forms, including delivery drones, service robots, and autonomous vehicles, serving various sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and transportation.
Keeta Drone stands as a pioneer in the low-altitude logistics sector, having established a comprehensive air-ground delivery network through its proprietary drone systems. The company has expanded its operational horizons from mere food delivery services to encompass pharmaceuticals and emergency supplies, reflecting the potential for drones to meet a multiplicity of consumer needs. As of this date, Keeta Drone has successfully inaugurated 65 delivery routes across major urban centers, which include significant cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and even Dubai, amassing a remarkable total of over 740,000 completed deliveries.
At the core of this collaboration lies the groundbreaking M-Drone 4L, which represents Keeta Drone’s latest innovation in delivery technology. This fourth-generation long-range drone has set a precedent as the world’s first commercial delivery drone to integrate lidar as a standardized component. By employing sensor fusion techniques that combine lidar, vision systems, and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), the M-Drone 4L ensures reliability and precision in urban environments.
The enhancements provided by Hesai’s FTX lidar are particularly noteworthy. With advanced 3D perception capabilities, the FTX system ensures that delivery drones can navigate urban landscapes efficiently and safely, even amid complex obstacles such as power lines and tree branches. Notably, its ultra-wide field of view is pivotal in detecting such obstacles, ensuring safe flight paths. Unlike traditional navigation methods, the FTX lidar remains unaffected by various lighting conditions and adverse weather, offering stable performance in challenging environments—be it nighttime or during precipitation.
A striking demonstration during the launch event showcased Keeta Drone’s capabilities through a two-kilometer nighttime flight executed entirely on lidar-based navigation. This advancement illustrates a significant technological leap, allowing the drone to perform precise positioning without dependence on satellites or visual markers, thus marking a new era in drone navigation and delivery logistics.
The improvements realized in the FTX lidar system are striking—offering a twofold increase in resolution, a compact form factor, and a remarkable 66% reduction in weight compared to its predecessor. This optimization not only simplifies the integration process for drone manufacturers but also considerably lowers manufacturing costs, paving the way for mass production anticipated to begin in 2026.
Looking to the future, Hesai Technology and Keeta Drone aim to deepen their collaboration to construct a resilient, all-weather urban logistics network. This infrastructure is designed to cater to a variety of delivery scenarios, addressing the increasing demand for efficient urban logistics solutions.
As the drone delivery sector continues to expand, the partnership between Hesai Technology and Keeta Drone exemplifies the innovative spirit and technological advances driving this transformation, heralding a future where urban delivery is swift, efficient, and highly reliable.
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