Recently, Didi’s upgrade of its AI-powered ride-hailing service has drawn considerable attention across the industry. The introduction of its 'AI Xiaodi' assistant, boasting over 90 personalized service tags, leverages natural language processing to precisely align with user travel demands. User satisfaction has climbed 12 percentage points higher than that of standard ride-hailing services, while complaint rates have plummeted by 31%. These compelling figures underscore the benefits of AI in the transportation sector.

In contrast, AutoNavi, a key competitor, has not rolled out its own AI ride-hailing functionality. Instead, it has opted to provide foundational support—such as map data and ride aggregation—for Qianwen’s newly launched AI ride-hailing service.

This partnership between Qianwen and AutoNavi may seem like a seamless integration within Alibaba’s AI ecosystem, but it actually reveals deeper strategic considerations in Alibaba’s approach to AI.

It also raises pertinent questions in the market about AutoNavi’s positioning: As Alibaba fully commits to Qianwen, how can AutoNavi, once regarded as a cornerstone for local services, avoid the fate of being reduced to a mere tool, akin to Ele.me, and carve out its core value in the AI era?

Why Did Alibaba Opt for Qianwen Over AutoNavi for AI Ride-Hailing?

To grasp Alibaba’s decision, it’s crucial to recognize that AI ride-hailing represents far more than a simple enhancement of voice-based ride-hailing. By harnessing the natural language understanding capabilities of large models, it breaks down traditional operational barriers in ride-hailing. Users can now complete the entire process—from hailing a ride and selecting a vehicle type to adding waypoints and scheduling pickup times—with just a single sentence, ushering in a new travel paradigm where 'demand directly connects to service.'

This is not merely a new form of travel service but also a vital scenario for large models to transition from 'chatting' to 'getting things done.' It stands as a key battleground for major players vying for AI user access points.

Alibaba’s choice to entrust Qianwen with AI ride-hailing stems from a strategic decision at the group level. Since its inception, Qianwen has been earmarked as a strategic product aimed at becoming a super entry point in the AI era, integrating Alibaba’s entire ecosystem of services. It competes with AI products like Doubao and Yuanbao for user mindshare and market influence, giving it a far higher strategic priority than traditional businesses like AutoNavi.

The current AI competition has reached a fierce stage. According to QuestMobile 2025 data, Doubao, capitalizing on its exposure during the Spring Festival Gala and the Douyin ecosystem, reached a peak daily active user count of 145 million, while Qianwen peaked at 73.52 million before falling back to 32 million. The disparity in user mindshare and retention rates between the two is evident.

For Alibaba, it is imperative to concentrate all resources on empowering Qianwen. Integrating high-frequency lifestyle services like ride-hailing is a pivotal step in enriching Qianwen’s 'problem-solving capabilities' and addressing its scenario shortcomings. This not only boosts user stickiness but also differentiates Qianwen from competitors like Doubao, reinforcing its core advantage as the 'gateway to Alibaba’s ecosystem.'

More significantly, Qianwen aligns far more closely with future travel trends than AutoNavi.

Autonomous driving and driverless taxis are widely acknowledged as the ultimate direction for the industry, with core demands centered on 'AI scheduling + scenario fulfillment' rather than mere map navigation or ride aggregation. As a large model gateway, Qianwen possesses robust natural language understanding, multi-scenario coordination, and command execution capabilities, making it ideally suited to meet user interaction needs in the era of autonomous driving.

From a user perspective, the synergy between driverless taxis and AI-native software is also far superior to that of traditional map tools. For average users, driverless taxis inherently embody 'intelligence, convenience, and technological advancement,' which resonate strongly with the user mindset of AI large models as 'understanding needs and getting things done.' When faced with this entirely new mode of travel, users naturally gravitate toward the most natural and convenient interaction method.

AutoNavi, on the other hand, remains firmly associated with the 'navigation tool' label in users’ minds. Even with the addition of ride-hailing functions, it struggles to shed its 'tool-like' perception. When it comes to accommodating autonomous driving scenarios, users are unlikely to think of a map app first but rather an AI gateway capable of natural interaction. This perceptual gap may be even more challenging to bridge than technological disparities, further solidifying Alibaba’s decision to choose Qianwen over AutoNavi to connect with the future autonomous driving ecosystem.

Turning to AutoNavi itself, as an acquired product rather than one 'homegrown' by Alibaba, it has seemingly occupied a 'non-core' strategic position since joining the Alibaba ecosystem. Initially a simple map tool, it was later assigned a supplementary role in local services, collaborating with other business units within Alibaba.

In 2025, AutoNavi launched the 'Street Ranking' feature, attempting to deepen its presence in local services. According to Zhejiang Daily, by January 2026, the Street Ranking user base had surpassed 660 million, with over 860,000 catering merchants actively onboarding. Both order volumes and revenue for participating merchants saw significant month-on-month growth. However, behind these impressive figures lies an immature commercial closed loop. Some merchants have not enabled transaction functions, requiring users to redirect to platforms like Meituan or Douyin to complete transactions, resulting in low conversion efficiency. AutoNavi seems unable to shake off its 'navigation tool' user perception.

Within a conglomerate’s ecosystem, where numerous business lines intertwine, a natural strategic hierarchy of core and non-core businesses exists. When Alibaba places the focus of its AI ride-hailing strategy on Qianwen rather than AutoNavi, questions about 'misaligned positioning' inevitably arise.

Such views may fail to grasp the core logic of Alibaba’s strategy, as the company must consider not only its internal strategic priorities but also the rapidly evolving external competitive landscape.

How Can Alibaba’s Traditional Businesses Better Integrate with AI?

Alibaba’s decision to deploy AI ride-hailing through Qianwen rather than AutoNavi, while seemingly a strategic move about a single product, actually reflects the overall layout logic of the Alibaba ecosystem in the AI era.

With Qianwen as the absolute core, how should Alibaba’s traditional businesses position themselves? Should they become mere 'fulfillment resources' for Qianwen, or can they find new vitality through synergy?

Alibaba’s choice is clear: prioritize the advancement of AI-driven scenarios over scenario-based AI upgrades. The difference is stark: AI-driven scenarios involve integrating ride-hailing, shopping, payment, and other scenarios within Alibaba’s ecosystem into Qianwen, creating differentiated advantages for Qianwen and establishing it as the super gateway for all scenarios. In contrast, scenario-based AI upgrades involve using AI technology to enhance traditional businesses like Taobao, AutoNavi, and Flash Purchase, improving their competitiveness and user experience.

This choice stems from the rapid pace of AI-driven transformation—the speed of entry point iteration in the AI era far exceeds that of the mobile internet era. Whoever seizes the AI entry point will gain control over future commercial discourse, making this a strategic high ground that Alibaba cannot afford to lose.

Alibaba’s urgency is fueled by anxiety over signs of weakening in its core business. Alibaba’s Q3 FY2026 report showed that revenue from its China e-commerce group reached RMB 131.583 billion, representing a mere 1% year-on-year growth, indicating sluggish momentum.

In contrast, Pinduoduo’s Q4 2025 earnings report revealed quarterly revenue of RMB 123.9 billion, up 12% year-on-year. Its core businesses, online marketing services and transaction services, both maintained steady growth, with transaction service revenue surging 19% year-on-year.

Compared to its competitor’s consistent growth, Alibaba’s traditional businesses appear increasingly stagnant, reinforcing its determination to 'revolutionize itself.'

As Qianwen eagerly integrates scenarios like ride-hailing, food delivery, and shopping, market concerns have naturally arisen: Will traditional products like Taobao and AutoNavi become mere 'fulfillment tools' and 'traffic resources' for Qianwen, losing their independent value and growth potential?

Perhaps these concerns are not unfounded, but Alibaba’s underlying logic is not difficult to understand: proactively revolutionizing itself is far more preferable than being passively disrupted.

The speed of replacement in the AI era far exceeds that of any previous era. The case of Doubao integrating with Douyin Mall already demonstrates the logic of 'entry points as king.' Once a competitor’s AI gateway integrates full scenarios, Alibaba’s traditional businesses will lose their traffic advantage and face market erosion.

Therefore, Alibaba’s choice to integrate its ecosystem through Qianwen is essentially 'self-replacement to achieve self-preservation.' After all, AI is not the 'end' of traditional businesses but their 'reshaper.' In the face of era-defining change, there is no middle ground—either proactively integrate into the ecosystem or be passively eliminated by the times.

For AutoNavi, the key to avoiding 'Ele.me-like' marginalization may not lie in vying for the 'lead role' in AI ride-hailing but in finding its precise positioning within Alibaba’s ecosystem, shifting from 'passive support' to 'active synergy.'

At the end of last year, Ele.me was fully rebranded as 'Taobao Flash Purchase,' deeply integrating into Alibaba’s broader consumption strategy. While it maintains independent company management, its business decisions now align with China’s e-commerce business group, ultimately serving as the fulfillment backbone for Taobao Flash Purchase.

AutoNavi should focus on leveraging its core strengths—map data, ride aggregation, and its Time Space Engine with over 100 billion daily real-time calls—which remain irreplaceable by Qianwen. First, it should position itself as the 'core fulfillment support for Qianwen’s travel scenarios.' Then, it can deeply integrate features like Street Ranking and local services with Qianwen, leveraging Qianwen’s gateway advantage to achieve user conversion and commercial closed loops.

By relying on its map data expertise, AutoNavi can provide value-added services like visual navigation and POI queries for Qianwen, enhancing collaborative value.

Leveraging its accumulated experience in mapping, AutoNavi can develop technologies such as AI navigation, intelligent dispatching, and real-world street views. By collaborating with Alibaba ecosystem resources like Taobao, Alipay, and Fliggy, it can create a differentiated advantage in 'AI + mapping + travel + local services,' which may serve as a breakthrough for AutoNavi.

Commercial competition in the AI era is never a battle of individual products but a contest of ecosystem synergy. Alibaba’s ability to balance Qianwen with its traditional businesses, avoiding a 'rise-together, fall-together' scenario, is crucial. It must ensure that Qianwen becomes a super gateway while enabling traditional businesses to upgrade through synergy rather than simply serving as 'resources.' This holds the key to Alibaba’s AI strategy success and the core of whether traditional businesses like AutoNavi can break through.

Walking down the street, the once-ubiquitous blue delivery figures have now turned orange. The transformation of Ele.me serves as a microcosm of the fate of traditional businesses within Alibaba’s ecosystem.

The tide of the times waits for no one. The changes brought by AI are far more rapid than we anticipate. The future is difficult to predict, but one thing is certain: under the wave of technology, change will arrive faster than we imagine.