Record Usage During Golden Week

Alibaba’s Amap, the Chinese equivalent of Google Maps, saw a record 360 million daily active users on the first day of China’s “golden week” National Day holiday. The app handled navigation for 9 billion km of trips and issued 290 million driving safety alerts through its new Eagle Eye Guardian system.

AI-Powered Enhancements

Alibaba is expanding Amap’s role beyond navigation into local lifestyle services, aiming to rival Meituan:

AI Assistant Xiaogao: Processed 2.6 billion user requests in a single day, handling trip planning, recommendations, and natural language navigation.
Amap Street Stars: AI-powered ranking for restaurants, hotels, and attractions, directly competing with Meituan’s Dianping. More than 40M users tried it on launch day.
Ride-Hailing & Lifestyle Gateway: Amap is increasingly seen as a gateway app for local services, not just mapping.

Competitive Landscape

Meituan’s Response: Launched AI screening for reviews and announced a “quality food delivery” service to protect its Dianping dominance.
JPMorgan View: Street Stars is a “significant step” in Alibaba’s super-app strategy, posing a direct threat to Meituan’s cash flows.
Jefferies View: Amap’s role as a lifestyle services gateway is expanding, strengthening Alibaba’s ecosystem.

Market Position

Amap is now China’s 4th largest app by monthly active users (895.5M), behind:

WeChat (1.1B, Tencent)
Douyin (TikTok equivalent, ByteDance)
Taobao (Alibaba marketplace)

Previously under Alibaba Local Services Group, Amap is now classified under “other businesses” as Alibaba narrows focus on e-commerce and cloud computing.

Alibaba’s Super-App Vision

CEO Eddie Wu Yongming emphasized the long-term vision of creating a “comprehensive consumption platform” spanning shopping, dining, travel, and lifestyle services.

Targeting China’s ¥30T ($4.2T) consumer market.
Strategy: highest frequency + broadest base = leading platform.