Alibaba’s Amap Unleashes AI ’Street Stars’ - Navigation Just Got a Hollywood Makeover

Alibaba's mapping arm Amap is rewriting the rules of urban navigation with its groundbreaking AI-powered 'Street Stars' feature—turning mundane directions into immersive visual experiences.

The Augmented Reality Revolution

Street Stars leverages advanced computer vision to overlay dynamic digital elements onto real-world streetscapes through your smartphone camera. Forget boring blue lines—now navigate using animated characters, historical landmarks that pop to life, and personalized avatars that guide your every turn.

Why This Changes Everything

This isn't just another navigation update—it's the first serious attempt to monetize attention during transit time. While traditional maps fight over the fastest route, Amap just declared war on passenger boredom. The feature seamlessly integrates with Alibaba's ecosystem, offering contextual commerce opportunities that make every street corner a potential point-of-sale.

The Bottom Line

Amap just made conventional navigation look like paper maps in a Tesla world. Because apparently, we needed another way to avoid eye contact with strangers while walking down the street—and Wall Street will probably call it 'disruptive innovation' while counting the ad revenue.

China’s online giants risk profits in price war for market share

As Cryptopolitan noted before, the struggle among China’s online giants to capture instant retail is weighing in on profits in the short to medium term and add to deflationary pressure in the world’s second-largest economy.

Players including Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com  have flooded users with promotions to seize share in the one-hour segment, burning cash, narrowing margins and drawing investor queries about strategy.

The spending spree has eaten into margins, and investors want clarity on how the companies will balance pursuit of market share with returns.

Regulators have taken note as companies step up price cuts in a period marked by soft real-estate values and fragile employment. As firms posted results for the quarter ended June 30, competition dominated analyst discussions and management remarks.

JD.com CEO Sandy Xu cautioned about unsustainable “excessive competition.” Meituan CEO Wang Xing referred to a “new phase of competition,” and PDD Holdings co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen said rivalry “has intensified further” during the quarter.

Earlier this year, JD.com launched a rival food-delivery app after Meituan widened its product range. Alibababa’s Ele.me, also boosted its spending.

All three groups have pledged billions of dollars to expand their footprint. Nomura analysts estimate the sector burned more than $4 billion in cash in the second quarter alone.

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