In July 2026, Shanghai once again attracts global attention. With the opening of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and the High Level Conference on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence, experts and enterprises from home and abroad have gathered to explore cutting-edge AI innovation, global governance, and industrial implementation paths.
This year marks the beginning of the comprehensive implementation of the "Artificial Intelligence+" initiative in the 15th Five Year Plan. Just before the opening of the conference, the State Council officially approved the "15th Five Year Plan for Expanding Consumption", which clearly proposes to deepen the promotion of "artificial intelligence+consumption", fully empower consumption scenarios with new technologies, and promote the upgrading of consumption quality, expansion, and upgrading. The deep integration of AI and the real economy may become a new window for observing the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference.
At this top-level technology event, a "face" from the consumer sector has attracted widespread attention. Luckin Coffee, as the "exclusive freshly made beverage partner" of this conference, made its debut by systematically showcasing the full chain digital intelligence practice covering "people, goods, and venues". This is not only a replicable technological sample of the "AI+physical consumption" track, but also a Chinese solution for the landing of digital intelligence.
What's in a cup of coffee?
Through eight years of iteration and upgrading, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference has gradually become the best window to observe global intelligent changes, showcase China's AI development practices, and practice the concept of technology for good. Shanghai, which has hosted this world-class AI event for eight consecutive years, is also witnessing China's AI changing the future.
Facing the "15th Five Year Plan", Shanghai has clearly implemented the "Artificial Intelligence+" action comprehensively, promoted the "Model Shanghai" project, reduced the cost of innovation and entrepreneurship, further expanded the application of artificial intelligence, and accelerated the construction of the "Shanghai highland" of artificial intelligence.
Luckin Coffee's debut at WAIC2026 is a mutual pursuit of a city, an industry, and a brand, with a deeper proposition hidden behind it: how can Chinese consumer brands find their own coordinates in the global AI wave?
Luckin Coffee's answer is very clear, to make AI the "new engine" behind every cup of coffee. From upstream origin to end consumption, Luckin Coffee continues to promote the digitalization of the entire coffee industry chain. Relying on its self-developed digitalization system, it connects the entire data link from the origin of the production area, production and processing, warehousing and logistics, store operation to end consumption, and uses AI technology to achieve standardized quality control and refined operation throughout the entire process. At the WAIC site, Luckin Coffee showcased the hardcore strength of AI empowering the entire coffee industry chain through the "Smart Extraction Full Chain Cabin" digital exhibition hall.
What has AI done from the first cup to selling 4.1 billion cups annually?
When digital capabilities penetrate every pore of the entire industry chain, the ultimate answer will fall into the tangible cups of coffee in the hands of consumers. 4.1 billion cups is Luckin's annual sales for 2025. Behind this number is a full chain AI system in operation, from research and development, supply chain to store operation, with digitization running through every link.
Putting people first in product innovation. Luckin Coffee combines user feedback, market analysis, launch timing, and taste trends into a four-dimensional model to accurately target new product directions and bring the highly favored cup to the market. In 2021, Luckin Coffee's first coconut latte created a new flavor category. This more localized "coffee" became popular as soon as it was launched and became a new product out of stock king. As of May 17, 2026, the cumulative sales of Luckin Coffee Coconut Latte have exceeded 2.1 billion cups.
At the front end, AI Lucky agent has fully accessed the super application ecology of Qianwen, WeChat, Alipay, etc. Ordering a cup of coffee is becoming a ubiquitous and readily available activity.
From a coffee bean to a cup of coffee, AI technology is reshaping the operational logic of the entire industry chain, and Luckin Coffee is a deep participant and continuous promoter in this process.
Starting from the production areas of Yunnan, Brazil, and Ethiopia in China, the quality of raw materials is pre locked by the digital intelligence system. The Qingdao Super Factory adopts a layout of "front port and back factory", allowing raw beans to enter storage and baking through the shortest path after arriving at the port. Together with three bases in Pingnan, Jiangsu, and Xiamen (under construction), it is expected to form a baking network with an annual production capacity of over 155000 tons. Algorithm driven warehouse network planning and intelligent ordering of stores ensure sufficient supply of beverages and rapid response to orders. The certainty of quality is the true cornerstone of large-scale replication.
Luckin Coffee will deeply integrate AI technology throughout the entire lifecycle of store location selection, construction, and operational fulfillment. By 2025, over 70% of new store locations will be recommended by AI. The smart store system provides stable protection and offers users a high-quality consumption experience. From intelligent location selection to digital construction, and then to full process intelligent ordering and quality control, Luckin Coffee uses a full lifecycle intelligent store system to ensure that consumers can enjoy high-quality coffee at any store in the country, making every order secure and every cup stable.
Ecological Enhancement of a Cup of Coffee
At the WAIC 2026 site, the "Intelligent Extraction Ecological Circle" at the Luckin booth was particularly eye-catching. This is the first time for Ruixing to publicly demonstrate the sharing ecology it has jointly created with technology enterprises and upstream and downstream partners of the industry chain in various fields such as Alibaba Cloud, Baidu AI Cloud, Feishu, Huawei Cloud, Volcano Engine, Tencent Cloud, Tiantian Smart Core, Amazon Cloud Technology (AWS), etc.
This ecosystem aims to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology in key areas such as production manufacturing, supply chain management, and consumer experience, systematically output advanced AI application models and practical experience, and lead the overall upgrading and transformation of the consumer industry. This open and shared intelligent ecosystem is leveraging the momentum of ecological upgrading to aggregate dispersed technological capabilities into a systematic collaborative network, driving the consumer industry towards full chain value reshaping, becoming a powerful engine driving the deep restructuring of the digital development pattern, and opening up new growth dimensions for the industry.
From the stage of WAIC2026 to the depths of the industry, AI in the consumer field is not an imagination of the future, but a reality that is happening. When all aspects of location selection, baking, delivery, production, and ordering are based on data and algorithms, a cup of coffee contains the true scale of China's physical consumption intelligent transformation.