Light detection and ranging ( lidar ) senor provider Hesai Technology and ride-hailing company Grab have agreed a strategic cooperation, under which Grab will serve as the exclusive distributor of Hesai’s lidar products in Southeast Asia and will lead the sales, customer support and marketing of its sensors across Southeast Asia. 

Through this partnership, Hesai will leverage Grab’s extensive resources and established distribution networks to ramp up the availability of reliable, high-quality lidar sensors so that customers across the region will be able to access lidar more quickly and easily for use cases across a range of industries and applications, including for robotic solutions and autonomous systems.

Grab’s position as Hesai’s exclusive distributor in Southeast Asia, the companies note, also ensures a stable, reliable supply of lidar technology critical to its autonomous mobility and mapping work. 

Lidar is a remote sensing technology that uses light to measure distance and map environments with high precision, and Hesai is the global leader in lidar solutions, holding the top market share in the overall automotive, advanced driver assistance system and autonomous mobility sectors. 

Southeast Asia is projected to experience an unprecedented surge in demand for artificial intelligence ( AI )-powered automation, according to a Deloitte Southeast Asia September 2025 report, particularly in the manufacturing, mobility and logistics sectors. As a result, the use of lidar is expected to move from early validation to large-scale commercial deployment across the region.

The partnership, the companies point out, positions both to advance physical and embodied AI across Southeast Asia.

Through the partnership, Grab and Hesai will facilitate access to this foundational hardware across industries in the region, empowering machines to go beyond digital intelligence and operate safely in Southeast Asia's complex urban environments. 

Looking ahead, Hesai and Grab will continue to strengthen collaboration in market development and distribution to advance the deployment of advanced lidar technology across Southeast Asia.

“By expanding access to world-class lidar technology in Southeast Asia, Grab is doing more than improving our own autonomous mobility and mapping capabilities,” says Anthony Tan, the company’s group CEO and co-founder. “We are providing the essential ‘eyes’ that allow robotics to ‘see’ and navigate safely, thus ensuring that 3D intelligence can be made accessible and scaled to every industry across our region.”

David Li, Hesai’s CEO and co-founder, adds: “Lidar is a core technology that enables robots to achieve autonomous perception and safer operations. The Southeast Asian market has shown strong demand across manufacturing, logistics, and service robots. Through our partnership with Grab, we will leverage our mature and reliable lidar technology with the needs of local markets, accelerating the deployment and large-scale lidar adoption for robotics applications.”