Amazon struck a deal with artificial intelligence developer Covariant and is expanding its Bay Area AI and robotics team as the company continues to look for ways to make its logistics systems more faster and more efficient.
Amazon is licensing Covariant’s robotic foundation models to complement the advanced intelligent and safe robots in use through its warehouse and logistics network, Amazon stated in a blog post. At the same time, Amazon is hiring Covariant leaders Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen and Rocky Duan, among other of its employees.
Amazon already uses AI-driven robotic systems such as Robin, Proteus and Sequoia, the company maintained, and it operates 750,000 automated machines that do the heavy lifting for repetitive tasks, enabling employees to engage in other activities to the benefit of customers.
Covariant is a San Francisco Bay Area-based company that builds advanced AI models that enable robots to see, reason, and act on the world around them, supporting a number of different warehouse automation tasks, Amazon noted. Under the agreement, Amazon receives a non-exclusive license to Covariant’s robotic foundation models, which will establish new ways to generalize how robotic systems learn and provide dynamic opportunities to make automated operations safer and more effective.
Amazon revealed it plans to grow its Bay Area AI and robotics team in conjunction with the Covariant deal to tap into the region’s world class talent and advance the latest in automation. Abbeel, Chen, Dua and a group of research scientists and engineers including about a quarter of Covariant’s current staff will join Amazon’s Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics team. They will help drive the development and implementation of Covariant’s technology within Amazon’s operations and continue to drive innovative AI solutions, Amazon indicated. Covariant will continue to serve other customers and build on technology that supports fulfillment and distribution center automation.
“We’re excited to welcome some of Covariant’s talented team to Amazon and look forward to building on this technology with them to deliver the next generation of robotics that will drive forward the state-of-the-art in automation,” said Joseph Quinlivan, vice president, Amazon Fulfillment Technologies and Robotics. “With some of the smartest minds, we will advance fundamental research, marrying our rich expertise to unlock new ways for AI and robots to assist our operations employees. Imbedding Covariant’s AI technology into our existing robot fleet will make them more performant and create real world value for our customers.”
