Amazon, with a long history of innovation in supply chain, logistics, and warehouse automation, is integrating advanced AI technology from Covariant to further enhance its robotics systems. Amazon’s operations, including its massive fleet of industrial robots, currently use AI and AWS infrastructure to assist employees in delivering billions of customer orders annually. Systems like Robin, Proteus, and Sequoia use AI to understand the physical world, enabling them to work safely and reliably alongside operational teams.
The company’s current robotic fleet handles a significant portion of the heavy lifting, inventory management, and order sorting processes in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. This automation helps to improve operational efficiency and enhance workplace safety for employees. Continuous improvement in robotics systems over the years has led Amazon to invest in AI models that make these systems even more adaptive.
To accelerate this innovation, Amazon has formed a commercial agreement with Covariant, a Bay Area-based company specializing in AI models that enable robots to perceive their environment, reason, and perform various warehouse automation tasks. Amazon will receive a non-exclusive license to Covariant’s robotic foundation models. Covariant’s models are expected to drive new ways to generalize how robotic systems learn and provide dynamic opportunities to improve safety and customer satisfaction.
As part of this collaborative effort, Amazon plans to broaden its AI and robotics teams in the Bay Area to attract top talent and push the boundaries of automation. A team of research scientists and engineers from Covariant, including Pieter Abbeel and Peter Chen among others, will join Amazon’s Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics Team. They will support the implementation of Covariant’s technology within Amazon’s operations. Joseph Quinlivan, Vice President of Amazon Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics, stated, “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.”
