Amazon hires founders of AI robotics startup Covariant

Amazon announced Friday evening that it had hired Covariant founders Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen and Rocky Duan, along with “about a quarter” of the startup’s employees. It also signed a non-exclusive license to use Covariant’s robotic foundation models.

Earlier this year, Chen told TechCrunch that Covariant is building “a big language model, but for robot language.” In other words, it’s building AI models for robots, with an initial focus on robotic arms that perform common warehouse tasks like picking bins.

“We will leverage the brightest minds in fundamental research, combining our extensive experience to discover new ways AI and robots can help our operations workers,” said Joseph Quinlivan, vice president of Amazon Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics, in a statement. “(Embedding) Covariant’s AI technology into our existing fleet of robots will make them more efficient and create real value for our customers.”

The deal is similar to Amazon’s hiring of the founders of artificial intelligence startup Adept in June — another deal that gave Amazon access to new talent and technology without having to completely acquire an existing startup.

At the time, The Verge described this approach as a “reverse takeover,” in which tech giants under antitrust scrutiny can use employment and licensing agreements to hide their acquisitions, rather than the other way around.

Covariant, meanwhile, said it will continue to operate under the leadership of Ted Stinson and Tianhao Zhang, with Stinson — who was the startup’s COO — now taking on the role of CEO. The company added that it remains “committed to delivering Covariant Brain into manufacturing environments across a broad set of global industries, including apparel, health and beauty, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals.”