Amazon licenses Covariant's models

2024-08-30 · Publisher : Amazon et Covariant · Domain : Robotics

Amazon signs a non-exclusive license to Covariant's robotic foundation models and hires its three founders, Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen and Rocky Duan, plus part of the team.

### Background On August 30, 2024, Amazon announced a commercial agreement with Covariant: it obtained a non-exclusive license to the startup's robotic foundation models and hired its founders, Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen and Rocky Duan. Covariant had unveiled RFM-1 in March. ### Specifications - **Deal type**: non-exclusive license to the models, without acquiring the company. - **Hires**: the three founders and, according to Wikipedia, about 25% of Covariant's workforce joined Amazon. - **Stated goal**: generalize how Amazon's robotic systems learn and make operations safer and more efficient. - **Context**: Wikipedia reports that a 2025 whistleblower complaint cites a price of about $380 million; the companies have not confirmed this figure. ### Why it matters The deal follows the "reverse acquihire" pattern already seen in generative AI: the buyer gets the technology and talent without buying the company, limiting antitrust scrutiny. It shows large logistics players' appetite for robotic foundation models. ### Key takeaway Amazon, already the world's largest operator of warehouse robots, brings in-house one of the pioneering teams in manipulation foundation models.

Tags : Amazon, Covariant, Acqui-hire, Logistique