# Peter Chen

> Peter Chen is a robotics researcher and entrepreneur, co-founder and former CEO of Covariant, and a leader in Amazon’s Frontier AI & Robotics organization. His work connects generative models and reinforcement learning with robots operating in warehouses and other physical environments.

- **Role:** Head of Frontier AI & Robotics at Amazon
- **Organizations:** Amazon, Covariant, OpenAI, University of California, Berkeley
- **Education:** Undergraduate studies, University of California, Berkeley, Doctoral research in Pieter Abbeel’s group; degree completion unverified, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Covariant and served as CEO through August 2024., First author on InfoGAN and PixelSNAIL research papers., Co-organized the NIPS 2016 Deep RL Workshop.

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Initially skeptical about AI, later volunteered in Pieter Abbeel’s Berkeley lab, as recalled by Abbeel.
- **2016–2017** — Research scientist at OpenAI; co-authored generative-model and reinforcement-learning research.
- **2017** — Co-founded Covariant, originally Embodied Intelligence, with Pieter Abbeel, Rocky Duan and Tianhao Zhang; became CEO.
- **2020** — Covariant and ABB announced an AI robotics partnership.
- **2023** — Covariant and Otto Group announced a logistics robotics partnership.
- **2024-03** — Covariant announced RFM-1.
- **2024-08** — Joined Amazon through its licensing-and-hiring agreement with Covariant.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Covariant and served as CEO through August 2024.
- First author on InfoGAN and PixelSNAIL research papers.
- Co-organized the NIPS 2016 Deep RL Workshop.
- Led Covariant during industrial partnerships with ABB and Otto Group.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Berkeley published an Abbeel talk recounting Chen’s early friendship with Rocky Duan and route into AI research.
- **2024-08** — Amazon announced Chen would join its robotics team alongside Pieter Abbeel, Rocky Duan and other Covariant staff.

## Links

- Website: https://peterchen.us/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-xi-chen
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/peterxichen

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/peter-chen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22