WarehouseAI for picking robot arms

Covariant Brain

Name: Covariant Brain
Brand: Covariant

Covariant, a US start-up, made AI software (the Covariant Brain) that lets robot arms in warehouses pick and sort many kinds of items. In 2024 Amazon hired its founders and took a licence to its AI models. TechCrunch, 11 Mar 2024

Stage 4 of 5

Paying customers

Which rule placed it

Evidence: Independently reported
Human help: Not disclosed
Last milestone: 30 Aug 2024

01Can I get it?

Yes, in places

Where it works today: Robot sorting stations in warehouses such as Radial's in Louisville, Kentucky (2023). Little public news of new sites since the 2024 Amazon deal. Robotics 24/7, 10 Jan 2023
Published price: No published price in our sources.
Human help: The maker hasn't said whether people help it remotely.

02Track record

What has actually happened

Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.

30 Aug 2024
Update
Amazon took a non-exclusive licence to Covariant's AI models and hired its three co-founders and about a quarter of its staff. It was not a full purchase of the company.
About Amazon, 31 Aug 2024
30 Aug 2024
Setback
About a quarter of Covariant's employees were expected to move to Amazon; Covariant said it would keep operating with its former COO, Ted Stinson, as CEO.
GeekWire, 30 Aug 2024
11 March 2024
Update
Covariant launched RFM-1, an AI model for robots trained partly on data from its warehouse robots.
TechCrunch, 11 Mar 2024Company-reported
12 May 2023
Update
German online retailer Otto Group agreed to use 120 Covariant-powered robots across its warehouses, starting with two sites in Germany.
Supply Chain 24/7, 12 May 2023
4 April 2023
Funding
Covariant raised $75 million more, bringing its total funding to $222 million.
TechCrunch, 4 Apr 2023Company-reported
10 Jan 2023
Paying customers · sets the stage
Logistics firm Radial installed 12 Covariant robot sorting stations at its warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, to sort health and beauty items.
Robotics 24/7, 10 Jan 2023
3 March 2020
Pilot
Covariant teamed up with robot maker ABB; their first joint system was being installed at Active Ants.
Supply Chain 24/7, 3 Mar 2020Company-reported

03Safety and incidents

What has gone wrong

No crashes, recalls or regulator reports in our sources. That is not proof none happened; we add them when a regulator or trusted outlet reports one.

How we placed it

The rule, not an opinion

Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.

5
Regulator-cleared or mass market
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
4
Paying customersThis robot
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
Placed by: Logistics firm Radial installed 12 Covariant robot sorting stations at its warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, to sort health and beauty items (10 Jan 2023).
3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.

What we couldn't confirm. Covariant's website shows almost no information in 2026 and we found no news of new Covariant deployments after the Amazon deal. Reports of a January 2025 whistleblower complaint about the deal to US regulators could not be opened to confirm.

Sources

Cite this page

Robotics Verdict. “Covariant Brain (Covariant): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/covariant. Checked 19 October 2026.