The AI Revolution
Breaking down the foundation model
Enter the AI Revolution: For the past decade, AI has been a part of business and consumer lives in a relatively understated role. That is until December 2022 when OpenAI released ChatGPT, the generative AI application with the ability to create elaborate visual content and engage in human-like conversations – instantly propelling AI to the forefront of both board room and dinner table discussions.
Listen: Peter Chen
Peter Chen delves into the concept of a “foundation model” and explains how the philosophy of training AI on a vast volumes of robotic picking data became the genesis of the Covariant Brain.
The Foundation
Laying the foundation:
- ChatGPT was the major milestone that demonstrated a move from specialized to generalized AI models. At the heart of ChatGPT’s success lies something called a “foundation model” – an AI pre-trained on an extensive and diverse dataset.
- The philosophy is that models trained on larger, heterogeneous datasets can better adapt to changing conditions or react to unforeseen scenarios that would stump a model with narrower, more specialized focus.
Listen: Peter Chen
Peter Chen shares with Otto Group’s podcast how the Covariant Brain, the first foundation model approach for robotics, is redefining intelligence for robots – allowing them to “see, think, and act” with the world around them.
Read: Forbes article
GPT for fulfillment
A ‘ChatGPT’ Moment for fulfillment:
- In 2017, three of the Covariant co-founders left their research positions at OpenAI to build the first “foundation model” for robotics.
- Similar to generative AI’s ability to write instantaneous marketing copy, Covariant empowers more productive warehouse operations by enabling an entire portfolio of robots to be powered by a single, generalized AI model that has been pre-trained to pick, sort, and place virtually everything on the spot.
Watch: Pieter Abbeel
At Fortune’s Brainstorm AI, Pieter Abbeel explains our approach to building our generalized AI platform, the Covariant Brain, and how this foundation model approach provides superior pick and place performance across all industries.
Generalized AI
Revolutionizing warehouse networks with “Generalized” AI:
- Enhancing reliability through generalization, Covariant’s singular and versatile AI model outperforms the more traditional specialized solutions tailored to specific industries, products or use cases within the warehouse.
- The Covariant Brain’s profound understanding of its environment optimizes picking performance across diverse items, spanning groceries, pharmaceuticals, apparel and beyond. Learn more about the Covariant Brain here.
Listen: Otto Podcast
