{"id":"fb24efc2-a683-4ec0-8fca-f37ca486675e","slug":"amazon-licenses-covariant-2024","acquirerCompanyId":"b9b40dbf-7909-4d29-9bd9-e23f21bf06f9","acquiredCompanyId":"e9e8c50a-1aea-4850-bc7f-c914b21324d5","acquirerName":null,"acquiredName":null,"announcementDate":null,"closeDate":"2024-08-01T12:00:00.000Z","status":"completed","structure":"license_and_hire","valuationUsd":null,"valuationBasis":"undisclosed","summary":"Amazon licensed Covariant's robotic foundation models and hired co-founders Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen and Rocky Duan plus ~25% of staff (August 2024). NOT a full acquisition - Covariant remains standalone under CEO Ted Stinson. Reported ~$380M+$20M deferred. Cross-ref people-graph: pieter-abbeel/peter-chen/rocky-duan (current_role=false at Covariant, true at Amazon).","sources":[{"url":"https://www.geekwire.com/2024/","title":"Amazon hires Covariant founders","sourceName":"GeekWire"}],"verificationPosture":"verified","reviewStatus":"reviewed","createdAt":"2026-06-05T02:31:18.664Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-05T02:31:18.664Z","acquirerCompany":{"id":"b9b40dbf-7909-4d29-9bd9-e23f21bf06f9","slug":"amazon","name":"Amazon"},"acquiredCompany":{"id":"e9e8c50a-1aea-4850-bc7f-c914b21324d5","slug":"covariant","name":"Covariant"},"assets":[{"id":"003a1998-dc51-4593-9dbc-b4c2690a27f1","acquisitionId":"fb24efc2-a683-4ec0-8fca-f37ca486675e","assetType":"ip_license","description":"Covariant RFM-1 robotic foundation models (non-exclusive license)","relatedModelId":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-05T02:31:18.820Z","relatedModel":null},{"id":"dff45365-d22c-42cd-b994-d3046a515821","acquisitionId":"fb24efc2-a683-4ec0-8fca-f37ca486675e","assetType":"team","description":"Co-founders Pieter Abbeel, Peter Chen, Rocky Duan and ~25% of Covariant staff","relatedModelId":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-05T02:31:18.974Z","relatedModel":null}]}