PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

Rocky Duan

Rocky Duan is an AI robotics builder whose work spans research at Berkeley and OpenAI, warehouse robotics at Covariant, and applied AI at Amazon. He began research with Pieter Abbeel as a Berkeley freshman in 2013 or 2014 and completed his undergraduate degree and PhD under Abbeel. Before co-founding Covariant in 2017, he spent over a year at OpenAI advancing deep imitation learning, reinforcement learning, unsupervised learning, and learning-to-learn. Covariant's Brain reached customer facilities in 2020, and Amazon hired him in 2024 while licensing Covariant's robotic foundation models. As of October 2026, he helps lead Amazon's Frontier AI & Robotics team, which applies large language models and generative AI to robotics.

Now at
Amazon
Works
18

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 2013–2014

    Research at Berkeley

    In 2013 or 2014, he begins research with Pieter Abbeel as a Berkeley freshman. Abbeel guides him through his undergraduate degree and PhD.

  2. By 2017

    OpenAI research

    Before he co-founds Covariant in 2017, he spends over a year at OpenAI advancing deep imitation learning, reinforcement learning, unsupervised learning, and learning-to-learn.

  3. 2017

    CTO at Embodied Intelligence

    In 2017, he serves as CTO of Embodied Intelligence, a Berkeley spinoff that uses AI and VR to teach industrial robot arms new skills.

  4. 2020

    Covariant Brain reaches warehouses

    In 2020, Covariant deploys its AI, called Covariant Brain, at customer facilities in apparel, pharmaceuticals, and electronics.

  5. 2024

    Joining Amazon robotics

    In 2024, Amazon hires him and other Covariant founders for its Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics Team and takes a non-exclusive license to Covariant's robotic foundation models.

  6. November 2025

    TWIST2 for humanoid control

    In November 2025, he coauthors TWIST2, a portable, mocap-free humanoid teleoperation and data-collection system that preserves whole-body control.

  7. As of October 2026

    Co-leading Amazon FAR

    In 2026, he helps lead Amazon's Frontier AI & Robotics team, which applies large language models and generative AI to robotics.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Rocky Duan yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Berkeley Talks: Leaping robots, AI companies and a NASA mission: Stories of Berkeley student innovation news.berkeley.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Covariant launches from stealth to bring universal AI to robots prnewswire.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. AI Startup Embodied Intelligence Wants Robots to Learn From Humans in Virtual Reality spectrum.ieee.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Amazon hires from AI robotics startup Covariant, licenses technology aboutamazon.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. TWIST2: Scalable, Portable, and Holistic Humanoid Data Collection System arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. 2026 Applied Science Internship - United States, PhD Student Science Recruiting, Frontier AI & Robotics amazon.jobs. Checked 15 October 2026.