Coco Robotics has welcomed Bolei Zhou, a highly respected UCLA professor and visionary in artificial intelligence, as its new Chief AI Scientist. With his arrival, the company launches its Physical AI Lab—a focused effort to push the boundaries of autonomous delivery technology. Zhou’s leadership signals a new era, where Coco’s advanced robots will become even more intelligent, capable, and reliable as they navigate city streets.
The Vision: Real-World Data Fueling AI Progress
Since its founding in 2020, Coco Robotics has built one of the world’s largest fleets of last-mile delivery robots. These electric-powered robots have already made over half a million emission-free deliveries. With a bold plan to expand to 10,000 robots by 2026, Coco’s ambition matches its achievements.
At first, human operators guided these robots through busy neighborhoods. But over five years, Coco gathered invaluable data—encounters with pedestrians, winding sidewalks, unpredictable vehicles, and other complex urban challenges. This massive pool of real-world experience serves as the foundation for the next phase: moving beyond remote control to true autonomy. As CEO Zach Rash describes it, this data is a “goldmine,” essential for unlocking advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics.
The Expertise: Bolei Zhou’s Legacy in AI
Bolei Zhou stands among the world’s most influential AI researchers, with over 60,000 citations and more than 100 papers published at top scientific gatherings. His work has earned prestigious honors, such as the NSF CAREER Award and a place on MIT Technology Review’s 2024 Innovators Under 35 list. Zhou’s expertise shines in fields like computer vision—helping machines “see” and understand the world; reinforcement learning—enabling robots to learn from experience; and embodied AI, which gives intelligence physical form.
At the forefront of his research is the development of robotic systems that can safely and efficiently move through urban environments. Zhou is known for leading the creation of MetaDriverse, an open-source simulation platform supported by the National Science Foundation. MetaDriverse is a critical tool for advancing AI in self-driving vehicles and sidewalk robots, allowing researchers to test and improve algorithms before deploying them in the real world.
The Mission: Building a Smarter, Safer Robotic Fleet
With Zhou guiding the Physical AI Lab, Coco Robotics will develop powerful new AI models for their growing fleet. These models will allow delivery robots to adapt in real-time to city layouts, traffic, weather, and unexpected obstacles. The lab is more than a research space—it is where ideas quickly become reality, with innovation tested and delivered back to the streets, making deliveries faster and more dependable while reducing costs.
This move from operator-driven robots to fully autonomous machines is a turning point. It means that Coco can lower the cost of each delivery, serve more neighborhoods, and set new standards for safety and efficiency in the fast-growing world of last-mile logistics.
The Future: A New Era for Urban Mobility
By uniting Bolei Zhou’s expertise with Coco’s unprecedented trove of real-world data, the company stands ready to redefine what delivery robotics can achieve. The efforts of the Physical AI Lab signal not only scientific progress but a broader commitment—to sustainability, to innovation, and to meeting the practical needs of cities and communities.
With this bold step, Coco Robotics isn’t just developing smarter robots—they are shaping the future of urban living. Their promise is clear: safer streets, less pollution, and goods delivered swiftly by machines that are intelligent, trustworthy, and continually improving.
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