Acclaimed AI Researcher Bolei Zhou to Lead New Physical AI Lab at Coco Robotics
- Coco Robotics has appointed Bolei Zhou as Chief AI Scientist to lead its new Physical AI Lab and accelerate AI innovation across its delivery robot fleet.
- Zhou will apply AI insights from millions of delivery miles to improve robot adaptability in diverse urban environments.
Coco Robotics has named UCLA professor and AI pioneer Bolei Zhou as its new Chief AI Scientist. He will lead Coco’s newly launched Physical AI Lab, where his team will convert real-world data from thousands of delivery robots into advancements that enhance fleet performance. The lab will focus on applying these insights to improve Coco’s speed, safety, and reliability at scale.
With over 60,000 citations and major awards from NSF, ONR, Intel, and MIT Technology Review, Zhou brings a distinguished academic record to Coco Robotics. He is widely recognized for advancing simulation in autonomous systems, including leading the NSF-backed development of MetaDriverse — an open-source platform for realistic driving and sidewalk simulations used in AI research. His team will focus on enabling Coco's robots to adapt to different city layouts, traffic patterns, and infrastructure challenges.
Coco has built the largest dataset of robots operating on city sidewalks. The company's robots have captured interactions across unpredictable conditions in the U.S. and Europe. With over 500,000 zero-emission deliveries to date, the company plans to expand to 10,000 robots in 2026, applying lab-led AI improvements across millions of urban miles.
🌀 Tom’s Take:
Turning thousands of sidewalk encounters into AI breakthroughs requires talent. Coco’s new lab, led by Zhou, shows how top-tier researchers can turn operational scale into scientific leverage.
Source: PR Newswire / Coco Robotics
