Editor-Curated Robotics Industry Briefing - RobotToday

Tony Tung Joins PRESAGE to Develop Digital World Models for Autonomous Infrastructure

Tony Tung has joined PRESAGE as co-founder and scientific director after nearly ten years at Meta. His goal is to create Digital World Models that can understand digital infrastructures, predict their evolution, and simulate the consequences of interventions. This work aims to enable data centers to operate with minimal human intervention. The significance of this initiative lies in the scientific continuity it represents, as Tung's research has focused on how models perceive and represent the world, particularly in the context of human-machine interactions. At PRESAGE, he aims to apply these principles to the digital realm, where complex environments like cloud infrastructures can be simulated to learn from potential failures or attacks without real-world risks. Looking ahead, Tung emphasizes the convergence of digital and physical autonomy, where Digital World Models will understand entire systems and predict incidents, while robotics will handle physical interventions. This integration could lead to significant improvements in reliability, performance, and environmental impact for AI infrastructure, allowing systems to anticipate their own operational needs and optimize resource allocation.