# Embodied AI: From LLMs to World Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.20021 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.20021/

## Key facts

- Cited by 24 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in World models for navigation, one of 11 directions in World models.
- Builds on 188 of its 292 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Sep 2025.

## Placed in

- World models / [World models for navigation](https://mlsanity.com/wm/world-models-for-navigation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 188)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [GPT-4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08774/) (2023)
- [Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.02155/) (2022)
- [Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.06347/) (2017)
- [Exploring the Limits of Transfer Learning with a Unified Text-to-Text Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10683/) (2019)
- [LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.13971/) (2023)
- [DeepSeekMath: Pushing the Limits of Mathematical Reasoning in Open Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.03300/) (2024)
- [Segment Anything](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.02643/) (2023)
- [Visual Instruction Tuning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.08485/) (2023)
- [Masked Autoencoders Are Scalable Vision Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.06377/) (2021)
- [DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12948/) (2025)
- [Soft Actor-Critic: Off-Policy Maximum Entropy Deep Reinforcement Learning with a Stochastic Actor](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.01290/) (2018)
- [GPT-4o System Card](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.21276/) (2024)
- [Flamingo: a Visual Language Model for Few-Shot Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.14198/) (2022)
- [Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11366/) (2023)
- [Qwen Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.16609/) (2023)
- [Playing Atari with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.5602/) (2013)
- [Gemini 1.5: Unlocking multimodal understanding across millions of tokens of context](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.05530/) (2024)
- [RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.15818/) (2023)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [InternVL: Scaling up Vision Foundation Models and Aligning for Generic Visual-Linguistic Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.14238/) (2023)
- [π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.24164/) (2024)
- [Do As I Can, Not As I Say: Grounding Language in Robotic Affordances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.01691/) (2022)
- [Deep Compression: Compressing Deep Neural Networks with Pruning, Trained Quantization and Huffman Coding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.00149/) (2015)
- [Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16291/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Can World Simulators Reason? Gen-ViRe: A Generative Visual Reasoning Benchmark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.13853/) (2025)
- [Demonstration-Free Robotic Control via LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.20334/) (2026)
- [Information Capacity: Evaluating the Efficiency of Large Language Models via Text Compression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.08066/) (2025)
- [Aligning Perception, Reasoning, Modeling and Interaction: A Survey on Physical AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.04978/) (2025)
- [Can LLMs Perceive Time? An Empirical Investigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.00010/) (2026)
- [E3VS-Bench: A Benchmark for Viewpoint-Dependent Active Perception in 3D Gaussian Splatting Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17969/) (2026)
- [Self-evolving Embodied AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.04411/) (2026)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Robots via Retrieve-Reason-Act](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02688/) (2026)
- [Can LLMs Threaten Human Survival? Benchmarking Potential Existential Threats from LLMs via Prefix Completion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.19171/) (2025)
- [DuCCAE: A Hybrid Engine for Immersive Conversation via Collaboration, Augmentation, and Evolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.19248/) (2026)
- [CoEnv: Driving Embodied Multi-Agent Collaboration via Compositional Environment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.05484/) (2026)
- [Minerva-Ego: Spatiotemporal Hints for Egocentric Video Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.15342/) (2026)
- [BiTAgent: A Task-Aware Modular Framework for Bidirectional Coupling between Multimodal Large Language Models and World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.04513/) (2025)
- [Salient Object Detection in Complex Weather Conditions via Noise Indicators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.10592/) (2025)
- [KAN We Flow? Advancing Robotic Manipulation with 3D Flow Matching via KAN & RWKV](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01115/) (2026)
- [SAGE-LLM: Towards Safe and Generalizable LLM Controller with Fuzzy-CBF Verification and Graph-Structured Knowledge Retrieval for UAV Decision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.23719/) (2026)
- [Grid Spatial Understanding: A Dataset for Textual Spatial Reasoning over Grids, Embodied Settings, and Coordinate Structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.17333/) (2026)
- [ICAT: Incident-Case-Grounded Adaptive Testing for Physical-Risk Prediction in Embodied World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.16405/) (2026)
- [Reinforcement Learning Enabled Adaptive Multi-Task Control for Bipedal Soccer Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.19104/) (2026)
- [SIMMER: Benchmarking Latent Failures in LLM Executable Planning with a World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.14574/) (2026)
- [From Economic Agents to Agentic Economies: A Systems Blueprint for Economic World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.06020/) (2026)
- [Toward the Cognitive--Physical Limits of Embodied Intelligence through a World-Model-Centric Autonomous Racing Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.10618/) (2026)
- [NeuIDO: Neural Intrinsic Dynamics Operator for Physics-Informed 4D World Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.24313/) (2026)
- [Token Communication-Assisted Collaborative Embodied Artificial Intelligence: Concepts, Framework, and Opportunities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.01826/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Embodied Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an intelligent system paradigm for achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), serving as the cornerstone for various applications and driving the evolution from cyberspace to physical systems. Recent breakthroughs in Large Language Models (LLMs) and World Models (WMs) have drawn significant attention for embodied AI. On the one hand, LLMs empower embodied AI via semantic reasoning and task decomposition, bringing high-level natural language instructions and low-level natural language actions into embodied cognition. On the other hand, WMs empower embodied AI by building internal representations and future predictions of the external world, facilitating physical law-compliant embodied interactions. As such, this paper comprehensively explores the literature in embodied AI from basics to advances, covering both LLM driven and WM driven works. In particular, we first present the history, key technologies, key components, and hardware systems of embodied AI, as well as discuss its development via looking from unimodal to multimodal angle. We then scrutinize the two burgeoning fields of embodied AI, i.e., embodied AI with LLMs/multimodal LLMs (MLLMs) and embodied AI with WMs, meticulously delineating their indispensable roles in end-to-end embodied cognition and physical laws-driven embodied interactions. Building upon the above advances, we further share our insights on the necessity of the joint MLLM-WM driven embodied AI architecture, shedding light on its profound significance in enabling complex tasks within physical worlds. In addition, we examine representative applications of embodied AI, demonstrating its wide applicability in real-world scenarios. Last but not least, we point out future research directions of embodied AI that deserve further investigation.