Machinery relies on lubrication to regulate the friction and wear at contacting interfaces. As new lubricants become less viscous to comply with environmental and cost-saving standards, the risk of surface-initiated machine failure grows. We show that metal oxide additives in low-viscosity lubricants will form protective coatings, or tribofilms, in situ at contacting interfaces. Compared to state-of-the-art surface coatings and anti-wear additives, metal oxide coatings have several practical benefits and environmental advantages, but their formation mechanism is not well-understood. We will first discuss the mechanistic and practical implications of the coatings’ cooperativity of with S- and P-based co-additives, then the interplay between the coatings’ growth on and their removal from contacting machinery. Finally, we will discuss data-driven and traditional modeling efforts to develop predictive models for these antiwear coatings.