OpenAI Expands into Robotics: Ambitious Plans and Mixed Reactions

Wanted: Humans to build robots for OpenAI - and not everyone is thrilled

A series of job listings for the ChatGPT maker's robotics team suggest the company is finally ready to leap into hardware. Following the disbanding and reinstating of OpenAI's robotics department over the past years and reports of OpenAI building its own robot, a series of new job listings on the robotics team suggest the company is finally ready to leap into hardware. Also: I tried an AI wristband that listens to you 24/7 - and makes IRL conversations searchable Last Friday, Caitlin Kalinowski, who joined OpenAI in November to lead the robotics and consumer hardware team, shared the first OpenAI Robotics hardware roles via an X post. These job postings include an EE Sensing Engineer, Robotics Mechanical Design Engineer, and TPM Manager. Clicking links to the roles yields a description of a Robotics team that is "focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world setting." The description also describes the team's aim to bring robotic systems from prototype to full-scale production. Many users are expressing unease about OpenAI delving into the robotics space. However, when one user commented, "The thought of OpenAI with hardware😬", Kalinowski attempted to diffuse concerns, citing the benefits instead. "Yeah, I cannot wait!" replied Kalinowski. "Imagine being able to send a robot to do a job that's really dangerous for a human." Until now, OpenAI has developed its AI models to streamline workflows, with the next logical step being integration into physical devices to enhance user assistance. However, following examples like Elon Musk's Tesla, which announced the Optimus humanoid robot in 2021 but has yet to release it, a market-ready robot may still be years away. Robotics can also mean things outside of humanoid robots, including less flashy robots -- such as robot vacuums -- that help accomplish everyday functions. Moreover, when asked in the comments if the focus would be humanoid robots, Kalinowski said that is yet to be determined, with the initial team defining and building the roadmap.

New OpenAI job listings reveal its robotics plans

OpenAI disbanded its robotics department. Then, it brought it back. Now, through a social media post from its hardware director and newly published job descriptions, OpenAI is revealing more about its plans for the revived team. In a post on X on Friday, Caitlin Kalinowski, who joined OpenAI to lead hardware last November from Meta's AR glasses division, said that OpenAI will develop its own robots -- complete with a custom sensor suite. In the post, Kalinowski spotlighted new OpenAI robotics job listings with additional info. Per the listings, OpenAI's robotics team will focus on "general-purpose," "adaptive," and "versatile" robots that can operate with human-like intelligence in "dynamic," "real-world" settings. OpenAI plans to create new sensors and computational elements for its robotics, which will be powered by AI models that the company develops internally. "Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors," reads one of the listings. "We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the physical constraints of physical robotic platforms." One of the listings implies that OpenAI intends to employ contract workers to test its robotic prototypes. Another suggests that the company's robots might have limbs. The Information recently reported that OpenAI has explored building its own humanoid robot. Whatever form they end up taking, OpenAI's robots will -- if all goes according to plan -- reach "full-scale production" someday, one description reads. OpenAI appears to be bullish on the effort. In another listing, the company says it is seeking an engineer with "experience designing mechanical systems intended for high volume (1M+)." Robotics is a hot commodity. The sector raised over $6.4 billion from VCs last year, according to Crunchbase, illustrating the interest in a technology with potentially endless applications. Companies like Bright Machines and Collaborative Robotics, which develop software and systems for factory manufacturing, appear to have successfully found a niche. So have firms like Carbon Robotics, which is creating an AI-enabled weeding robot, and Bear Robotics, which makes a mobile robot capable of carrying trays and packages. Humanoid robots have attracted the most publicity, however. X1 and Figure, both of which have OpenAI backing, are attempting to create general-purpose robots that move more or less like humans. The challenges are formidable, but these companies claim that technology has reached the point where mass-produced humanoid robotic systems are a realistic near-term goal. The many disappointments in recent robotics history suggest that will be easier said than achieved. Robots aren't the only hardware project OpenAI is actively working on. Legendary ex-Apple product designer Jony Ive confirmed last year that he is collaborating with OpenAI on a new device, and OpenAI is said to be designing a custom chip for running its AI models.

OpenAI has begun building out its robotics team

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI is best known for its AI models, which to date exist primarily on cloud servers, its website, and in its apps for PCs and mobile devices. However, the company is not limiting its ambitions to the software realm: today on X, Caitlin Kalinowski, currently a Member of the Technical Staff at OpenAI, previously Head of AR Glasses at Meta, posted a message announcing that the firm is hiring its first hardware robotics roles. These include an EE Sensing engineer "to help us the design sensor suite for our robots," and a Robotics Mechanical Design Engineer to design "gears, actuators, motors and linkages for robots." The listings also include a description of the effort as follows: "Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the physical constraints of physical." Kalinowsky herself announced her hiring at OpenAI a little more than two months ago "to lead robotics and consumer hardware." Previously, OpenAI had been reported to be working on hardware with former Apple lead designer Jony Ive, and the company has partnered with robotics startup Figure to provide the models powering the latter's humanoid robots. However, the new post from Kalinowsky and job listings signal the company's most serious and heaviest investment in building out its own robotics division to date, and could ultimately mean it competes with Figure. It wouldn't be a new spot for OpenAI to be in, however, given it is also competing with and taking investment money from Microsoft.