OpenAI, widely recognized for its advanced AI models like ChatGPT, is expanding beyond software into the field of robotics.
The company announced its plans to hire key hardware roles for its newly formed robotics team, signaling a significant investment in building physical systems to complement its AI expertise.
Caitlin Kalinowski, a technical staff member at OpenAI and previously a lead at Meta, shared the announcement on X, highlighting roles like systems integration electrical engineer, mechanical robotics product engineer, and technical program manager to develop and integrate components such as sensors, motors, and actuators for robots.
The company aims to push toward advanced general-purpose robotics, focusing on achieving AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world environments.
By blending cutting-edge AI capabilities with hardware design, OpenAI plans to explore various robotic form factors that seamlessly integrate high-level AI functionalities with physical constraints.
This move represents a bold shift for OpenAI, which has primarily operated in the cloud-based software space, offering AI services through apps and websites.
Kalinowski, who joined OpenAI recently to lead the robotics and consumer hardware initiative, shared that the effort represents the company’s most significant investment in robotics to date.
OpenAI has already collaborated with robotics startup Figure to provide AI models for humanoid robots, and it has reportedly engaged with former Apple lead designer Jony Ive on earlier hardware projects.
This expansion places OpenAI in a competitive space with other robotics players, including Figure, and aligns it with partners like Microsoft, which has heavily invested in OpenAI.
As the robotics team takes shape, it underscores OpenAI’s vision to merge artificial intelligence with hardware innovations, further advancing its goal of creating practical and versatile robotic systems for real-world applications.
This development marks a pivotal step in OpenAI’s journey to establish itself as a leader in both AI and robotics.
