Ex-Meta Hardware Exec Joins OpenAI to Head Robotics and Consumer Tech

Caitlin Kalinowski, a prominent figure in consumer hardware and robotics, has announced her move to OpenAI, where she will take on the role of leading robotics and consumer hardware. Sharing the news on X, she said, “I’m delighted to share that I’m joining OpenAI to lead robotics and consumer hardware!”

In her new position, Kalinowski will initially concentrate on OpenAI’s robotics projects and related partnerships. “I will initially focus on OpenAI’s robotics work and partnerships to help bring AI into the physical world and unlock its benefits for humanity,” she said.

Kalinowski brings a wealth of experience to OpenAI. At Meta, she oversaw the development of the Orion augmented reality glasses, which were recently showcased at Meta’s annual Connect conference. Before her work on AR, Kalinowski led Meta’s virtual reality hardware team for nine years and had previously worked at Apple, designing hardware for MacBooks.

This move comes at a time when OpenAI is reportedly collaborating with Jony Ive’s startup, LoveFrom, on a new AI hardware device. While details remain scarce, Ive has described the project as a product that uses AI to create a less socially disruptive computing experience than smartphones.

OpenAI’s renewed interest in robotics is evident in its recent hiring efforts for research engineers to work on incorporating multimodal AI into hardware. This development marks a return to hardware research for OpenAI, which had previously disbanded its robotics team in 2020 to focus on software development.

OpenAI has a record of investing in robotics startups, with recent moves including an investment in Physical Intelligence. Earlier this year, it also partnered with Figure AI as part of a $675 million Series B funding round. In this partnership, OpenAI is committed to developing next-generation AI models for humanoid robots. In March 2023, OpenAI’s Startup Fund led a $23.5 million investment round in 1X Technologies, a Norwegian company focused on creating humanoid robots.