OpenAI reactivated its robotics department after closing it in recent years. Now, the company’s robotics plans are coming to light more clearly with a social media post by the hardware director and new job postings.
Caitlin Kalinowski, who manages OpenAI’s hardware department, announced in a post on the social media platform X that the company will develop its own robots with a special sensor package. In his post, Kalinowski also drew attention to the job postings published by OpenAI for the robotics team.
According to OpenAI’s job postings, the company’s robotics team will focus on developing “general-purpose,” “adaptive,” and “versatile” robots that are dynamic and capable of operating in real-world conditions. These robots will be powered by the company’s own self-developed artificial intelligence models and will include innovative sensors and computing elements.
“By integrating the entire model stack, we blend the constraints of physical robotic platforms with high-level artificial intelligence capabilities,” one job posting stated. This approach shows that robots will use the most advanced technology in terms of both software and hardware.
Another job posting hints that OpenAI plans to use contract workers to test its robotic prototypes. Additionally, some advertisements state that the company’s robots may have limbs. This information also coincides with previous reports that OpenAI was exploring plans to develop humanoid robots.
OpenAI states in its job postings that the robots will reach “full-scale production.” In line with this goal, the company is looking for engineers experienced in mechanical system design for high-volume production. One advert states that it is looking for candidates with design experience for “a production target of more than 1 million units.”
The robotics industry has encountered a huge wave of investment in recent years. According to Crunchbase data, in 2023 alone, the industry raised $6.4 billion in funding from venture capital. Companies such as Bright Machines and Collaborative Robotics, which develop factory automation and AI-powered systems, have managed to find a niche in this field. On the other hand, weeding robots used in agriculture such as Carbon Robotics or mobile transportation robots by Bear Robotics are other notable examples in the sector.
Companies like OpenAI-backed X1 and Figure are trying to develop general-purpose robots that move in a human-like manner. However, the challenges of these goals are considerable. The fact that many robotic projects throughout history have failed shows that this technology still faces serious technical and economic obstacles.
OpenAI is designing a special chip for artificial intelligence models
In addition to robotics projects, OpenAI is also known to be working on different hardware projects. Famous former Apple designer Jony Ive confirmed last year that he was collaborating with OpenAI on developing a new device. OpenAI is also reportedly designing a custom chip to run AI models.