Caitlin Kalinowski, the former head of Meta’s AR glasses team who is also an Apple alum, announced she will be joining OpenAI to lead its robotic and consumer hardware division.
Kalinowski posted the announcement on X and people were immediately excited by the news, with speculations over whether this would lead to an OpenAI robot or a more consumer-friendly device such as a pair of smart glasses.
“In my new role, 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,” Kalinowski said.
The news comes off the back of the revelation that famed Apple designer Jony Ive is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on a new AI-first hardware device. It's unlikely the two are connected but it looks like we're going to see AI hardware front-and-center in 2025.
I’m delighted to share that I’m joining @OpenAI to lead robotics and consumer hardware!In my new role, 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. pic.twitter.com/rRDliUmO6yNovember 4, 2024
Kalinowski boasts an impressive CV, having led the augmented reality hardware team at Meta’s Reality Labs working on products such as the Orion smart glasses, Meta Quest 2, and the Oculus Rift.
Before joining Meta, Kalinowski was a technical lead at Apple, taking part in the development of the Mac Pro and MacBook Air.
When she’s not busy building awesome hardware, Kalinowski is championing causes close to her heart including fighting gun violence and promoting diversity in the tech industry.
Responding to one message about possible prototypes OpenAI is working on, Kalinowski replied that she hasn’t officially entered the company yet and doesn’t know if anything of the sort is already in the works.
Apple’s decorated designer Jony Ive is reportedly working on a new AI hardware device with his new boss Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO. Details of the consumer tech device are being kept under wraps but initial reports suggest that the outcome is meant to be less socially disruptive than the iPhone.
AI is the most exciting engineering frontier in tech right now, and I could not be more excited to be part of this team
Caitlin KalinowskiSpeculation points to smart glasses or another form of wearable technology, but given the lack of information, it could easily be an alternative to the Amazon Echo.
While not much is known about OpenAI’s hardware plans, at the start of the year we learned that, together with Microsoft, the AI company was in talks with the humanoid robotics startup Figure about potential investments.
A few months later we saw a preview of a prototype humanoid that was powered by OpenAI sofware. The second iteration, Figure 02, is capable of performing everyday tasks and holding a natural language conversation thanks to GPT-4o and AI voice.
On LinkedIn, Kalinowski highlighted that OpenAI and ChatGPT have changed the world, improving how people get and interact with information, delivering meaningful benefits around the globe.
“AI is the most exciting engineering frontier in tech right now, and I could not be more excited to be part of this team,” Kalinowski wrote.
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