Caitlin Kalinowski, who previously led Meta’s augmented reality (AR) glasses team, has announced her new role at OpenAI, where she will oversee robotics and consumer hardware initiatives. OpenAI confirmed Kalinowski’s appointment on Monday following her post on LinkedIn.
Kalinowski, an experienced hardware executive, joined Meta in 2022 to head its AR glasses development, notably working on the Orion AR prototype showcased at Meta's recent Connect conference. She also led Meta’s virtual reality (VR) hardware efforts for nearly a decade and contributed to hardware design for MacBooks during her earlier tenure at Apple.
In her announcement, Kalinowski shared her enthusiasm for her role at OpenAI, highlighting her focus on robotics and partnerships aimed at integrating AI into real-world applications. This approach aligns with OpenAI’s recent goals to expand AI into physical interactions and improve accessibility to AI technologies.
There is speculation that Kalinowski may collaborate with Jony Ive, former Apple executive, on a new AI hardware device. Ive, through his company LoveFrom, is reportedly working with OpenAI to create a product that uses AI in a way that is less socially intrusive than the smartphone.
OpenAI has also been recruiting engineers for its revamped robotics team to help partners incorporate AI across a broader range of hardware applications. This marks a return to robotics for OpenAI, which previously paused its robotics division in 2018 to prioritize software. OpenAI’s past robotics efforts included developing a robot hand capable of independently learning object manipulation.
Multiple companies are now integrating OpenAI's AI models into their products. Apple is set to launch ChatGPT for iPhone later this year, while robotics firm Figure is using OpenAI’s software to enable natural speech in its humanoid 01 robot.
This new direction reflects OpenAI’s commitment to embedding AI in physical devices and expanding its impact on daily technology use.
