Former head of augmented reality (AR) glasses at Meta✴, Caitlin Kalinowski, has joined OpenAI. She announced on her LinkedIn page that she will lead the robotics and consumer devices business at OpenAI. The company also confirmed her appointment, emphasizing that Kalinowski’s experience will help bring AI into the real world, expanding its capabilities for mass use.
Image source: caitlinkalinowski.com
Kalinowski joined Meta✴ in 2022, where she led the work on the Orion AR glasses project, presented at the annual Meta✴ Connect conference. She also led projects developing virtual reality devices for nine years. Prior to joining Meta✴, Kalinowski worked at Apple, where she designed hardware for the MacBook, gaining valuable experience in creating high-quality consumer electronics.
Kalinowski commented on her appointment at OpenAI: “I am pleased to announce that I am joining the OpenAI team as Head of Robotics and Consumer Products. In my new role, I will focus on OpenAI’s robotics projects and developing partnerships to bring artificial intelligence into physical reality and unlock its capabilities for the benefit of humanity.”
Kalinowski is expected to work with Jony Ive, a former Apple executive who now heads LoveFrom and is developing a new AI hardware solution with OpenAI. In September, Ive confirmed that their shared device would be “less socially disruptive than the iPhone.” This partnership will allow OpenAI and LoveFrom to join forces to create a fundamentally new format for user interaction with AI.
OpenAI also announced a search for research engineers for a new robotics team. The team is designed to help the company’s partners integrate OpenAI’s multimodal technologies into physical devices. This revival of OpenAI’s robotics efforts is significant, as the company suspended such research in 2018 to focus on software development. In particular, one of the achievements of that era was a robotic hand capable of learning to independently grasp objects.
OpenAI technologies are already being actively implemented in modern devices. Thus, Apple plans to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone by the end of the year, expanding the capabilities of users of Apple devices. In addition, robotics company Figure uses OpenAI technologies: its humanoid robot Figure 01 can conduct natural conversations thanks to OpenAI built-in software. These examples confirm the growing importance of AI in improving its interaction with humans.
Caitlin Kalinowski’s arrival at OpenAI is a significant step for the company as it strives to bring AI to the physical world. Her experience and expertise in consumer device development can provide new impetus to the company’s hardware projects, bringing AI to wider penetration into everyday life and making it an integral part of our everyday reality.