4 min learnNew DelhiUp to date: Mar 8, 2026 10:51 AM IST
OpenAI’s head of robotics has left the corporate, citing issues over the ChatGPT maker’s new contract with the US Division of Defence for the army use of its AI fashions and instruments.
Caitlin Kalinowski, who has labored as OpenAI’s head of robotics and client {hardware}, introduced that she has resigned in a social media put up on X on Saturday, March 7. Kalinowski mentioned she stop as a result of OpenAI didn’t take sufficient time earlier than agreeing to deploy its AI fashions on the Pentagon’s labeled cloud networks.
“AI has an necessary function in nationwide safety. However surveillance of People with out judicial oversight and deadly autonomy with out human authorization are strains that deserved extra deliberation than they obtained,” Kalinowski wrote.
“This was about precept, not folks. I’ve deep respect for Sam and the workforce, and I’m pleased with what we constructed collectively,” she added.
Kalinowski’s departure comes amid a high-stakes dispute over how far AI firms ought to go in supporting US army makes use of of the know-how. A couple of days in the past, Anthropic’s contract with the US Defence Division was terminated after CEO Dario Amodei refused to again down on ‘crimson strains’ or restrictions of the corporate’s AI merchandise getting used for home surveillance within the US and to energy absolutely autonomous armed drones.
I resigned from OpenAI. I care deeply in regards to the Robotics workforce and the work we constructed collectively. This wasn’t a simple name. AI has an necessary function in nationwide safety. However surveillance of People with out judicial oversight and deadly autonomy with out human authorization are…
— Caitlin Kalinowski (@kalinowski007) March 7, 2026
Quickly after, OpenAI reached its personal settlement with the Protection Division to deploy its fashions on a labeled authorities community. This, in flip, drew criticism from ChatGPT customers in addition to some OpenAI employees, who argued that the deal made it seem that OpenAI had accepted phrases that Anthropic had declined.
Later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that they shouldn’t have rushed to announce the deal because it appeared “opportunistic”. The corporate has since moved to make clear restrictions on how its techniques can be utilized by the army.
“We consider our settlement with the Pentagon creates a workable path for accountable nationwide safety makes use of of AI whereas making clear our crimson strains: no home surveillance and no autonomous weapons. We acknowledge that folks have sturdy views about these points and we’ll proceed to have interaction in dialogue with workers, authorities, civil society and communities around the globe,” an OpenAI spokesperson was quoted as saying by Fortune.
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Who’s Kalinowski?
Earlier than being employed by OpenAI in November 2024, Kalinowski labored at Meta as a {hardware} government for almost two and a half years. She reportedly led the social media big’s improvement of the extremely superior Orion AR glasses, beforehand codenamed ‘Venture Nazare’. Meta unveiled a prototype of the Orion glasses in September 2025.
At Meta, Kalinowski was additionally concerned in creating Meta’s digital actuality Oculus headsets for greater than 9 years. She additionally labored at Apple for almost six years, serving to to design MacBooks, together with Professional and Air fashions. Her exit could possibly be a setback to OpenAI, which is engaged on rolling out its first AI devoted client {hardware}, developed in collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive, by the top of 2026.