Meta's AR glasses head is moving to OpenAI
What's the story
Caitlin Kalinowski, former head of Meta's augmented reality (AR) glasses project, is joining OpenAI. She will be leading the robotics and consumer hardware divisions at OpenAI's research lab. Kalinowski announced the news on LinkedIn, saying, "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," she added.
Career highlights
Kalinowski's significant contributions to Meta
Kalinowski has been a key player in the hardware space, having joined Meta in March 2022. She played a key role in the development of Orion, an advanced AR prototype that Meta demonstrated at its annual Connect conference. Before heading the AR glasses team, Kalinowski spent nearly nine years leading Oculus VR, hardware team behind Meta's virtual reality goggles. Previously, she worked at Apple, where she designed MacBook hardware.
Strategic shift
Renewed focus on hardware development
OpenAI has recently started hiring research engineers for a new robotics team. The move comes as a strategic shift for the company, which had previously dissolved its hardware research to focus on software development. The new team would be helping OpenAI's partners integrate its multimodal AI into their devices. Back in 2018, OpenAI had created a robot hand that could learn how to grip objects on its own.
Industry adoption
OpenAI's AI models find use in various industries
Several companies are already integrating OpenAI's models into their devices. Apple plans to bring its ChatGPT integration for the iPhone later this year, while robotics firm Figure is leveraging OpenAI's software for natural speech conversations in its humanoid 01 robot. These developments further underline the growing industry adoption of OpenAI's advanced AI models.
Collaborations
What we know about OpenAI's new hardware product?
Kalinowski might work with her former boss, ex-Apple executive Jony Ive, on a new AI hardware device being developed jointly by OpenAI and Ive's start-up, LoveFrom. In September, Ive confirmed his work with OpenAI on a hardware product, describing it as "a product that uses AI to create a computing experience that is less socially disruptive than the iPhone."