Caitlin Kalinowski, OpenAI's Head of Hardware and Robotics, has departed the company reportedly over concerns about its partnership with the Pentagon. Kalinowski joined OpenAI in November 2024 from Meta, where she served as Vice President of Hardware at Reality Labs, leading the development of the Quest line of virtual reality headsets.
Her recruitment to OpenAI was seen as a major signal that the company was serious about moving into physical hardware and robotics — a natural extension of its AI capabilities into the real world. Before Meta, Kalinowski spent years at Apple working on the MacBook Pro, earning a reputation as one of Silicon Valley's most accomplished hardware engineering leaders.
Her departure from OpenAI after less than five months is being linked to the company's expanding relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense, which has been a point of contention among some employees who were drawn to OpenAI's original mission of developing AI safely for the benefit of humanity. The exit underscores the growing tension between OpenAI's commercial and government ambitions and the values of some of its most senior hires.
