OpenAI's robotics exec quits over Pentagon deal
09 Mar 2026, 11:35 AMKalinowski had joined OpenAI in November 2024 to develop AI-powered robotics and consumer hardware products.
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Caitlin Kalinowski, a technical staff member focused on robotics and hardware at OpenAI, has resigned "on principle," citing concerns over the AI startup’s controversial decision to strike a deal with the United States Department of War.
In her social media post, Kalinowski explained that AI would play an important role in national security, and therefore, it was important to move deliberately to set effective ethical boundaries in place before undertaking to use the technology for surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons.
"To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was rushed without the guardrails defined. It's a governance concern first and foremost. These are too important for deals or announcements to be rushed," she reiterated her position through a second post on X.
As a member of the technical staff, Kalinowski led overall planning, hiring, and operating cadence for OpenAI's robotics division, among others.
The American product designer and mechanical engineer joined OpenAI in November 2024 to develop AI-powered robotics and consumer hardware products, and bring AI to the physical world. She has previously worked with Oculus VR, Meta, Apple and OQO.
OpenAI's partnership with the defense department on February 28 followed shortly after rival Anthropic's withdrawal from a similar deal with the Pentagon citing ethical concerns regarding the use of AI in surveillance and lethal autonomous weaponry.
It led to a section of OpenAI’s user base uninstalling the ChatGPT app from their devices, which brought the app’s typical uninstall rate from 9% to 295% on the day the deal was announced.
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