It had been rumoured that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, will eventually look to integrate its LLMs with robots, but those reports have finally been confirmed.
OpenAI is hiring for robotics roles for the first time. The roles include a Systems Integration Electrical Engineer for robotics, Mechanical Product Engineer, Robotics, and TPM Manager, Robotics.
“Really excited to be posting our FIRST Robotics hardware roles for @OpenAI, including two very senior tech lead engineering (IC) roles and a TPM Manager,” wrote Caitlin Kalinowski, Member of Technical Staff at OpenAI on X. “The first role is for an EE Sensing Engineer to help us design the sensor suite for our robots. The second role is for a Robotics Mechanical Design Engineer with experience designing gears, actuators, motors and linkages for robots. The last role is for a TPM Manager. This will be a fun, scrappy role to start and will span Product TPM work, standing up our training lab, and keeping us running smoothly as we cycle through our product design phases,” he added.
“I can’t wait to get started on this work. I just hit my two month mark at OpenAI and can confirm the talent density, work velocity and focus make this a really wonderful place to do technical work. Join us!” he continued.
Kalinowski’s post was shared by OpenAI President Greg Brockman. “Apply to help us build robotics hardware,” he said.
OpenAI’s robotics push will be a new vertical for the company, which thus far has focused primarily on building state-of-the-art AI models. OpenAI was the pioneer in the LLM space, and has held on to its lead even two years later with models like the o3, which led some to speculate that it had created AGI. But while LLMs look poised to disrupt white-collar jobs, there could be a lot of room for AI to still disrupt mechanical work. In these areas, companies like Tesla have a head start with their Optimus range of robots. Tesla, in particular, could combine its robotics expertise with the advancements in AI made by Elon Musk’s xAI, and create a product that could create a ChatGPT-like moment for robotics.
OpenAI seems to have realized this, and is looking to build a robotics division of its own. Having its own robotics program will put it ahead of companies like Anthropic and other LLM makers, which are still focusing primarily on building their AI models. Bigger companies like Google, Amazon or Microsoft too don’t have prominent robotics divisions, and OpenAI could leapfrog them, much as it had done for LLMs. And while it’s unlikely that these investments in robotics will yield immediate results, OpenAI could be laying the foundation for a robotics revolution, much as it had done with AI several years ago.