‘About principle, not people’, OpenAI’s robotics head quits after company’s Pentagon deal — Who is Caitlin Kalinowski?
Caitlin Kalinowski, head of the robotics team at ChatGPT maker OpenAI, has resigned from her position. In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), he said the decision was directly tied to the company’s new agreement with the Department of War (DoW).
Kalinowski wrote about X: “I resigned from OpenAI. I care deeply about the robotics team and the work we do together. This was not an easy decision.”
Addressing his reasons, he added: “AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human consent are lines that deserve further consideration. This was about principles, not people.”
Kalinowski concluded his post by stating that he has “deep respect” for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his team, adding: “I’m proud of what we’ve built together.”
Who is Caitlin Kalinowski? OpenAI’s former robotics chief
According to Bloomberg, Kalinowski joined OpenAI in November 2024 as a member of the company’s technical team in robotics. At the time of writing this, his LinkedIn no longer reflected his position at OpenAI.
However, he cited his previous experience as Meta Platforms’ Head of augmented reality (AR) glasses from March 2022 to June 2024; and head of virtual reality (VR) hardware for Oculus VR from February 2013 to March 2022.
He also served as a product design engineer at Apple from April 2007 to January 2013, and his LinkedIn page lists 2012 MacBook Pros, 2010 MacBook Airs, and 2007 and 2008 MacBooks among his credits.
More public perception problems ahead for OpenAI’s Sam Altman?
Kalinowski’s departure, in particular, could lead to further backlash against OpenAI and Altman, who has claimed in previous statements that the Pentagon deal “complies with applicable law” and “will not be used intentionally for domestic surveillance of U.S. citizens and citizens.”
After Altman announced that the company had reached an agreement with the Pentagon to distribute its models in secret networks, a significant number of users canceled their OpenAI and ChatGPT subscriptions and switched to other alternatives. Anthropic’s main app has soared to the top of Apple’s download charts, a sign of its support for the company during its conflict with the Pentagon.
OpenAI confirmed its departure to Bloomberg, saying the DoW agreement “clarifies our red lines, the lack of domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, while creating a viable path for responsible national security uses of AI.”
“We recognize that people have strong views on these issues, and we will continue to engage in discussions with employees, government, civil society and communities around the world,” the emailed statement said.
Notably, Altman acknowledged in a post last week that the company’s rush to sign a deal with the Pentagon “seemed opportunistic and careless.” This was widely seen as damage control.
He claimed that OpenAI was working with the Pentagon to “make some additions to our agreement to make our principles clearer.” Altman added that he hopes DoW will offer Anthropic “the same terms we agreed on.”
The Department has identified Anthropic PBC as a ‘Supply Chain Risk’ (SCR); It’s a move that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company would challenge in court. “We do not believe this action is legally sound and see no other option but to challenge it in court. The applicable law (10 USC 3252) is narrow in scope and exists to protect the government rather than to punish a supplier,” he added.
