The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies OpenAI Robotics: 1 model, $23.5M raised. 18 sources back the record.
CategoryHumanoids
Overview
OpenAI Robotics is the in-house robotics division of OpenAI (San Francisco), publicly announced by CEO Sam Altman on X on May 31 2026. Per Altman, it evolved over the prior year from OpenAI's Worldsim research program and is led by Aditya Ramesh (VP of Research, creator of DALL-E), with the stated aim of bringing the intelligence of OpenAI's video-generation / world-simulation models into physical robots through co-designed hardware and AI.
It is a relaunch: OpenAI's original robotics team (2017) built the Dactyl hand that solved a Rubik's cube one-handed in 2019 before the team was disbanded around 2021, after which OpenAI invested in robotics externally via 1x technologies (2023) and Figure AI (2024, partnership ended Feb 2025). As of the announcement the division's existence and active hiring are verified through OpenAI's own institutional channels, but it has shipped no hardware; its strategic positioning (near-term skilled-worker support, a long-term 'personal robot for everyone') and all capability and timeline claims are stated aspirations, not demonstrated outcomes.
Reality check
Stated strategy (company-claimed)
Near term, robots to support skilled infrastructure workers; long term, a personal robot for everyone. No hardware shown as of launch.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Announcement (May 2026)
Leadership
Prior robotics team
Robotics investments
Leadership change (Mar 2026)
Data & sources
Press releases
4
News coverage
4
Research
1
Web sources
9
18 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company OpenAI Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 11X Technologies1× joint6 total
- 2Bond1× joint2 total
- 3Jeff Bezos1× joint
- 4Lux Capital1× joint2 total
- 5Physical Intelligence1× joint3 total
- 6Redpoint Ventures1× joint1 total
Most recent
- Physical Intelligence Funding (2024)2024-11-04with Physical Intelligenceoperating
- 1X x OpenAI2023-01-01with 1X Technologiesjust announced
OpenAI Robotics on the deployment map
View the global mapOpenAI Robotics has no verified deployments on the DEPLOY registry yet. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
No verified deployments for OpenAI Robotics on the DEPLOY record yet. Track OpenAI Robotics to know the moment the first one is verified.
Relationships
Claims ledger
Public, dated claims by OpenAI Robotics, each tracked against the evidence. Status is a DEPLOY assessment from primary sources: verified means an independent source confirms it; contradicted means one refutes it; open means the outcome is not yet determinable. Every entry keeps its verbatim quote and source so you can check the call yourself.
- OpenTimeline · claimed 2026-01-19 · deadline 2027-03-31
“OpenAI is developing a new consumer hardware device, expected to be unveiled by end of this year or early next”
Jony Ive's hardware studio (io) was acquired by OpenAI. The device has been reportedly seen and tried by insiders. "End of this year or early next" from January 2026 means by Q1 2027. No confirmed unveil as of July 2026. https://finance.biggo.com/podcast/d022f830d5df6f6c
- OpenTimeline · claimed 2026-01-01 · deadline 2026-12-31
“Rolling out by end of 2026”
Mass production reported as "early 2027" with rollout "by end of 2026." Custom MediaTek silicon reported. No confirmed product or launch. The timeline is increasingly tight for a product that hasn't been unveiled. https://www.axios.com/2026/01/19/openai-device-2026-lehane-jony-ive
- OpenCapability · claimed 2026-01-01
“OpenAI is reportedly developing its own AI-powered smart glasses”
Reported but not confirmed by OpenAI. Jony Ive involvement suggests a wearable form factor. No product announcement as of July 2026. https://www.axios.com/2026/01/19/openai-device-2026-lehane-jony-ive
Disagree with a status? OpenAI Robotics can submit a correction with evidence and we log the response on the record. Methodology and the full industry ledger live at /stats/claim-integrity.
Current leadership (1)
- Sam Altman CEOreported, not verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for OpenAI Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
OpenAI Robotics in third-party press
Mentioned on (2)
Registry pages whose text names OpenAI Robotics.
Robots and products (1)
People (1)
Financial state
- Total funding
- $23.5M
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
2 total · 1 operating · 1 just announced
Every company OpenAI Robotics has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- Physical Intelligence Funding (2024)2024-11-04with Physical Intelligenceoperating
- 1X x OpenAI2023-01-01with 1X Technologiesjust announced
Most-frequent partners
- 11X Technologies1× joint6 total
- 2Bond1× joint2 total
- 3Jeff Bezos1× joint
- 4Lux Capital1× joint2 total
- 5Physical Intelligence1× joint3 total
- 6Redpoint Ventures1× joint1 total
All 2 partnerships
open in the atlas →- investment2024-11-04operating
- technology2023-01-01just announced
Funding rounds (1)
- Series B
$24M(reported)
Investors: Aditya Ramesh (VP of Research, creator of DALL-E, X handle @model_mechanic)
Timeline
Every recorded move in OpenAI Robotics’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
PartnershipPhysical Intelligence Funding (2024)
2024-11-04Physical Intelligence raised $400 million (announced Nov 4, 2024) at about a $2.4B post-money valuation to build a general-purpose AI brain for robots; led by Jeff Bezos, Thrive Capital, and Lux Capital, with participation from OpenAI, Redpoint Ventures, and Bond.
Partnership1X x OpenAI
2023-01-011X Technologies has a technology and investment relationship with OpenAI (OpenAI led 1X's Series A2 and the two collaborate on embodied-AI research). Verify lifecycle status at read time (cf. the Figure x OpenAI dissolution precedent).
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJun 1, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (18)
- https://x.com/sama/status/2061117302528188712
- http://adityaramesh.com/
- https://openai.com/careers/search/
- https://openai.com/index/solving-rubiks-cube/
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07113
- https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/15/75292/a-robot-hand-taught-itself-to-solve-a-rubiks-cube-after-creating-its-own-training-regime/
- https://www.therobotreport.com/openai-abandons-robotics-research/
- https://www.1x.tech/discover/1x-rasies-23-5m-in-series-a2-funding-led-by-open-ai
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/04/figure-drops-openai-in-favor-of-in-house-models/
- https://openai.com/index/learning-dexterity/
- https://openai.com/index/video-generation-models-as-world-simulators/
- https://www.1x.tech/discover/1x-secures-100m-in-series-b-funding
- https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/figure-raises-675m-at-2-6b-valuation-and-signs-collaboration-agreement-with-openai-302074897.html
- https://venturebeat.com/business/openai-disbands-its-robotics-research-team
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/05/openai-hires-metas-former-orion-head-to-lead-its-robotics-efforts.html
- https://fortune.com/2026/03/07/openai-robotics-leader-caitlin-kalinowski-resignation-pentagon-surveillance-autonomous-weapons-anthropic/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DdhCZ1MErzg/ · 2026-09-20
- https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddl03WFyTS1/ · 2026-09-22
Common questions
What is OpenAI Robotics?
What does OpenAI Robotics make?
Is OpenAI Robotics publicly traded?
Who is the CEO of OpenAI Robotics?
How can I invest in OpenAI Robotics?
Where is OpenAI Robotics headquartered?
How much funding has OpenAI Robotics raised?
Who owns OpenAI Robotics?
Where does OpenAI Robotics operate robots?
Is OpenAI Robotics a top robotics company?
When was OpenAI Robotics founded?
Is OpenAI Robotics safe?
Methodology: Verified · 18 sources (4 primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-10
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-10
Sources by quality tier
- 9
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 4
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 2
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- preprint
- Preprint
- 1
- secondary-trade-publication
- Trade publication
- 1
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for OpenAI Robotics.In the press
Recent coverage mentioning OpenAI Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Ex-OpenAI robotics lead’s factory startup in insolvency proceedings
OpenAI Is Making A Humanoid Robot. Sam Altman Says Everyone Should Have One
Forbes reports OpenAI is developing a humanoid robot, with Sam Altman stating everyone should have one, marking the company's formal entry into physical AI hardware beyond its…
OpenAI launches robotics division - hiring hardware engineers
OpenAI launched a robotics division. Sam Altman announced OpenAI Robotics is hiring full-stack hardware, ops, systems engineers. Reportedly exploring building its own humanoid…
Exclusive: OpenAI aims to debut first device in 2026
OpenAI is 'on track' to unveil its first device in H2 2026, chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane said. The device is being developed with Jony Ive's io company, with…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/openai-robotics.md
- RSS feed: /companies/openai-robotics/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/ee30928f-0aea-4736-9450-eed586fb14e7
- Revision history: /companies/openai-robotics/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Heat Index
Category contender79/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
OpenAI Robotics draws attention at the 5th percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among humanoids.
6-month trend
Analysis
Limited public visibility and press coverage relative to peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 18, 2026