{"id":"ee30928f-0aea-4736-9450-eed586fb14e7","name":"OpenAI Robotics","slug":"openai-robotics","description":"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](/companies/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.","status":"subsidiary","founded":2025,"hq":"San Francisco, California, USA","hqLat":37.7879363,"hqLng":-122.4075201,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-05T14:42:14.317Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"https://openai.com","fundingTotal":"23500000","type":"both","roles":[],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":79,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/sama/status/2061117302528188712","title":"Sam Altman announces OpenAI Robotics (division exists + actively hiring; evolved from Worldsim)","sourceName":"Sam Altman (X, official)"},{"url":"http://adityaramesh.com/","title":"Aditya Ramesh: leads Worldsim as VP of Research at OpenAI; bootstrapping OpenAI's robotics effort","sourceName":"Aditya Ramesh (personal site)"},{"url":"https://openai.com/careers/search/","title":"OpenAI careers: live robotics roles (actuator/electrical/simulation/mechanical engineers; SF)","sourceName":"OpenAI (careers)"},{"url":"https://openai.com/index/solving-rubiks-cube/","title":"Solving Rubik's Cube with a robot hand (Dactyl, 2019)","sourceName":"OpenAI (official)"},{"url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07113","title":"Solving Rubik's Cube with a Robot Hand (technical paper)","sourceName":"arXiv (OpenAI)"},{"url":"https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/10/15/75292/a-robot-hand-taught-itself-to-solve-a-rubiks-cube-after-creating-its-own-training-regime/","title":"A robot hand taught itself to solve a Rubik's cube (independent coverage)","sourceName":"MIT Technology Review"},{"url":"https://www.therobotreport.com/openai-abandons-robotics-research/","title":"Why OpenAI abandoned robotics research (~2021 team disbanding; revisit when video models mature)","sourceName":"The Robot Report"},{"url":"https://www.1x.tech/discover/1x-rasies-23-5m-in-series-a2-funding-led-by-open-ai","title":"OpenAI Startup Fund leads 1X Technologies Series A2 (2023)","sourceName":"1X Technologies"},{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/04/figure-drops-openai-in-favor-of-in-house-models/","title":"Figure drops OpenAI in favor of in-house models (partnership ended Feb 2025)","sourceName":"TechCrunch"},{"url":"https://openai.com/index/learning-dexterity/","title":"Learning dexterity: OpenAI's Dactyl in-hand manipulation (2018; predates the Rubik's cube)","sourceName":"OpenAI (official)"},{"url":"https://openai.com/index/video-generation-models-as-world-simulators/","title":"Video generation models as world simulators (the Worldsim / world-model lineage, 2024)","sourceName":"OpenAI (official)"},{"url":"https://www.1x.tech/discover/1x-secures-100m-in-series-b-funding","title":"1X secures $100M Series B led by EQT Ventures (OpenAI Startup Fund participating, Jan 2024)","sourceName":"1X Technologies"},{"url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/figure-raises-675m-at-2-6b-valuation-and-signs-collaboration-agreement-with-openai-302074897.html","title":"Figure raises $675M Series B and signs OpenAI collaboration agreement (Feb 2024; partnership start)","sourceName":"Figure (PR Newswire)"},{"url":"https://venturebeat.com/business/openai-disbands-its-robotics-research-team","title":"OpenAI disbands its robotics research team (Zaremba; insufficient training data, 2021)","sourceName":"VentureBeat"},{"url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/05/openai-hires-metas-former-orion-head-to-lead-its-robotics-efforts.html","title":"OpenAI hires Meta's former Orion head (Caitlin Kalinowski) to lead robotics/hardware (Nov 2024)","sourceName":"CNBC"},{"url":"https://fortune.com/2026/03/07/openai-robotics-leader-caitlin-kalinowski-resignation-pentagon-surveillance-autonomous-weapons-anthropic/","title":"OpenAI robotics leader Kalinowski resigns over surveillance/autonomous-weapons concerns (Mar 2026)","sourceName":"Fortune"},{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/DdhCZ1MErzg/","title":"OpenAI hiring robotics engineers (up to $500k) Instagram coverage","sourceName":"Instagram (via Deploy.Report digest)","publishedAt":"2026-09-20"},{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddl03WFyTS1/","title":"Sam Altman: cool humanoid demo could come in 2027","sourceName":"Instagram (@uncover.robotics / via Deploy.Report digest)","publishedAt":"2026-09-22"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Announcement (May 2026)","value":"Sam Altman announced OpenAI Robotics on May 31 2026, saying it grew from OpenAI's Worldsim research program; it is hiring hardware, systems and ML engineers."},{"label":"Leadership","value":"Led by Aditya Ramesh, VP of Research and creator of DALL-E, who aims to bring OpenAI's video-generation models to the physical world."},{"label":"Prior robotics team","value":"OpenAI's original team (about 2017) built the Dactyl hand and solved a Rubik's cube one-handed (2019), then disbanded in 2021 citing insufficient training data."},{"label":"Robotics investments","value":"OpenAI's Startup Fund led 1X's Series A2 (2023) and joined its Series B (2024); OpenAI joined Figure AI's Series B, a partnership that ended in Feb 2025."},{"label":"Leadership change (Mar 2026)","value":"Caitlin Kalinowski, hired in Nov 2024 to lead robotics hardware, resigned citing concerns over surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons tied to Pentagon work."},{"label":"Stated strategy (company-claimed)","value":"Near term, robots to support skilled infrastructure workers; long term, a personal robot for everyone. No hardware shown as of launch."},{"label":"Humanoid demo timeline (reported, Sep 2026)","value":"Altman reportedly said a humanoid demo could come in 2027, with public rollout years later. Secondary report, not an OpenAI post."}],"aliases":["OpenAI Robotics division","OpenAI (robotics)"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-01T02:43:03.996Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-10T23:45:12.976Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/openai-robotics","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/openai-robotics","name":"OpenAI Robotics","alternateName":["OpenAI Robotics division","OpenAI (robotics)"],"description":"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](/companies/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.","identifier":"ee30928f-0aea-4736-9450-eed586fb14e7","foundingDate":"2025","address":"San Francisco, California, USA","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":18,"primary_source_types":["preprint","primary-company-ir","secondary-established-publication","secondary-industry-publication","secondary-trade-publication"]}}}