OpenAI’s robotics chief resigns over the company's Pentagon deal
OpenAI’s head of robotics, Caitlin Kalinowski, announced her resignation from the company on Saturday, attributing the decision to OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon.
In a post on X, Kalinowski said she resigned over concerns about the surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization.
Kalinowski highlighted: “This was about principle, not people.”
I resigned from OpenAI. I care deeply about the Robotics team and the work we built together. This wasn’t an easy call. AI has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are…
undefined Caitlin Kalinowski (@kalinowski007) March 7, 2026
In the comments section, Kalinowski added: “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.”
Kalinowski didn’t share any internal details or where she’d be heading next, but said she’s remaining focused on building responsible physical AI.
Bloomberg reported that OpenAI confirmed Kalinowski’s departure in an emailed statement, saying that the agreement with the Defense Department “creates a workable path for responsible national security uses of AI while making clear our red lines, no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons.”
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“We recognize that people have strong views about these issues and we will continue to engage in discussion with employees, government, civil society and communities around the world,” the company said.
Kalinowski joined OpenAI from Meta in November 2024, where she led development of augmented reality glasses.
The announcement about the deal between OpenAI and the Pentagon came just over a week ago, after a public feud involving Anthropic, which wanted to ensure safeguards for the use of its tools in mass surveillance and autonomous lethal weapons.
Anthropic had been designated a “supply chain risk”, although CEO Dario Amodei has reportedly reopened discussions with the Pentagon on how the government could use its AI.
OpenAI has disagreed with blacklisting Anthropic, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that the rush to get the deal out “looked opportunistic and sloppy” in a post on X. The announcement of the deal was later amended to reassure that “the Department made clear it shares our commitment to ensuring our tools will not be used for domestic surveillance.”
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