OpenAI robotics lead Caitlin Kalinowski resigns in response to Pentagon contract

Hardware CEO Caitlin Kalinowski announced today that in response OpenAI’s controversial deal with the Department of Defensehas stepped down as head of the company’s robotics group.

“This was not an easy call,” Kalinowski said in a social media post. “AI has an important role in national security.” But surveillance of the American people without judicial oversight and independence without public consent are lines that deserve more thought than they have.

Kalinowski, who previously led Meta’s glass-building team, joined OpenAI in November 2024. In a statement today, he emphasized that the decision was “about principles, not people” and said he has “great respect” for CEO Sam Altman and the OpenAI team.

In X resultsKallinowski added, “To be clear, my issue is that the announcement was rushed without explanation. It is important for the authority first. This is very important for the agreements or announcements to be made quickly.”

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed Kalinowski’s departure to TechCrunch.

“We believe that our partnership with the Pentagon creates a reliable way to use AI for national security while clearly defining our red lines: no surveillance and no autonomous weapons,” the company said. “We recognize that people have strong opinions on this issue and we will continue to engage in dialogue with workers, government, civil society and communities around the world.”

OpenAI’s partnership with the Pentagon was announced a week ago Negotiations between the Pentagon and Anthropic ended as an AI company tried to negotiate security measures to prevent its technology from being used in home surveillance or autonomous devices. After that, the Pentagon chose Anthropic risk to supply the chain. (Anthropic said it would fight for nomination to the court; Meanwhile, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon said they will continue making Anthropic’s Claude available to defenseless customers.)

Next, OpenAI at a glance announced his own agreement allowing its technology to be used in selected areas. When officials tried to explain the deal on social media, the company explained such as taking an “expanding, multi-faceted approach” that relies not only on the language of the agreement, but also on technological security, protecting the same red lines as Anthropic.

However, the controversy appears to have damaged OpenAI’s reputation among some consumers, and ChatGPT removes 295% and Claude is climbing to the top of the App Store charts. As of Saturday afternoon, Claude and ChatGPT remain the US App Store’s free app and number two free apps, respectively.