OpenAI Is Reportedly Relaunching Humanoid Robotics Division

OpenAI has bounced back into the spotlight after an internal member aware of the matter revealed to the Information media house about the discussion.

As a software product or service, artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly across the globe. However, the hardware end still requires a lot of research, testing, and optimization before we can see a finished physical commercial AI product. One player rejoining the ranks of top AI robots and hardware developers is OpenAI.

According to the report by The Information, OpenAI is allegedly planning to reopen its robotics division to build humanoids. These humanoids will be integrated with its latest AI models to perform various tasks with minimal intervention and instruction context.

Citing two unnamed individuals who were aware of the matter, the publication reported that OpenAI is discussing building AI-powered robots that are highly human-like. The report did not detail a roadmap or any discussion going on around it.

Back in 2021, OpenAI abruptly abandoned its robotic division that dedicatedly worked on building humanoids and automated robotic devices powered by its artificial intelligence software. OpenAI Co-Founder Wojciech Zaremba revealed in a podcast later that the main reason for closing the robotics wing was a lack of capabilities and training data to achieve desired intelligence.

AI and IoT have continuously been a part of the discussion as their combination unlocks the smartness of AI in real-world applications like speakers, home security systems, and even vacuum cleaners. The world that cinematic visualization imagines can become a reality if any tech giant achieves commercial success in this endeavor.

OpenAI may have closed its robotics division in 2021, but the company kept investing in various startups focused on building this technology. It may be possible that the company wanted to focus on in-house expertise in developing its core AI software, which will become the heart of all humanoids that will be developed in the future.

Another publishing house reported that OpenAI had opened several job positions for research engineers to join a robotics team. As the in-house division was closed, these hirings could have been for the partner companies the tech giant is invested in. Meanwhile, OpenAI is aggressively developing multimodal large language models to unlock new capabilities for its partners, including 1X Technologies, a robotics startup.