OpenAI is reportedly exploring the development of humanoid robots, indicating a potential expansion beyond its established artificial intelligence software. Recent discussions within the company have focused on the possibility of creating robots that resemble humans. This interest in robotics is not entirely new, as OpenAI previously had a robotics division that was disbanded prior to the launch of its GPT-3 AI model. Furthermore, the company continues to invest in various robotics startups through its venture capital arm.
OpenAI Could Reportedly Enter the Robotics Space
The Information has highlighted OpenAI’s ambition to construct humanoid robots, citing two sources familiar with the situation. The publication revealed that discussions around this endeavor have taken place but did not clarify whether these talks are in preliminary stages or if there is a strategic plan in place.
OpenAI initially established a robotics division at its founding, although it did not deliver any products or prototypes during that time. In 2021, Wojciech Zaremba, a Co-Founder who managed the robotics division, announced its closure. He mentioned in a podcast that the decision was largely driven by a shortage of training data, which hindered the team’s ability to develop systems to a desirable level of intelligence.
Earlier this year, a report from IoT World Today indicated that OpenAI had reopened its robotics initiatives by listing job openings for research engineers to join a new robotics team. The job descriptions suggested that the team would focus on training multimodal large language models to enhance functionalities for partners’ robots.
The term “partners” may refer to a number of robotics startups that OpenAI has invested in. The company participated in a funding round for Figure AI in February 2024, an event spearheaded by figures including Jeff Bezos, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Intel. Additionally, OpenAI has invested in 1X Technologies, supporting the integration of its GPT AI models into the robots developed by the startup. In November, OpenAI also invested in Physical Intelligence, which is working on AI-driven software aimed at giving robots a human-like understanding and finesse.
The limited information available makes it challenging to ascertain OpenAI’s comprehensive vision for humanoid robots. However, the recent introduction of their o3 series of advanced reasoning-focused AI models suggests that the company might aim to create robots capable of executing a variety of real-world tasks in environments such as factories, utilizing only verbal commands.
