Caitlin Kalinowski, OpenAI's head of robotics, has resigned, citing insufficient deliberation on ethical guardrails in the company's recent deal with the Department of Defense. She expressed concerns over potential surveillance and autonomous weapons in a post on X. OpenAI acknowledged her departure and reiterated its commitments against domestic surveillance and lethal autonomous systems.
Caitlin Kalinowski announced her resignation from OpenAI on X, where she served as head of robotics since joining the company in late 2024 after working at Meta. In her post, she criticized the speed of OpenAI's partnership with the Department of Defense, stating that "surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got." She further noted in a response that "the announcement was rushed without the guardrails defined," describing it as a "governance concern first and foremost."
OpenAI confirmed the resignation in a statement, expressing understanding of differing views on the matter and committing to ongoing discussions with stakeholders. The company emphasized that it does not endorse the issues raised by Kalinowski. According to the statement, "We believe our agreement with the Pentagon creates a workable path for responsible national security uses of AI while making clear our red lines: no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons."
This departure follows OpenAI's agreement with the Department of Defense, a move that drew scrutiny after Anthropic declined to relax its AI safeguards related to mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has indicated willingness to adjust the deal to explicitly bar spying on Americans. Kalinowski's exit represents a notable reaction to the partnership's ethical implications.
