A senior member of OpenAI's robotics team has resigned, citing concerns about how the company moved forward with a recently announced partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Caitlin Kalinowski, who served as a member of technical staff focused on robotics and hardware, posted on social media that she had stepped down on "principle" after the company revealed plans to make its AI systems available inside secure Defense Department computing systems.
The agreement is part of a broader push by the U.S. government to incorporate advanced AI tools into national security work, a trend that has sparked debate across the tech industry about oversight and acceptable uses.
In public posts explaining her decision, Kalinowski wrote: "I resigned from OpenAI. I care deeply about the Robotics team and the work we built together. This wasn't an easy call."
She said policy guardrails around certain AI uses were not sufficiently defined before OpenAI announced an agreement with the Pentagon. "AI has an important role in national security," Kalinowski wrote. "But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got."
Kalinowski also emphasized that her concerns were more about the process rather than specific executives inside the company, saying she had "deep respect for Sam and the team, and I'm proud of what we built together," referring to OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.
A spokesperson for OpenAI told NPR the company believes the 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."
It continued, saying the company recognized "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."
Kalinowski's resignation comes amid heightened competition among leading developers of artificial intelligence to supply technology to the U.S. government. In recent weeks, federal agencies have turned to OpenAI and Google for AI systems as tensions increased with a rival firm, Anthropic, over the military use of its models.
Anthropic's CEO spoke out against allowing the company's software to be used for applications such as domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, a stance that led to clashes with defense officials — including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — who said the department needs flexibility to deploy commercial AI tools in all "lawful" operations.
Within OpenAI, Kalinowski's role focused on building out the company's robotics organization as it scaled. She wrote on her LinkedIn profile that this included hiring to support the company's expansion into AI efforts tied to physical infrastructure and machinery.
Kalinowski signaled she plans to continue working in the same field. "I'm taking a little time, but I remain very focused on building responsible physical AI," she wrote.
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