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OpenAI Head of Hardware and Robotics Caitlin Kalinowski Resigns Over DoD Contract and Autonomous Weapons Concerns

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OpenAI hardware leader Caitlin Kalinowski who resigned over DoD contract concerns about autonomous weapons

Caitlin Kalinowski, who led hardware and robotics engineering at OpenAI since November 2024, announced her resignation on March 7, 2026 citing concerns about domestic surveillance without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization under OpenAI's new Department of Defense contract. Her departure follows the collapse of Anthropic's Pentagon negotiations and OpenAI stepping in to fill the resulting contract, a move CEO Sam Altman acknowledged "looked opportunistic." The resignation adds to growing internal tension at AI labs over military AI deployments and the ethical boundaries of national security use cases.

Key Takeaways

  • Kalinowski posted: "surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got" — resigned March 7, 2026 after OpenAI signed a DoD classified network deployment deal
  • OpenAI confirmed the departure and said its Pentagon agreement "creates a workable path for responsible national security uses of AI" with explicit red lines: no domestic surveillance and no autonomous weapons
  • Kalinowski previously led Meta's Orion AR glasses project (9+ years at Oculus/Meta) and spent 6 years designing MacBooks at Apple before joining OpenAI in November 2024

Original source: Fortune