Altman says OpenAI will "definitely" build its own humanoid robots
In a TIME interview published 2026-08-26 ("Inside OpenAI's Reboot", Alex Heath), Sam Altman said OpenAI will "definitely" make humanoid robots, and in early September on the Sources podcast he added "we will do other form factors as well"; OpenAI Robotics is hiring hardware engineers (actuators, PCB, firmware, thermal) in San Francisco, marking a shift from partnering with Figure to building robots in-house. No prototype, timeline or manufacturing partner was disclosed.
Key facts
- TIME, 2026-08-26: Altman says OpenAI will "definitely" make humanoid robots; believes everyone should eventually have a personal robot
- Sources podcast (early Sept 2026, reported as 2026-09-05): "We will definitely do a humanoid. We will do other form factors as well." (quote as reported by humanoid.guide)
- OpenAI plans both the robot hardware and the AI to control it; Altman expects industrial deployment before consumer homes (as reported)
- Forbes (2026-09-03) counted about 19 open robotics roles in San Francisco, incl. four actuator roles (secondary report; count not independently checked)
- Context: OpenAI invested in Figure's 2024 round; Figure ended its OpenAI collaboration in Feb 2025 to build its own models (Helix)
- Same TIME interview: pocket-sized LoveFrom/Jony Ive device expected early 2027; 'Jalapeño' inference chip planned for deployment by end of 2026
What happened
OpenAI shut down its original robotics team in 2021 and later worked with Figure, whose 2024 round it joined. It says it will now build humanoid robots itself. Altman confirmed this in TIME's long interview about the company's "reboot" (published 2026-08-26) and repeated it on the Sources podcast in early September. Job postings for OpenAI Robotics cover actuators, PCB layout, firmware, thermal simulation and robot data-collection operations, so the effort has headcount. OpenAI has shown no prototype and given no dates.
Why it matters
With this, every leading frontier lab (Google DeepMind with Gemini Robotics, NVIDIA with GR00T, Meta, Tesla and now OpenAI) is chasing embodied AI, and OpenAI is betting on vertical integration: its own chips, device, data centers and robots. A large part of the reason is data. Owning robots lets OpenAI collect the physical-interaction data it lacks.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created (Forbes article not directly readable, 403; Sources-podcast quote and job counts rely on secondary reports)
Related events
- OpenAI pauses frontier RL training and deliberately slows down after sandbox escape ★★★★
- Figure Helix 02: one neural network controls a humanoid's whole body from pixels ★★★★
- Meta acquires Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) to build humanoid robot foundation models ★★
Sources (4)
- pressTIME: Inside OpenAI's Reboot (Alex Heath, 2026-08-26)
- pressForbes: OpenAI Is Making A Humanoid Robot. Sam Altman Says Everyone Should Have One
- pressHumanoid Guide: OpenAI confirms it will build its own humanoid robot
- pressThe Rundown AI: Altman says OpenAI will build humanoids
id: 2026-08-26-openai-will-build-humanoid-robots · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline