{"slug": "openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman", "title": "OpenAI plans to develop humanoid robot, says Sam Altman", "summary": "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on May 31, 2026 that the company is rebuilding its robotics division to develop humanoid robots, targeting construction-assisting models by 2027 and consumer robots later. The initiative, which began quietly in February 2025 with a new San Francisco lab and a planned second facility in Richmond, California, will leverage OpenAI's world simulation technology and marks a shift from its earlier Dactyl robotic hand project. OpenAI faces competition from Tesla's Optimus and holds stakes in robotics startups Figure and 1X.", "body_md": "Photo: igovar igovar / Pexels\n\n# OpenAI plans to develop humanoid robot, says Sam Altman\n\nThe AI giant is rebuilding its robotics division with plans for construction-assisting robots by 2027 and consumer models further down the line\n\nOpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on May 31, 2026 that the company is launching a major push into robotics, with ambitions to build humanoid robots that can handle real-world tasks.\n\nAltman laid out a two-phase vision: first, general-purpose robots designed to assist skilled workers in infrastructure and construction, and later, personal robots built for everyday consumer use.\n\n## From Dactyl to round two\n\nThis isn’t OpenAI’s first attempt at robotics. The company previously ran a robotics division that produced Dactyl, a robotic hand capable of manipulating objects with impressive dexterity. That effort was shut down around 2020-2021 as the company shifted resources toward its language model work, the bet that eventually produced ChatGPT.\n\nThe rebuild started quietly in February 2025, when OpenAI began reassembling its robotics capabilities. The company established a new lab in San Francisco and is planning to expand with a second facility in Richmond, California. The lab has reportedly quadrupled in size since its inception.\n\nAltman has signaled an aggressive hiring campaign across hardware engineering, operations, systems design, and machine learning.\n\nThe technical approach draws from OpenAI’s internal work on world simulation, essentially training AI systems to understand and predict physical environments. Altman links this shift in strategy to advancements in embodied intelligence and simulation technology, representing a meaningful evolution from the Dactyl era, when the focus was narrower and more task-specific.\n\n## The competitive landscape is getting crowded\n\nOpenAI is entering a robotics race that already has some formidable runners. Tesla’s Optimus humanoid project has been progressing through iterative prototypes. OpenAI itself holds investment stakes in Figure and 1X, two humanoid robotics startups that have attracted significant venture capital.\n\nAltman suggested that robots capable of performing useful real-world tasks could emerge by 2027.\n\n## Why construction comes first\n\nThe decision to target infrastructure and construction before consumer applications is pragmatic. Construction sites are controlled environments with defined tasks, high labor costs, and chronic worker shortages. A robot that can assist a skilled electrician or carry materials on a job site doesn’t need to navigate the unpredictable chaos of a family kitchen.\n\nThe broader humanoid robotics market has attracted projections ranging into multi-trillion-dollar territory over the coming decades.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/openai-humanoid-robot-sam-altman/", "published_at": "2026-08-28 02:22:29+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-28 02:49:30.152661+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Sam Altman", "Tesla", "Figure", "1X", "Dactyl", "Richmond, California"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-plans-to-develop-humanoid-robot-says-sam-altman.jsonld"}}