{"slug": "why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai", "title": "Why we’re at the beginning of the AI hardware boom | Caitlin Kalinowski (ex–OpenAI, Meta, Apple)", "summary": "Caitlin Kalinowski, a veteran hardware engineer who led teams at OpenAI, Meta, and Apple, argues the AI industry is entering a hardware boom driven by robotics and memory constraints. She warns startups to pre-buy memory now to avoid an impending price shock, and says humanoid robots remain prototypes with mass deployment gated by cost and manufacturing challenges. Kalinowski, who built hardware for the MacBook, Quest, and Orion AR glasses, left OpenAI to focus on the next frontier of physical AI.", "body_md": "**Caitlin Kalinowski **was most recently at OpenAI helping build their robotics and hardware teams from scratch. Prior to that, she was head of AR glasses and VR hardware at Meta, where she led the teams building every generation of the Quest, Rift, and Orion, and was Meta’s first consumer electronics hire. Before this, she was technical lead on MacBook Air and Mac Pro at Apple, and helped engineer the original unibody MacBook Pro. She’s designed and engineered some of the hardest and most beloved consumer hardware products in history and is now focused on the next frontier: robotics.\n\n**Listen on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts**\n\n### In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:\n\nVR—what happened?\n\nThe coming memory price shock and why she’s telling startups to pre-buy now\n\nHow the technologies built for VR became the foundation of modern warfare\n\nWhy humanoid robots are still just prototypes, and what’s actually gating mass deployment\n\nLessons from Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sam Altman\n\nWhy she left OpenAI\n\n### Brought to you by:\n\n** WorkOS**—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more\n\n** Vanta**—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI\n\n### Where to find Caitlin Kalinowski:\n\n• X: [https://x.com/kalinowski007](https://x.com/kalinowski007)\n\n• LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckalinowski](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ckalinowski)\n\n• Website: [https://www.caitlinkalinowski.com](https://www.caitlinkalinowski.com)\n\n### Referenced:\n\n• MacBook: [https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac)\n\n• Brett Degner on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-degner-a723594](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-degner-a723594)\n\n• Apple Vision Pro: [https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro](https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro)\n\n• Orion glasses: [https://www.meta.com/emerging-tech/orion](https://www.meta.com/emerging-tech/orion)\n\n• Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn’t even started yet: [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom)\n\n• Palmer Luckey on X: [https://x.com/PalmerLuckey](https://x.com/PalmerLuckey)\n\n• Anduril: [https://www.anduril.com](https://www.anduril.com)\n\n• OpenClaw: [https://openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai)\n\n• Moltbook: [https://www.moltbook.com](https://www.moltbook.com)\n\n• Nat Friedman on X: [https://x.com/natfriedman](https://x.com/natfriedman)\n\n• Shelly Goldberg on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelly-goldberg-9b3b621](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelly-goldberg-9b3b621)\n\n• Kate Bergeron on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebergeron](https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebergeron)\n\n• Matic: [https://maticrobots.com](https://maticrobots.com)\n\n• Mehul Nariyawala on X: [https://x.com/mehul](https://x.com/mehul)\n\n• Tesla: [https://www.tesla.com](https://www.tesla.com)\n\n• Starlink: [https://starlink.com](https://starlink.com)\n\n• The Godmother of AI on jobs, robots, and why world models are next | Dr. Fei-Fei Li: [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-godmother-of-ai](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-godmother-of-ai)\n\n• Why experts writing AI evals is creating the fastest-growing companies in history | Brendan Foody (CEO of Mercor): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/experts-writing-ai-evals-brendan-foody](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/experts-writing-ai-evals-brendan-foody)\n\n• The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google’s secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/surge-ai-edwin-chen](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/surge-ai-edwin-chen)\n\n• Inside the expert network training every frontier AI model | Garrett Lord (Handshake CEO): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-handshake-garrett-lord](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-handshake-garrett-lord)\n\n• Yelena Rachitsky on X: [https://x.com/yelenart](https://x.com/yelenart)\n\n• Leila Takayama on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leilatakayama](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leilatakayama)\n\n• Pixar: [https://www.pixar.com](https://www.pixar.com)\n\n• Disney: [https://www.disney.com](https://www.disney.com)\n\n• Caitlin’s post on leaving OpenAI: [https://x.com/kalinowski007/status/2030320074121478618](https://x.com/kalinowski007/status/2030320074121478618)\n\n• Sam Altman on X: [https://x.com/sama](https://x.com/sama)\n\n• Jony Ive: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive)\n\n• Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook: [https://www.facebook.com/zuck](https://www.facebook.com/zuck)\n\n• Making Meta | Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth (CTO): [https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto](https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/making-meta-andrew-boz-bosworth-cto)\n\n• Quest 2: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_2)\n\n• *Euphoria *on HBO Max: [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/euphoria/4ffd33c9-e0d6-4cd6-bd13-34c266c79be0](https://www.hbomax.com/shows/euphoria/4ffd33c9-e0d6-4cd6-bd13-34c266c79be0)\n\n• Vollebak: [https://vollebak.com](https://vollebak.com)\n\n• Tim Urban’s post on X: [https://x.com/waitbutwhy/status/1367871165319049221](https://x.com/waitbutwhy/status/1367871165319049221)\n\n• Old Testament: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament)\n\n### Recommended books:\n\n• *Shadow & Claw (The Book of the New Sun, 1)*: [https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Claw-First-Half-Book/dp/1250781256](https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Claw-First-Half-Book/dp/1250781256)\n\n• *Mrs. Dalloway*: [https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Dalloway-VIRGINIA-WOOLF/dp/8175994215](https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Dalloway-VIRGINIA-WOOLF/dp/8175994215)\n\n• *The Histories*: [https://www.amazon.com/Histories-Herodotus/dp/0140449086](https://www.amazon.com/Histories-Herodotus/dp/0140449086)\n\n• *The Epic of Gilgamesh*: [https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Gilgamesh/dp/014044100X](https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Gilgamesh/dp/014044100X)\n\nProduction and marketing by [https://penname.co/](https://penname.co/). For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5828373c3b392b2c18343d3636212a393b30312c2b3321763b3735).\n\n*Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai", "canonical_source": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the", "published_at": "2026-05-17 12:31:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-25 17:09:27.907803+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "robotics", "ai-startups"], "entities": ["Caitlin Kalinowski", "OpenAI", "Meta", "Apple", "Quest", "Rift", "Orion", "MacBook Air"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-were-at-the-beginning-of-the-ai-hardware-boom-caitlin-kalinowski-ex-openai.jsonld"}}