AI startup OpenAI has filed a patent in the United States, indicating that the company is exploring the development of an array of products. These include smart watches, smart bands, smart jewellery, wearable computers and cameras, and laptop and mobile phone cases.
Furthermore, the patent also lists “user-programmable humanoid robots” and “humanoid robots having communication and learning functions for assisting and entertaining people”.
The patent application’s status is awaiting examination, which means that it has been accepted as meeting the minimum filing requirements and is in the early stages of processing. According to the document, the patent was filed on January 31.
Notably, companies file broad patents to secure intellectual property rights, but not all patented innovations make it to the market. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how many of these products end up on OpenAI’s product development roadmap and, eventually, the market.
A report from InQuartik revealed that as of December 20, 2024, 25 patents have been publicly disclosed. This includes 21 US patents and four World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) applications. Of these, 14 US patents have already been granted.
Last month, OpenAI explicitly revealed its plans to develop humanoids. For the first time, the company listed job roles related to robotics and hardware on its website. Announcing the same on X, Caitlin Kalinowski, a member of OpenAI’s technical staff, said, “I just hit my two-month mark at OpenAI and can confirm the talent density, work velocity, and focus make this a really wonderful place to do technical work.”
The company is currently hiring a mechanical product engineer, a senior research engineer, and a systems integration electrical engineer, all of whom are focused on robotics.
As per reports, OpenAI is also building a hardware device which has the potential to “replace smartphones”.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also revealed that the company is planning to build the device in partnership with former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive.
Last year, it was also reported that the partnership between OpenAI and Ive had been in the works to create a device that uses generative AI to handle complex user interactions more efficiently than traditional software.
In other news, OpenAI has also launched deep research, a new capability in ChatGPT that independently conducts multi-step research on the internet. This tool can handle complex tasks in a fraction of the time it would take a human researcher.
