On Friday, artificial intelligence startup OpenAI To the U.S. PatenttrademarkThe company has filed a new trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to register a trademark for products associated with its brand name "OpenAI". Normally, trademark filings by companies aren't of particular interest, but in this case OpenAI is hinting at possible new product lines in the future, both in the immediate future as well as in more forward-looking areas.
According to the application documents.OpenAI plans to develop a range of hardware products, including headsets, glasses, remote controls, laptop and phone cases, smartwatches, smart jewelry, and virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets for "AI-assisted interactions, simulations, and training."
1AI notes that the move coincides with OpenAI's previously disclosed plans for a hardware project. Last year, OpenAI confirmed that it was working on a hardware project with former Apple designer Jonny Ive, and in an interview with South Korean media outlet The Elec on Sunday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company hoped to develop AI-powered, consumer-grade hardware products in collaboration with a number of companies. However, Altman also admitted that even a prototype of an AI-powered device could take "several years" to complete.
Additionally, OpenAI's trademark application mentions robotic products, specifically "user-programmable humanoid robots" and "humanoid robots with communication and learning capabilities for assisting and entertaining human beings". This direction echoes OpenAI's recent hiring efforts. OpenAI is reportedly building a new robotics team led by Caitlin Kalinowski, who joined the company last November from the Meta AR glasses division. According to the job posting and a report from The Information, OpenAI plans to test robots powered by custom sensors and artificial intelligence.These robots may have a humanoid design and be able to operate in real-world environments with a human-like level of intelligence.
In a further description of the trademark application, OpenAI also mentions custom AI chips and services to "optimize the performance of AI models using quantum computing resources. There have long been rumors that OpenAI is developing custom chips to run its AI models. The company has an in-house department focused on chip-component co-design, and reports suggest that OpenAI plans to work with semiconductor makers Broadcom and TSMC on custom chips as early as 2026.
As for quantum computing, OpenAI's plans are unclear. However, last year OpenAI hired a former quantum systems architect from quantum computing startup PsiQuantum to join its technical team. Quantum computing is expected to significantly improve the training efficiency of AI models due to its ability to perform a large number of computations simultaneously. As the cost of AI computing remains high, OpenAI may be exploring future paths for training models on hardware that is architecturally distinct from existing devices.
It's worth noting that trademark applications are often intentionally written broadly and don't necessarily reflect a company's specific product roadmap. openAI's application may reveal areas it is exploring, or at least considering exploring, but it's still unknown when, or if, the technologies referenced in the filing will actually make it to market.
