# OpenAI's early robot hand failed for mechanical reasons

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/openais-early-robot-hand-failed-for-mechanical-reasons/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Sam Altman](https://realalpha.app/builders/sam-altman/) · Sam Altman is CEO of OpenAI. · Co-founded OpenAI and has led it since 2019, overseeing ChatGPT's launch; formerly president of Y Combinator.
- Host: [Jack Altman](https://realalpha.app/people/jack-altman/) · General partner, Benchmark · Co-founded Lattice and ran it until 2023, then started his fund, Alt Capital.
- Show: Uncapped
- Episode: [Sam Altman on The Future of AI | Ep. 13](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/), Jun 17, 2025
- Moment: 5:33 to 8:02 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/openais-early-robot-hand-failed-for-mechanical-reasons/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=333

## Quote

> “**the thing just broke** all the time the simulator was like a little bit off”
> — [Sam Altman](https://realalpha.app/builders/sam-altman/) at [6:31](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=391) · Uncapped

## Takeaways

1. OpenAI worked on a robotic hand early on.
2. Hardware failures and simulator mismatch were core obstacles.
3. Altman predicted capable humanoids within five to ten years.

## About this segment

Sam Altman says OpenAI's early robotic hand kept breaking and its simulator was slightly inaccurate. He expects humanoids in five to ten years, but says the body is a separate challenge from the AI.

From “Sam Altman on The Future of AI | Ep. 13”, Jun 17, 2025. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[5:37](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=337) So that'll climb the gradient. Yeah. What about in the world of like physical stuff? Because like I get that. I mean, it seems to me, you know, very clear that like software is just going this direction. Science, I know less. Take your word on it. what about like moving physical things around behind but i think we'll get there uh for example i think we have some new technology that could just do self-driving for standard cars way better than any current approach has worked and that might not be quite what you meant by like no it is humanoid robots yeah but if our ai techniques can like really go drive a car that's still pretty cool yeah um humanoid robots are the dream obviously i really care about that i think we will get there eventually it's been like a hard mechanical engineering challenge that's more the issue no both things are hard but like even if we have the perfect

[6:26](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=386) brain right now i don't know we have the body yet um we we actually very early on opening out we used to work on this robotic hand and it was hard for all the wrong reasons like the thing just broke all the time the simulator was like a little bit off wow but you know we'll get there yeah i think five to ten years we'll have great humanoid robots yeah like amazing and they'll just like walk down the street be doing stuff yeah i mean you would think that's where a huge amount of step change unlocks right i think that would be one of the moments that not only is unlocks a bunch of stuff in the world i think that will feel the strangest you get used to a lot of things we get used to like chat gpt doing these things that would have sounded like a miracle five years ago but if you walk down the street and it's like half robots are you going to get used to that

[7:10](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=430) one right away i don't know probably you do but it feels like a big difference that's the one that'll feel like there's like a new species taking over us yeah i think that'll feel i'm gonna feel like a new species or that it's taking over but i think it will feel like the future in a way that chat gbt still does not i think also if we can figure out great new computing devices to make that will feel maybe like the future but as amazing as chat gbt is or these new coding agents and they are amazing it's like still stuck in the form factor of the past yeah it's also stuck in it's stuck in the computer yeah yeah there's definitely something about that it only can do stuff at the computer but i don't know like how much of the economic value in all the world do you think is like cognitive labor that can

[7:55](https://realalpha.app/v/mZUG0pr5hBo/?t=475) be done behind a computer like half i was gonna say a quarter but maybe i don't know but