OpenAI has disbanded its robotics team after years of research into machines that can learn to perform tasks like solving a Rubik’s Cube, shifting its focus to other domains, where data is more readily available.
“Because of the rapid progress in AI and its capabilities, we’ve found that other approaches, such as reinforcement learning with human feedback, lead to faster progress in our reinforcement learning research”, OpenAI cofounder Zaremba said.
Moving away from robotics might also reflect the economic realities the company faces. DeepMind, the Alphabet-owned AI research lab, has undergone a similar shift due to rising R&D cost in favour of work with applications, like protein shape prediction.
MORE