Jan Liphardt, founder of OpenMind, talks with The Humanoid Hub host at the host’s San Francisco office about open-source robotics software, humanoid use cases, and modular AI systems.
Liphardt says large language models are adding decision-making and navigation capabilities to robotics after years of focus on basic movement. He argues that powerful machines should be understandable and open to public contributions, so people can inspect how they work.
OpenMind’s software coordinates capabilities across robot computers, including motion, sensors, and local inference, with cloud models available as well. Liphardt says the framework is focused on human interaction, decisions, and learning about the world, rather than fine motor skills such as surgery, backflips, or assembly.
Liphardt identifies tutoring, health and safety support, and security monitoring as likely early capabilities. He gives examples such as helping a child with math, finding an older adult after a fall, and alerting a household when a quadruped sees someone unfamiliar. He expects chores like mopping and picking up laundry to arrive later because they are difficult for robots.
Liphardt says end-to-end models can work well for robots with fixed designs and tasks, such as cars that steer, brake, and accelerate. When sensors or capabilities change, modular components are easier to reconfigure; readable module logs can also help teams trace why a robot behaved a certain way.
Liphardt says humanoids remain expensive and scarce, making development difficult, but points to K-Scale and Hugging Face as signs of more affordable hardware to come. OpenMind is building simulation tools so developers can start now and later deploy their work to physical robots. He estimates that broader hardware access could be six to nine months away.
Briefs summarise talks and interviews; timestamps open the video at that moment. Claims in a talk are the speaker's own.
Jan Liphardt, founder and CEO of OpenMind and Stanford bioengineering associate professor, joins Going Direct host Jordan to discuss open software, robot intelligence, and how humanoids could be deployed.
