OpenAI hires Apple Vision Pro and smart glasses chief

In a move that has surprised the tech industry, OpenAI has hired Paul Meade, the executive who led the development of the Apple Vision Pro and Apple's first smart glasses. According to Bloomberg and confirmed by sources close to the matter, Meade will join OpenAI's hardware team, where he will work alongside Jony Ive and other former Apple executives to create the company's first artificial intelligence devices. This hiring, initially reported by Mark Gurman, is not an isolated event but part of a broader trend of talent leaving Apple for AI companies, as previously seen with iOS design chief Tang Tan and industrial designer Evans Hankey, both now at OpenAI.

What happened?

Paul Meade was the head of Apple's Vision Products Group, overseeing both the Apple Vision Pro and the project for screenless smart glasses. His departure will take effect next week, according to Bloomberg. OpenAI, for its part, has been building a top-tier hardware team, especially after acquiring io, the startup co-founded by Jony Ive and Sam Altman in 2024. Meade will reunite there with figures like Evans Hankey, former vice president of industrial design at Apple, and Tang Tan, former director of iPhone and Apple Watch design. This concentration of Cupertino talent at OpenAI is unprecedented: never before has an AI company managed to attract so many key Apple executives in such a short time. For context, when Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, the company's hardware team was a well-guarded secret; now, OpenAI is replicating that strategy of secrecy and elite talent for its own devices.

Why is it important?

This hiring is significant for several reasons. First, OpenAI demonstrates its intention to compete in hardware, beyond software and language models. The addition of an expert in spatial devices suggests that OpenAI may be developing smart glasses with AI capabilities, a market that companies like Meta and Apple are already exploring. Meta, for example, has sold over one million units of its Ray-Ban Stories glasses, while the Apple Vision Pro has barely surpassed 500,000 units sold since its launch in 2024, according to analyst estimates. Second, for Apple, losing a key executive at a time when the Vision Pro has not met sales expectations (1 million units were expected in the first year) and smart glasses are still in early stages is a strategic setback. The talent drain to OpenAI, especially of figures with design and hardware experience, could slow Apple's plans in the mixed reality space, a sector the company considers crucial for future growth. Moreover, this move echoes Steve Wozniak's departure from Apple in the 1980s, though in that case it was due to internal differences, not a competitor's offer.

What consequences will it have?

In the short term, Apple will need to find a replacement for Meade, which could delay the development of smart glasses and the next generation of Vision Pro. According to 9to5Mac, Apple's smart glasses project, internally known as 'N107', was led by Meade and expected to launch in 2027; that timeline could now be compromised. At OpenAI, Meade's arrival accelerates its ability to launch proprietary hardware, possibly a wearable AI device that competes directly with Apple and Meta products. Rumors suggest that OpenAI and Jony Ive are working on a device similar to a smartphone but without a screen, controlled by voice and gestures, something Meade could help materialize thanks to his experience in spatial interaction. In the long term, this move could intensify the war for talent in the AI and hardware sector, with implications for innovation in user interfaces and spatial computing. Companies like Google and Amazon are also actively hiring Apple hardware engineers, suggesting that the talent bubble in Cupertino may be coming to an end.

What should readers know?

Readers should understand that this hiring is not an isolated case but part of a trend where AI companies are attracting the best hardware engineers and designers from Silicon Valley. The collaboration between OpenAI and Jony Ive had already generated expectations about a revolutionary AI device; with Meade on board, those expectations are reinforced. For users, this could mean the arrival of new smart devices that integrate AI assistants more naturally, possibly in the form of glasses or headphones. However, no concrete products have been announced yet, so any speculation should be taken with caution. What is clear is that OpenAI is building a hardware ecosystem that could rival Apple's in the coming years, and the hiring of Paul Meade is another step in that direction. As an analyst from TheVortiq noted: 'OpenAI's hiring of Paul Meade is a clear signal that the company is betting on hardware as the next big leap, and his experience in spatial devices could be key to defining how we interact with AI in the future.'