Former Apple Designer Behind iPhone Air Joins AI Startup Hark as Head of Design

Former Apple Designer Joins Brett Adcock's New Venture

Abidur Chowdhury, the former Apple designer who helped create the iPhone Air and starred in its introduction video, has joined AI startup Hark as head of design 1

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. The move, first reported when Chowdhury left Apple in November 2025, marks a significant talent acquisition for the newly launched venture 3

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. Brett Adcock, who also runs the robotics startup Figure AI, founded Hark and self-funded with $100 million of his own capital 1

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. Chowdhury had been with the tech giant since 2019 and was considered an up-and-comer, making his appearance in Apple's iPhone Air launch video a high-profile assignment 4

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Aggressive Talent Poaching from Silicon Valley Giants

AI startup Hark has moved quickly to assemble a team of experienced engineers, successfully attracting talent from Google, Meta, and Amazon 1

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. According to a memo sent by Adcock to Figure AI staff, the company now has 30 engineers from these major tech companies and aims to reach 100 employees in the first half of 2026 1

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. This rapid expansion signals Adcock's ambition to compete directly with established players in the AI space. The iPhone Air designer's role remains somewhat mysterious, with few details available about specific projects 3

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Building Human-Centric AI Models Alongside Robotics

Hark plans to develop AI models focused on what the company describes as human-centric AI, which can "think proactively, recursively improve and care deeply about people," according to internal memos 2

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. The startup's first AI model is slated for release this summer 1

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. Adcock envisions Hark growing alongside Figure AI, his robotics company that develops general-purpose humanoid robot technology 1

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. Figure AI achieved a post-money valuation of $39 billion in a Series C funding round in September, raising more than $1 billion to scale humanoid robots into homes and commercial operations 4

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Challenging Market for AI-Based Hardware

The industrial designer's move to Hark comes as AI-based hardware faces significant market challenges. Companies such as Humane, Rabbit, Limitless, and Bee have either been acquired or largely forgotten after failing to capture public attention 2

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. Meta has found success with its Ray-Ban-branded connected glasses through its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, though timing played a role as the LLM boom happened after the first version's release 2

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. OpenAI has also announced plans for AI-based hardware but has only confirmed what its first product will not be 2

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. What exactly the poached designer will help build at Hark remains unclear, though his experience creating consumer products at Apple could prove valuable as the startup attempts to differentiate itself in a crowded field.