Apple loses Vision Pro chief Paul Meade to OpenAI as hardware talent exodus continues

Paul Meade Joins OpenAI After 15 Years at Apple

Paul Meade, Apple's vice president of hardware engineering who oversees the Vision Pro and smart glasses development, is departing for OpenAI next week, marking another significant Apple executive departure to the AI company 1

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. Meade has been at Apple since 2010 and joined the Vision Products Group in 2017, previously working on iPad and iPhone teams before taking a central role in Apple Vision Pro development 2

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. He assumed leadership of the Vision Products Group after Mike Rockwell, the creator of Vision Pro, was shifted to oversee Siri following AI failures in that department 1

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. Most recently, Meade was responsible for developing AI-powered smart glasses designed to compete with Meta Ray-Bans, as well as leading the team working on future augmented reality glasses 2

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OpenAI Hardware Team Attracts Former Apple Talent

Meade will join the OpenAI hardware team to work on AI-powered devices, becoming the latest in a string of high-profile Apple departures to the company 3

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. Former Apple designer Jony Ive appears to be rebuilding his Cupertino team at his new venture, which was recently acquired by OpenAI. Meade joins Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, who previously ran design, hardware, product design and industrial design at Apple with Ive 1

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. OpenAI has reportedly hired as many as 40 Apple engineers, including manufacturing design expert Matt Theobald and human interface design lead Cyrus Daniel Irani 3

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. This talent poaching brings significant expertise and knowledge of Apple's plans to OpenAI, which is designing its own suite of consumer AI hardware.

Apple's Product Roadmap Under Scrutiny

Analyst Francisco Jeronimo of IDC told Tom's Guide that Apple may be "rethinking its future product roadmap and looking for a different challenge" 1

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. The departures come as Apple undergoes leadership changes with John Ternus preparing to take over as CEO from Tim Cook. Apple chip lead Johny Srouji is taking Ternus's role as chief hardware officer, and this reorganization has upset some hardware executives . Fletcher Rothkopf, who heads up product design function for the Vision Pro and smart glasses, will take over for Meade 2

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. Avi Greengart of Techsponetial noted that this kind of attrition is normal after leadership changes, stating "The executive moves that Apple is making appear to be more about securing the future of Siri - which impacts nearly every product Apple makes" 1

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OpenAI's Ambitious Hardware Plans Target iPhone Killer

OpenAI has fast-tracked development of its own ChatGPT phone, which could debut as soon as the first quarter of 2027 1

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. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, OpenAI has settled on a customized version of MediaTek's upcoming Dimensity 9600 chip as the SoC for its planned smartphone, with Luxshare likely serving as the key assembler 3

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. The Dimensity 9600 chip will leverage TSMC's N2P node, with the Pro version expected to sport a 2+3+3 CPU architecture 3

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. OpenAI and Ive are reportedly developing at least five other AI-powered products for the wearables market, including earbuds, speakers, smart glasses, a smart pen, and a pin device 1

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Vision Pro Struggles as Smart Glasses Timeline Extends

Apple Vision Pro has largely failed to gain mainstream traction, while its smart glasses won't launch until late 2027, with AR glasses pushed back to 2028 or even 2029 3

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. Apple has reportedly back-burned its expensive, heavy Vision Pro headset in favor of two different smart glasses projects 1

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. Supply chain analysts claim the Meta Ray-Ban-esque Apple Glasses will launch in 2027, while an XR version might debut in 2028 or 2029 1

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. Greengart told Tom's Guide he expects "Apple to be a player in AI wearables one way or another," with any glasses likely to be more consumer-friendly and cheaper than the Vision Pro 1

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. To counter OpenAI's recruitment efforts, Apple recently increased bonuses for key design team members, who now stand to earn between $200,000 and $400,000 in annual bonuses depending on stock performance 3

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