Paul Meade, Apple’s vice president responsible for the Vision Pro headset and its AI-powered smart glasses programme, is departing the company to join OpenAI’s hardware division. The move represents a significant talent acquisition for OpenAI as it accelerates its push into consumer AI hardware.
Meade led development of both the Vision Pro and Apple’s forthcoming smart glasses, expected to launch next year as the company seeks a more affordable wearable to compete with Meta’s Ray-Ban lineup. His departure is reportedly linked to internal restructuring under incoming Apple CEO John Ternus, whose reorganisation of the hardware engineering team left several vice presidents feeling sidelined.
At OpenAI, Meade joins a growing hardware effort already underway in collaboration with former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive, with CEO Sam Altman describing the company’s planned AI device as a fundamentally calmer and more ambient alternative to the smartphone.
