Apple's Vision Pro hardware chief jumps ship to OpenAI

Paul Meade, Apple’s VP of Vision Pro and smart glasses engineering, is leaving next week to join OpenAI’s hardware division, according to sources. He’ll work on a range of future AI devices. Meade spent 16 years at Apple, rising through the ranks from iPad and iPhone engineering to lead the Vision Products Group (VPG).

Vision Pro sales have been sluggish, prompting Apple to pivot from its closed headset toward smart glasses similar to Meta’s. Mike Rockwell, the former VPG head, was moved to Siri, splitting VPG into separate hardware and software teams. Meade’s departure also comes amid a broader restructuring of Apple’s hardware engineering. With John Ternus set to succeed Tim Cook as CEO on September 1, new Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji reorganized, pushing Meade and other VPs under new VP Tom Marieb—effectively a demotion.

At OpenAI, Meade will reunite with several former Apple design executives, including Jony Ive, Tang Tan, and Evans Hankey. The three founded an AI hardware startup that OpenAI acquired last year for $6.5 billion.