Paul Meade, Apple’s Vice President in charge of the Vision Pro headset and upcoming AI-powered smart glasses, is leaving to join OpenAI’s hardware team. His departure reportedly stems from a hardware engineering shake-up under potential new Apple CEO John Ternus, which left some VPs feeling demoted.
While the costly Vision Pro wasn’t a hit, Apple hopes its more affordable smart glasses will succeed. Meade’s move signals OpenAI’s growing hardware ambitions, as it’s already collaborating with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on an AI device. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman envisions this device as a calmer alternative to an iPhone, though early reports suggested development challenges.
Paul Meade, the Apple vice president in charge of the Vision Pro headset, is leaving the company to join OpenAI’s hardware team, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Meade also reportedly led the development of the AI-powered smart glasses that Apple plans to launch next year. The costly Vision Pro was not a hit, but Apple is hoping that more affordable smart glasses will help it compete with wearable devices from Meta.
Gurman frames this departure as a byproduct of John Ternus’ imminent elevation to Apple CEO, and of Ternus’ decision to shake up the hardware engineering team, which left some of the company’s vice presidents feeling like they’d been demoted.
OpenAI, meanwhile, is already working with Apple’s former chief design officer Jony Ive on an AI device that CEO Sam Altman has claimed will be more peaceful and calm than an iPhone, though reports last fall suggested the company was struggling to get the details right.
TechCrunch has reached out to Apple and OpenAI for comment.
Hinweis: Externer Inhalt von https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/27/apple-vision-pro-exec-is-reportedly-leaving-for-openai/. Rechte bei den jeweiligen Urhebern. » Mehr… » Melden
