Apple Vision Pro Executive Leaves for OpenAI

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.

The departure of Paul Meade to OpenAI underscores the intense competition in the tech industry for talent and innovation. For Apple, Meade's exit comes at a time when the company is trying to revamp its wearable strategy after the lukewarm reception of the Vision Pro headset. The success of its upcoming smart glasses, led by Meade during his tenure, will be crucial in determining Apple's standing in the wearable market.

For OpenAI, adding Meade to its hardware team could accelerate its ambitions in creating novel AI-powered devices. However, questions remain about the feasibility of OpenAI's AI device project with Jony Ive, and whether it can deliver on its promises of a more peaceful and calm user experience. As the AI and tech industries continue to converge, collaborations like this will likely become more common, raising important questions about talent mobility, innovation, and the future of consumer technology.