Paul Meade, the Apple vice president who oversaw the Vision Pro headset, is reportedly leaving Cupertino to join OpenAI's hardware team. The move, first reported by Bloomberg, marks another high-profile defection from Apple’s secretive hardware division to the AI startup that refuses to stop growing.
Meade’s departure is a gut punch to Apple’s mixed-reality ambitions. He was point man on the Vision Pro — the company’s $3,499 gamble on spatial computing. Since launch, the headset has been a technical marvel and a sales flop. Sources inside Apple say Meade grew frustrated with the slow pace of adoption and internal battles over the device's future.
Now he’s taking his talents to OpenAI, which is quietly building a hardware team of its own. The startup has been hiring ex-Apple engineers for months, snapping up talent from the company’s hardware, chip, and design groups. Meade is the biggest catch yet.
The Vision Pro's rocky road
Apple’s Vision Pro launched with fanfare in early 2024. Tim Cook called it “the beginning of spatial computing.” But the reality has been more sobering. Early reviews praised the technology but questioned the price and utility. Sales estimates hover around 500,000 units — a fraction of the 10 million Apple originally projected.
Meade was responsible for the product’s development and go-to-market strategy. Insiders say he clashed with Apple’s design team over the device’s weight and form factor. He also pushed for a lower-cost version, but the company’s supply chain couldn’t deliver. The result was a product that impressed tech reviewers but failed to find a mass audience.
“Meade believed in the Vision Pro,” says a former Apple engineer who worked on the project. “But he also saw the writing on the wall. Apple’s not going to sell a billion of these things. He wanted to be part of something that could actually change the world.”
OpenAI's hardware ambitions
OpenAI has been quietly assembling a hardware team since 2025. The company hired ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive as a consultant last year. It also poached chip architects from Google and Amazon. The goal, according to internal memos, is to build an AI-native device — something that doesn’t just run AI software but is designed from the ground up for it.
Meade’s role at OpenAI is unclear, but sources say he’ll lead the hardware division. That puts him in charge of developing the company’s first physical product. Rumors suggest it could be a wearable AI assistant, a smart glasses rival to Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories, or even a home robot. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hinted at “something revolutionary” in the works.
“The most dangerous thing you can do is underestimate OpenAI’s ability to poach talent,” says a Silicon Valley recruiter. “They have billions in funding and a mission that engineers find intoxicating.”
OpenAI’s war chest is staggering. The company raised $10 billion from Microsoft in 2023 and another $5 billion from SoftBank last year. It’s spending aggressively on compute, research, and now hardware. For engineers like Meade, the appeal is clear: unlimited resources, a charismatic founder, and a chance to build something from scratch.
Apple's talent bleed
Meade is not the first Apple hardware exec to leave for OpenAI, but he’s the highest profile. His departure adds to a growing exodus from Apple’s hardware teams. In the past two years, the company has lost key engineers from its camera, battery, and silicon divisions. Some retired. Some started their own companies. But many went to OpenAI.
Apple is fighting back. The company has increased salaries and stock grants for top talent. It’s also pushing new projects like the Apple Car and a mixed-reality successor to the Vision Pro. But the lure of AI is hard to beat. Every engineer in Silicon Valley knows that the next big thing won’t be a phone or a headset — it will be something powered by artificial intelligence.
“Apple is still a great place to work,” says the former engineer. “But the energy is at OpenAI right now. That’s where the action is.”
What it means for the Vision Pro
Meade’s departure raises questions about the Vision Pro’s future. Apple has already scaled back production plans. The company is rumored to be working on a cheaper version, but insiders say it’s at least two years away. Without Meade, the project loses its biggest internal champion.
Still, Apple is not a company that gives up easily. The Vision Pro is a long-term bet. The company has hundreds of engineers still working on the product. And Tim Cook has made it clear that spatial computing is a priority. But the loss of Meade is a blow — and a signal that even Apple’s top talent believes the future belongs to AI.
