The brain drain from Apple to OpenAI just claimed another big name, and this one stings a little, because it’s the guy in charge of the Vision Pro and Apple’s upcoming smart glasses. Let me get you up to speed.
According to Bloomberg, Paul Meade, the executive overseeing development on the Vision Pro and those AI glasses everyone’s waiting for, is leaving Apple for OpenAI. And he’s gone fast, we’re talking by next week.
Here’s why this one matters. Meade isn’t some new hire. He’s been at Apple since 2010, and he’s been part of the Vision Products Group since 2017, so right from the early days of Apple’s headset ambitions. He took over leadership of that group when Vision Pro chief Mike Rockwell got moved across to sort out Siri’s big AI upgrade. Before running the show, Meade was leading the Vision Pro hardware engineering team, and going further back he was on the iPad and iPhone teams. So this is a proper Apple veteran walking out the door.
And it’s what he was working on recently that really makes you raise an eyebrow. Meade was overseeing the AI smart glasses Apple’s building to take on the Meta Ray-Bans, and he was also leading the team working on future augmented reality glasses. Basically, the entire face-computer future Apple keeps hinting at. That guy.
So where’s he going? Straight into OpenAI’s hardware unit to work on AI devices. Which, if you’ve been following along, is exactly the kind of product OpenAI has been signalling it wants to build. Picking up the person who ran Apple’s glasses programme is a serious flex.
As for who fills the gap, Fletcher Rothkopf, who currently heads up the product design function for the Vision Pro and smart glasses, is stepping in to take over from Meade.
But here’s the bit that ties it all together. Meade’s exit isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s tied to a wave of executive changes at Apple as John Ternus gets ready to take over as CEO. As part of that shuffle, Apple’s chip lead Johny Srouji is moving into Ternus’s old role as chief hardware officer, and that reorganisation has reportedly ruffled some feathers among the hardware executives. Meade leaving looks like one of the first visible consequences of that.
So that’s the story. Apple loses a 16-year veteran running one of its most important future products, OpenAI scoops him up for its own hardware push, and it’s all unfolding against a backdrop of leadership upheaval at the top. Keep an eye on this one, because if the reorg really has rattled the hardware team, Meade might not be the last name we see leave.
