Paul Meade, the Vice President of Apple’s Vision Products Group and leader of the company’s Vision Pro headset and smart glasses projects, is reportedly leaving Apple next week. According to Bloomberg, he will be joining OpenAI to lead their hardware unit.
OpenAI has been developing AI-powered devices with Jony Ive’s startup, io, since 2025. The io merged with OpenAI in a $6.5 billion deal and remains independent. It is currently unclear how this new in-house department will impact the ongoing work with Ive’s startup.
Meade will oversee the development of a family of AI-powered devices at OpenAI. Previous reports indicated that Ive’s studio is also working on a series of AI devices, including a smart speaker slated for release sometime in 2027.
At Apple, Meade had led the hardware engineering for the Vision Pro headset for seven years and previously spearheaded the company’s smart glasses projects. Earlier reports suggested that Apple plans to launch its first smart glasses model by the end of 2027.
Prior to joining the Vision Products Group in 2017, Meade worked on the iPad and iPhone. He then took over overseeing the group’s hardware engineering a couple of years later.
Fletcher Rothkopf, one of the founders of the Apple Vision Pro team, will assume many of Meade’s responsibilities.
Bloomberg attributes Meade’s departure to John Ternus’ impending appointment as CEO of Apple. Ternus is currently Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and will take over from Tim Cook on September 1st.