Reports indicate that executives involved in the development of Apple Vision Pro and smart glasses are moving to OpenAI.

A fierce competition is underway among companies to secure talent involved in AI and hardware development. Bloomberg has now reported that the head of Apple Vision Pro and smart glasses development projects has left Apple to join OpenAI.

Apple's Vision Pro and Smart Glasses Chief Paul Meade Is Leaving for OpenAI - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/apple-s-vision-pro-and-smart-glasses-chief-paul-meade-is-leaving-for-openai

Apple Vision Pro exec is reportedly leaving for OpenAI | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/27/apple-vision-pro-exec-is-reportedly-leaving-for-openai/

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who spoke with sources, Paul Mead, Apple's vice president of hardware engineering for its Vision products division, is scheduled to leave Apple by July 2026 to join OpenAI's hardware division. The sources said that 'Mead will be involved in the development of AI-powered devices that OpenAI is currently developing.'

Mead previously led the hardware engineering for Apple Vision Pro, which was once considered Apple's next-generation flagship computing platform, for seven years. The Vision product division, which Mead led, is also rumored to be developing smart glasses, a project Apple is pushing forward, as well as working on numerous AI-related wearable devices.

Apple has reportedly stopped development of a successor to the Apple Vision Pro and is focusing on smart glasses - GIGAZINE

Gurman points out that Mead's departure is a blow to Apple, the iPhone maker. According to Gurman, Mead's resignation is a consequence of his former boss, John Turnus, becoming the new CEO, succeeding Tim Cook.

When Turnus became CEO, Johnny Slooge, head of Apple's semiconductor division, was appointed Chief Hardware Officer, and Apple's hardware division underwent a fairly large-scale personnel change. With Slooge now overseeing the entire hardware division, some leaders, including Mead, came under the purview of Tom Malyb, the new head of hardware development, and as a result, their position as executives was reduced by one level. Gurman speculates that this change in position within the company may have been one of the factors that prompted Mead's departure.

It appears that many of the duties previously held by Mr. Mead will be taken over by Fletcher Roskopf, who was Mr. Mead's right-hand man.