OpenAI just poached one of Apple’s most senior hardware minds. Paul Meade, who served as Vice President of Hardware Engineering for Apple’s Vision Products Group, has left to join OpenAI’s hardware team, according to Bloomberg.
Who is Paul Meade and why does it matter
Meade is not a peripheral figure. He was the person responsible for the hardware behind Apple’s Vision Pro, the company’s most ambitious and expensive consumer product in years.
His ascent at Apple came in stages. By late 2019, he had risen to VP after meaningful contributions to both iPhone hardware and Apple’s augmented reality initiatives.
In March 2025, Apple reorganized its internal structure to push harder on AI features. Mike Rockwell, who had previously led the Vision Products Group, was moved over to oversee Siri. Meade stepped into the primary leadership role for the group, taking charge of Vision Pro and Apple’s smart glasses efforts at a moment when the company was clearly trying to recalibrate around artificial intelligence.
