Apple Vision Pro VP departs for OpenAI

Apple is set to lose a senior hardware executive from its spatial-computing group, as vice president Paul Meade prepares to leave the company. Meade oversees hardware for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset and Apple’s smart-glasses efforts. His departure removes a prominent figure from the Vision Products Group at a time when Apple is investing in new device categories beyond the iPhone and Mac.

Meade is expected to leave Apple by next week. People familiar with the matter say he will then join OpenAI’s hardware unit, extending a pattern of high-profile moves between major technology firms working on artificial intelligence and advanced devices.

At OpenAI, Meade will work on an upcoming family of AI-powered devices. The role places him in a growing hardware organization focused on building products designed around artificial intelligence capabilities from the ground up. The planned devices have not been publicly detailed, but they are described as AI-first hardware projects.

His move underscores OpenAI’s effort to expand beyond software models into physical products. The hiring of an experienced hardware leader from Apple’s Vision Products Group is part of building out that capability, as OpenAI develops its own device roadmap.

Within Apple, many of Meade’s responsibilities will be assumed by Fletcher Rothkopf, described as Meade’s longtime deputy. Rothkopf leads product design for the Vision Pro headset and Apple’s smart-glasses efforts, positioning him to take on a larger role in the Vision Products Group after Meade’s exit.

Reports say Meade has led Vision Pro hardware engineering for years and has been part of Apple since about 2010, joining the Vision Products Group in 2017 and later taking broader hardware engineering responsibilities. His experience across Apple’s hardware organization made him a central figure in bringing the Vision Pro from concept to product.

Meade’s exit is linked in reporting to a broader reorganization of Apple’s hardware ranks. The changes followed leadership moves that included Johny Srouji assuming chief hardware responsibilities. As part of the reshuffle, some hardware vice presidents began reporting into new layers of management.

These organizational adjustments have altered reporting lines for several senior hardware executives. Meade’s decision to depart comes in the wake of these changes, adding another shift to Apple’s evolving hardware leadership structure while OpenAI continues to build out its own hardware team.