AAPL Stock Ends Week Lower — Apple’s Vision Pro And Smart Glasses Head Reportedly Defects To OpenAI

• Paul Meade, a 15-year Apple veteran who led hardware engineering for the Vision Pro and spearheaded upcoming smart glasses, will officially depart the iPhone maker. 
• Meade is joining OpenAI’s specialized hardware division to develop a new family of AI-powered consumer devices, adding to a growing roster of former Apple design talent at the artificial intelligence firm. 
• The high-profile exit follows a controversial restructuring within Apple’s hardware engineering division spearheaded by chip chief Johny Srouji.

Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) top executive overseeing the Vision Pro headset and the company’s unannounced smart glasses initiative is reportedly departing for rival artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.

Paul Meade, a vice president of hardware engineering within Apple’s Vision Products Group, is scheduled to exit the tech giant by next week, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. He will subsequently transition into OpenAI’s burgeoning consumer hardware unit to assist in designing a forthcoming ecosystem of AI-native products.

AAPL stock gained about 3% on Friday, but ended the week 4% lower. 

Meade’s Exit A Blow To Apple’s Virtual Reality Unit 

Meade’s departure represents a significant blow to Apple’s emerging spatial computing and augmented reality platforms. During his 15-year tenure in Cupertino, Meade initially managed product development for the iPad in 2010 and the iPhone in 2012 before moving to the Vision Products Group in 2017. He was promoted to run all hardware engineering for the Vision Pro project in 2019.

More recently, Meade had been leading the engineering teams tasked with building future augmented reality wearables, including AI-powered smart glasses expected to hit the market in late 2027 to compete with Meta Platforms Inc.

Fletcher Rothkopf, Meade’s longtime second-in-command who currently serves as head of product design for the Vision Pro and smart glasses, will inherit Meade's responsibilities, Bloomberg reported.

Apple’s Brain Drain Is OpenAI’s Gain

By securing Meade, OpenAI continues an aggressive campaign to recruit top-tier consumer hardware talent directly from Apple. Meade joins an elite circle of former Cupertino luminaries now aligned with the ChatGPT creator.

According to Bloomberg, Meade’s decision to transition out of Apple coincides with extensive structural changes within Cupertino’s executive ranks. 

Following the promotion of John Ternus to chief executive officer, Apple’s veteran silicon chief Johny Srouji took over the role of chief hardware officer and immediately launched a sweeping reorganization of the hardware engineering department. 

Neither Apple nor OpenAI has publicly commented on the personnel change. 

AAPL Stock: Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Apple trended in the ‘bullish’ territory with ‘high’ at the time of writing.

Retail chatter on Apple stock has soared over 600% in the week ending June 27.

AAPL stock has gained 4% year-to-date. 

Read More: S&P 500, Nasdaq End Week Lower As Investors Rotate Out Of Tech, AI Plays — ON, AAPL, SLS, INFQ, NKE in Focus

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