OpenAI poaches 24+ Apple engineers for consumer AI hardware launch

OpenAI and former Apple design chief Jony Ive have recruited over two dozen Apple employees for their hardware venture, io, and secured partnerships with key Apple suppliers including Luxshare and Goertek. The talent acquisition represents a significant brain drain from Apple’s hardware teams, as OpenAI targets a late 2026 or early 2027 launch for its first consumer AI devices.

What you should know: The io venture is developing multiple AI-powered consumer products with help from Apple’s established supply chain.
• Luxshare, which assembles iPhones and AirPods, has already secured a contract to manufacture at least one OpenAI device.
• OpenAI has approached Goertek, an Apple supplier for AirPods, HomePods, and Apple Watches, to provide components like speaker modules.
• The company is targeting late 2026 or early 2027 for its first device releases.

The product lineup: OpenAI has discussed several consumer hardware concepts with suppliers, moving beyond vague wearables references.
• One product resembles a smart speaker without a display.
• The company has also considered building smart glasses, a digital voice recorder, and a wearable pin.
• These products would represent OpenAI’s first foray into consumer hardware beyond software applications.

The talent exodus: OpenAI and Jony Ive have successfully poached more than two dozen Apple hardware employees, more than doubling last year’s recruitment numbers.
• New hires include hardware engineers and designers specializing in user interfaces, wearables, cameras, and audio engineering.
• Notable recruits include Cyrus Daniel Irani, a 15-year Apple veteran who led the human interface design team, and Matt Theobald, who worked on manufacturing design for nearly 17 years.
• Erik de Jong, who partly led the Apple Watch hardware team, also joined the venture.

Why this matters: The recruitment strategy leverages familiar relationships and offers employees the chance to work on breakthrough products rather than iterative improvements.
• Recruits get to reunite with former colleagues including Jony Ive, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan, who spent over 25 years in Apple design.
• Large compensation packages and the opportunity to work on entirely new initiatives rather than incremental updates attract talent away from Apple’s more established product lines.
• The brain drain adds to Apple’s recent challenges retaining AI talent, with multiple departures to Meta and other competitors in recent months.