Paul Meade, an Apple VP who heads up the Vision Pro team, is leaving to join OpenAI’s hardware team, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman linked the move to John Ternus’s upcoming promotion to CEO, replacing Tim Cook, which allegedly made some staff feel they had been “demoted.” Former Apple design chief Jony Ive, who left Apple in 2019, teamed up with OpenAI in May 2025 to work on an AI hardware device, and OpenAI acquired Ive’s "io" startup for $6.5 billion. Fletcher Rothkopf, who currently leads product design for the Vision Pro and smart glasses, will replace Meade. OpenAI has ambitions to “develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded by an entirely new company.” The Information reported that io is working on a smart speaker with an integrated camera, expected in early 2027 with a price between $200 and $300, and that OpenAI is also working on a smart lamp and smart glasses, not ready until at least 2028. A trademark dispute with startup iyO makes it unlikely the io branding will appear on any device.