Apple reels as OpenAI recruits hardware staff and manufacturing partners
There’s a new staff poacher in town as OpenAI continues to recruit Apple staff, mainly from the company’s hardware teams, The Information tells us.
Over two dozen ex-Apple staff have switched so far this year, the report claims. This follows news that Jony Ive and many former Apple designers are also now at the company.
Trust in me
What OpenAI is offering is crystal clear: better conditions, less bureaucracy, more collaboration, lucrative compensation and generous stock grants. I guess but don’t know that this may include more scope for hybrid and remote work, which people like and most reports show boosts productivity.
The Information also drops a few hints at what OpenAI is building, telling us the company has spoken about a range of products with potential suppliers, including smart speakers, glasses, digital voice recorders and wearable pins. W
e’ll find out more late next year or early 2027 when it intends launching the first device.
The report also claims there’s demand from many within Apple for jobs at OpenAI, many want to work with the company’s old design team and crave the kind of corporate vibe that existed back when Apple wasn’t yet an iPod company.
It’s not just staff.
Reaching out to makers
OpenAI is also recruiting Apple manufacturing partners, with Luxshare contracted to assemble at least one of its forthcoming products. It has also approached Goertek to see if it will help manufacture things for OpenAI.
The report tells us OpenAI wants to build “AI-native” products, hardware designed from the ground up to work with AI models, rather than bolted onto existing platforms.
Apple management appear to be somewhat startled at the employee defections. I can’t help but think that a more liberal approach to hybrid working may make a difference, while it’s not impossible that some Apple workers may be left cold at the courting of the current administration, despite the business necessity to do so.
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