Glasses, smart speakers, and more: OpenAI courts Apple suppliers and staff

Plans for the first OpenAI hardware products are taking shape, and with them the search for suitable personnel and suppliers. There are already defectors from both categories. According to the news portal The Information, one of the products that OpenAI has discussed manufacturing with suppliers resembles a smart speaker without a display. OpenAI has also considered developing glasses, a digital dictation device, and a wearable pin, and plans to launch the first devices in late 2026 or early 2027.

Luxshare, a Chinese manufacturer of electrical components, has already secured a contract to assemble at least one OpenAI device, according to sources at The Information. Luxshare also builds iPhones and AirPods. OpenAI has also approached Goertek, which builds AirPods, HomePods, and Apple Watches on behalf of Apple. Goertek could supply OpenAI with components such as speaker modules in the future.

Reaching out to Apple employees

But OpenAI needs to secure not only suppliers, but also important expertise on the job market to make the leap into the hardware market. This is already happening. To track job changes from Apple staff to OpenAI, The Information portal analyzed LinkedIn profiles and spoke to people from the Apple environment. According to the report, more than two dozen Apple employees who formerly worked in consumer hardware were hired this year. Last year, the figure was around 10 employees, and in 2023 "virtually none," according to The Information. These new employees include hardware engineers and designers who were responsible for user interfaces, wearables, cameras, and audio technology at Apple, among other things.

For many Apple employees, a move to OpenAI is financially attractive. In the past, the company has offered Apple employees stock packages worth over a million euros, according to The Information. But there is another reason: many Apple employees in the relevant areas are said to be increasingly frustrated by excessive bureaucracy at their current employer.

Apple also produced the founders of io Products, a start-up that OpenAI bought in May: Jony Ive and Tang Tan had previously worked at Apple for decades, and Tang is now OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer. Many former colleagues see a move to OpenAI as an opportunity to work with their old colleagues again. Ive most recently served as Apple's head of design. He is considered one of the most influential product designers in tech history.

(nen)