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The battle for top talent in Silicon Valley is intensifying. Reports suggest that OpenAI is aggressively recruiting dozens of professionals from Apple, luring them with stock packages worth up to $1 million. The company is particularly targeting Apple’s design and manufacturing veterans—an effort that coincides with speculation about OpenAI preparing to launch its first consumer hardware products.

Led by an Apple Veteran

At the center of this hiring push is OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Tan. Tan, who spent more than 20 years at Apple reporting directly to hardware chief John Ternus, is said to be playing a key role in convincing Apple employees to make the switch. According to reports, Tan has been telling prospective hires there will be “less bureaucracy and more collaboration” at OpenAI—an approach that stands in contrast to Apple’s tightly controlled corporate culture.

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Manufacturing Deals Already in Place

OpenAI’s hardware ambitions are already gaining momentum. The company has signed manufacturing agreements with major Apple suppliers. Luxshare, which assembles iPhones and AirPods, has reportedly partnered with OpenAI to produce at least one device. Additionally, Goertek—another supplier that builds HomePods, AirPods, and Apple Watches—has been approached to provide components like speaker modules.

What OpenAI May Be Building

The Sam Altman-led company is said to be working on several devices, including a smart speaker without a display, smart glasses, a digital voice recorder, and even a wearable pin. If everything stays on track, OpenAI could debut its first hardware lineup between 2026 and early 2027.

Apple’s Countermeasures

Meanwhile, Apple appears to be taking steps to stem the exodus. Reports indicate that the company recently cancelled an annual offsite meeting in China for its supply chain and manufacturing teams, possibly to avoid leaving key executives away from Cupertino while OpenAI continues its talent drive. Despite these efforts, more than two dozen Apple hardware veterans have joined OpenAI in the past year alone.

Some of the most notable names include Cyrus Daniel Irani, the designer of Siri’s multicoloured waveform; Matt Theobald, who spent nearly two decades on manufacturing design; and Erik de Jong, a senior figure on the Apple Watch Hardware team.

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The growing number of departures raises questions about the evolving relationship between Apple and OpenAI. Despite being partners—Apple licenses OpenAI models for Siri and its Image Playground app—the competition for talent suggests a shifting dynamic. If OpenAI’s hardware plans materialize, it would mark one of the boldest moves yet by an AI-first company into a space dominated by Apple, Google, and Samsung.