OpenAI is making a concerted and aggressive push to recruit top - tier talent from Apple's hardware engineering team. Previously, Apple's design team had already been experiencing a high level of turnover. This was largely due to the departure of former Apple Chief Designer Jony Ive, who left to set up his own design studio.

Now, things have taken a new turn. OpenAI's acquisition of Ive's AI startup, io, for a staggering $6 billion has acted as a catalyst, triggering a significant exodus of talent from Apple's hardware engineering team. Both Ive and OpenAI's CEO have disclosed that the two entities are working together on the development of hardware products.

In this collaborative effort, key figures have joined the project. Among them is Apple's former head of industrial design, and they are accompanied by a large number of regular hardware engineers. According to Gurman's reporting, over the past month alone, OpenAI has managed to recruit over 40 employees for its device team. A substantial portion of these new hires, a great many in fact, came from Apple.

Apple's hardware engineering team is not taking this lying down. They have their own AI - powered hardware revitalization plan in place and are deeply displeased with OpenAI's talent - poaching tactics. The employees who have been lured away by OpenAI come from a diverse range of fields within Apple's hardware engineering division.