Alan Dye, Apple’s user-interface design executive for the past decade, is departing the company to join Meta and lead a new creative studio within its Reality Labs division. The move, reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, aims to enhance AI features in Meta’s consumer devices, including smart glasses and virtual reality headsets. Dye will report directly to Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.
At Apple, Dye oversaw the user interface team, contributing to the design of software interfaces across the company’s product lineup. His departure leaves a vacancy that Apple plans to fill with Steve Lemay. Lemay has played a central role in designing every major Apple interface since 1999, spanning products from the original iPod to recent iOS updates. Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed the replacement in a statement, highlighting Lemay’s long-standing involvement in the company’s design efforts.
Meta’s recruitment of Dye aligns with broader efforts to strengthen its position in artificial intelligence and consumer hardware. This summer, the company also hired researchers from OpenAI to bolster its AI capabilities. Recruitment tactics included personal gestures, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivering homemade soup to an OpenAI employee. In response, OpenAI Chief Research Officer Mark Chen mentioned delivering his own soup to promising Meta recruits, illustrating the competitive dynamics in the AI talent market.
Following the announcement of Dye’s hire, Zuckerberg revealed the establishment of the new creative studio inside Reality Labs. This studio will operate under Dye’s leadership and integrate expertise from multiple areas within Meta. The core team includes Billy Sorrentino, a former Apple designer who previously served as interface lead across Reality Labs; Joshua To, another former interface lead at Reality Labs; Pete Bristol, who heads Meta’s industrial design team; and Jason Rubin, who leads Meta’s metaverse design and art teams.
Zuckerberg described the studio’s purpose on Threads, stating it will “bring together design, fashion, and technology to define the next generation of our products and experiences.” He further explained, “Our idea is to treat intelligence as a new design material and imagine what becomes possible when it is abundant, capable, and human-centered.” The initiative seeks to elevate design at Meta by assembling a group possessing craft, creative vision, systems thinking, and extensive experience in developing products that integrate hardware and software.
