Apple Gives iPhone Designers Up to $400K Bonuses to Stop OpenAI Poaching

Apple is handing out rare, out-of-cycle bonuses to its iPhone hardware designers in a bid to stem a wave of departures to artificial intelligence startups.



According to Bloomberg, many members of the iPhone Product Design team received restricted stock units this week worth between $200,000 and $400,000. These awards vest over four years to help retain key employees and could increase in value depending on Apple's stock performance. The product design group, overseen by Rich Dinh within the hardware engineering division led by John Ternus, is responsible for engineering the look and functionality of Apple's flagship devices.


The incentives come as leadership grows increasingly concerned about aggressive poaching from well-funded rivals. OpenAI has emerged as a primary threat. The company's hardware division is partly led by Apple veteran Tang Tan, who previously ran the same iPhone product design team now receiving these bonuses. Under Tan, OpenAI has hired several dozen Apple engineers who worked on the iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. The startup has tapped former design chief Jony Ive to help develop a secretive consumer AI device.

Other hardware startups are also entering the space. Figure AI founder Brett Adcock recently launched a new gadget company called Hark, recruiting Abidur Chowdhury, an industrial designer who worked on the upcoming iPhone Air, along with Apple product design engineers Jack McCambridge and Alex Gould. While Apple's bonuses are a direct response to this uptick in recruiting, they remain a fraction of the compensation offered elsewhere. Some competitors are reportedly offering Apple engineers roughly $1 million in stock annually to leave.

The talent drain comes at a pivotal moment. The company has already lost key AI researchers to Meta and Google as it works to catch up in generative AI. As OpenAI and Hark aim to build hardware that could supplant the iPhone, Apple is developing its own lineup of AI-driven devices to protect its ecosystem. Current projects include camera-equipped AirPods, a screenless pendant, and smart glasses powered by visual intelligence.

Apple has used similar retention tactics before. Three years ago, it issued comparable bonuses during another wave of poaching, and last year it increased pay for its in-house AI models group to counter offers from Meta. The latest effort to stabilize its engineering ranks comes as Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary next month.