Mark Zuckerberg Details New Reality Labs Creative Studio Led by Former Apple VP Alan Dye

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that former Apple design executive Alan Dye will head up a new creative studio within Reality Labs. The announcement comes just days after news broke that Meta had hired Dye to lead its design efforts for future hardware.

Writing on Threads, Zuckerberg laid out a high-level vision for the group, stating the goal is to treat "intelligence as a new design material" while combining fashion and technology. He says the studio will focus on imagining devices where AI is "abundant, capable, and human-centered," effectively trying to elevate Meta's design culture to better bridge the gap between hardware and software.

Dye is bringing some familiar company with him. Zuckerberg noted that Billy Sorrentino, another prominent design leader recruited from Apple, is joining the team. They will work alongside Meta veterans Joshua To, who has managed interface design at Reality Labs, industrial design lead Pete Bristol, and Jason Rubin, who heads up metaverse design and art.


The studio's immediate target appears to be the next generation of AI glasses and wearables. Zuckerberg emphasized the need to make these devices feel natural rather than intrusive. That mandate aligns closely with Dye's history at Apple, where he helped shape the interaction models for the Apple Watch and, more recently, the visionOS interface for the Vision Pro.

The formation of this studio represents a significant push by Meta to compete on fit and finish in the hardware space. It also underscores a continuing trend of senior design talent leaving Cupertino, a list that includes Jony Ive, who is currently working on his own AI hardware project with OpenAI.