Apple Canceled Its China Offsite to “Prevent Further Defections to OpenAI” — The Talent War Intensifies

The talent war between OpenAI and Apple has escalated to the point where Apple reportedly canceled an annual China offsite for its manufacturing team.

Apple Talent Raid

The Numbers:

  • 24+ Apple employees hired by OpenAI in 2025 alone
  • Up from ~10 in 2024
  • Virtually none in 2023
  • Compensation packages include $1M+ stock grants

The Talent Categories:

  • Hardware engineering
  • Design
  • User interfaces
  • Wearables
  • Cameras
  • Audio

Apple’s Response:

Apple reportedly canceled its annual China offsite for the manufacturing team, concerned about keeping executives away from headquarters “at a time when they were needed to prevent further defections to OpenAI.”

The Supply Chain Play:

OpenAI is in discussions with:

  • Luxshare — iPhone assembler
  • Goertek — AirPods manufacturer

OpenAI isn’t just hiring Apple’s people — it’s building relationships with Apple’s suppliers.


This is part of a comprehensive analysis. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.

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