Meta's latest attempt at relevance after failing to make the Metaverse or superintelligence happen is hiring Alan Dye, the guy behind Liquid Glass.
Apple's talent pool has taken repeated hits over the year, as tech rivals attempt to shore up their artificial intelligence projects by poaching employees from elsewhere. In the latest siphoning off of talent from Apple, Meta has poached a managerial figure connected to the Apple Vision Pro.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta was hiring away Alan Dye from Apple. He is reportedly heading over to Meta to create a new design studio, with a focus on hardware, software, and AI integration.
Under Meta, he will be reporting to CTO Andrew Bosworth, who also oversees the wearable device and headset division, Reality Labs. Dye's main work at Meta will be to help improve the company's consumer devices, improving the artificial intelligence functionality.
Dye will formally join Meta as Chief Design Officer on December 31.
Running Dye
Dye joined Apple in 2006 as a "creative director" on the marketing and communications team. He worked on the boxes and packaging, before being moved to other roles, and eventually ending up at the Human Interface Group.
He worked with former design chief Jony Ive on the creation of the Apple Watch, including the interface for the wearable. Eventually, after Ive departed to create LoveFrom, Dye became one of two design leads charged with filling Ive's vacant seat.
After that time, Due worked on how the operating systems in the Apple ecosystem looked and felt to users. This also included the interface of the Apple Vision Pro, which led to a wider refresh of Apple's operating systems in general, and the introduction of the Liquid Glass aesthetic.
Among the incomplete projects Dye leaves behind, his team was working on long-rumored smart home devices that are still under development within the company.
Steve Lemay promoted, albeit at a tough time
Apple confirmed the role replacement to the publication, before stating that Steve Lemay will be taking over Dye's position.
In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said "Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999. He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple's culture of collaboration and creativity."
"Design is fundamental to who we are at Apple, and today, we have an extraordinary design team working on the most innovative product lineup in our history," Cook continued.
Dye's departure is the latest for Apple, and the second major exit within a few days. On Monday, Apple announced that SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, John Giannandrea, is retiring in the spring of 2026, replaced by former Microsoft AI executive Amar Subramanya.
