Report: Apple Developing Software to Help Users Build Apps for Upcoming Headset

A customer stands underneath an illuminated Apple logo as he looks out the window of the Apple store located in central Sydney, Australia, May 28, 2018. (Reuters)
A customer stands underneath an illuminated Apple logo as he looks out the window of the Apple store located in central Sydney, Australia, May 28, 2018. (Reuters)
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Report: Apple Developing Software to Help Users Build Apps for Upcoming Headset

A customer stands underneath an illuminated Apple logo as he looks out the window of the Apple store located in central Sydney, Australia, May 28, 2018. (Reuters)
A customer stands underneath an illuminated Apple logo as he looks out the window of the Apple store located in central Sydney, Australia, May 28, 2018. (Reuters)

Apple Inc is developing software to help users of its upcoming mixed-reality (MR) headset build their own augmented reality apps, the Information reported on Friday, citing four people who worked on the headset.

According to a Bloomberg News report, the company was in talks with about half a dozen media partners including Walt Disney Co to develop virtual reality content for its MR headset.

The iPhone maker did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Mixed reality is one of three types of extended reality technologies often associated with the metaverse. An MR headset could allow the wearer to use a real-world object to trigger a virtual-world reaction.

The iPhone maker's MR headset is set to launch in this year's spring event and will cost around $3,000, according to a separate Bloomberg News report.

That would be twice as much as Meta Platforms Inc's Quest Pro virtual and mixed reality headset, which was launched late last year for $1,500.



Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta has offered his employees bonuses of $100 million to recruit them, as the tech giant seeks to ramp up its artificial intelligence strategy.

The alleged attempts by Meta to hire OpenAI staffers are the latest signs of a frenzy to hire top engineers to develop AI models, and they come at a time when the Facebook owner is working on building its superintelligence unit to catch up with competitors.

Competition for AI talent has reached a feverish pitch as superstar researchers are being courted like professional athletes on the belief that individual contributors can make or break companies.

"They (Meta) started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team," Altman said on the Uncapped podcast that aired on Tuesday, hosted by his brother. "You know, like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that (in) compensation per year."

"At least, so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that," Altman said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours, and Reuters could not verify the information.

"I've heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor," Altman said.

His comments come just days after Meta invested $14.3 billion in data-labeling startup Scale AI, and hired its top boss, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new superintelligence team.

Meta, once recognized as a leader in open-source AI models, has suffered from staff departures and has postponed the launches of new open-source AI models that could rival competitors like Google, China's DeepSeek and OpenAI.