Two months after news broke that the industrial designer behind the iPhone Air had left Apple, we now know where he went. Abidur Chowdhury has joined a newly formed AI startup called Hark. The move adds another high-profile name to a growing list of engineers leaving big tech for smaller AI labs.
According to Bloomberg, Chowdhury left Apple to work at Hark, a company founded by Brett Adcock, who also runs robotics startup Figure AI. Hark launched only weeks ago and already aims to scale fast. Bloomberg reports that the company has hired dozens of engineers from Google, Meta, and Amazon and is “aiming to reach 100 in the first half of the year.”
What ‘Hark’ is building
Details about Hark remain limited. However, a memo seen by The Information outlines the company’s focus. Adcock says the lab will work on what he calls “human-centric” AI. The memo describes systems that can “think proactively, recursively improve and care deeply about people.” It also notes that Hark’s first cluster of graphics processing units went online this week, though the size of that setup remains unclear.
Adcock plans to stay in charge of Figure AI while leading Hark. That structure follows a broader trend in the AI sector, where founders launch new research labs while keeping their existing roles. The memo confirms that Hark will be funded with $100 million of Adcock’s own capital.
Chowdhury’s move highlights how aggressive these new labs have become in recruiting top talent. Hark is not alone. Other founders have started so-called “neolabs” that claim they can explore new research paths large AI firms may have overlooked. These teams are small for now, but they are well funded and moving quickly.
Figure AI, Adcock’s other company, has already raised close to $2 billion from investors including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Bezos Expeditions, with a reported valuation of $39 billion. That financial backing gives Hark a strong foundation from day one.
For Apple, the departure of a designer tied to the iPhone Air reflects a wider talent shift across the industry. For AI startups like Hark, it signals something else. Experienced product builders now see these labs as the next place to shape how technology reaches people.
