Apple has accused OpenAI of accessing valuable internal information by hiring former Apple employees.
In a federal lawsuit filed on Friday, Apple sued the AI company, two of its ex‑employees, and the design startup io Products, claiming a pattern of theft of Apple’s confidential product development data.
At least two long‑time Apple workers who left the company to join OpenAI allegedly participated in this pattern by emailing themselves internal Apple information.
Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for OpenAI, told the BBC that the company has no interest in other companies’ trade secrets and is focusing on building innovative technology.
An Apple spokesman said the lawsuit is the result of “significant evidence” and marks a major shift in relations with OpenAI, the creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT.
Tim Cook had added ChatGPT into Apple devices to offer more AI features, but this year the company moved most AI features to run on Google’s Gemini model.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s co‑founder and CEO, publicly praised Cook as a legend after Cook announced his resignation and thanked him for his contributions.
Apple now accuses OpenAI of a strategy to extract confidential information and claims the company’s hardware ambitions are built on misappropriated trade secrets.
Apple also sues io Products, a design startup founded by former Apple executive Jony Ive, which OpenAI acquired last year.
The lawsuit names Chang Liu, a senior electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple, and Tang Yew Tan, a former vice president of design for iPhone and Apple Watch, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.
Apple claims that through these employees and their access to sensitive projects, trusted partner relationships, proprietary manufacturing techniques, and unreleased products, OpenAI has gleaned details of Apple’s product plans and operations.
Apple also alleges that OpenAI interviews current Apple employees for potential jobs and tries to extract further information, even asking candidates to bring Apple parts as props during interviews.
Apple accuses all parties of acting in concert to exploit Apple’s confidential information to advance OpenAI’s consumer hardware market.
OpenAI is expected to release its first hardware product—a type of keyboard for its AI tools—this month and is planning to become a publicly traded company.
Apple says OpenAI’s “misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” claiming that the groundwork of its hardware business is “rotten to its core” by illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.
Apple reported that it had tried to discuss its concerns with OpenAI in February, but was ultimately ignored.
The company is asking the court to immediately prohibit OpenAI from obtaining or using any alleged confidential information and is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
