Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday in federal court in Northern California, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing its trade secrets to build its own line of consumer devices. The order is being placed just days before OpenAI is due to showcase a new piece of its hardware on July 15.
In its court filing, Apple did not back down. “However, this much is clear: at every level, from members of its technical staff to its chief hardware officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI was stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information.” books.
The lawsuit represents a sharp turn for two companies that were close partners not long ago. And back in 2024, Apple is building ChatGPT directly into the iPhone software, a deal announced with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who made a trip to Apple’s campus for the occasion. That goodwill began to fade last year when OpenAI made clear it wanted to build its own hardware, a move it backed by purchasing IO Products, the startup founded by the former OpenAI president. apple Designer Jony Ive for $6.4 billion.
Apple has since moved away from OpenAI as well. The redesigned Siri that will launch this fall will run on Google’s Gemini models instead of OpenAI technology.
Much of what Apple claims focuses on former employees who left to interview with or join OpenAI. The company alleges that OpenAI’s head of hardware, Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president, pushed Apple employees who were conducting interviews at OpenAI to hand over company secrets during the process.
Tan has been named as a defendant in the case. According to the filing, he told job candidates still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” of the company to their interviews for “show-and-tell” sessions, which Apple says gave him and his team a way to pull out more confidential details.
Apple names its former employee as a defendant
Apple also claims that OpenAI guided departing employees through ways to circumvent Apple’s security checks on their way out the door.
One former employee, Zhang Liu, who later joined OpenAI, is accused of taking an Apple laptop with him. Liu was also named as a defendant. Separately, Apple says it believes OpenAI required third-party manufacturing partners to use a metal finishing process developed by Apple, while allowing those partners to believe Apple had approved it.
OpenAI hasn’t said exactly what its hardware plans look like, though Altman mentioned back in November that early prototypes have already been finalized.
Timing is tough for OpenAI
OpenAI is dealing with the lawsuit while also preparing for what is expected to be a massive public stock offering.
The case also comes about two months after OpenAI won a legal battle with Elon Musk. As Cryptopolitan previously reported, a federal jury decided so Musk waited a long time to sue the company over allegations that Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman, and OpenAI had violated their early promises to run the lab as a nonprofit. Musk said he intends to appeal this ruling.
Meanwhile, the next unveiling of OpenAI hardware has nothing to do with Project Eve. A Short teaser The post on
OpenAI built the device in collaboration with Work Louder, a company that makes programmable keyboards and macro boards for developers and designers. The shape in the teaser is very similar to the Creator Micro 2 pad found in Work Louder, which allows users to assign shortcuts and commands to physical keys. Full details on pricing and features are expected at the launch on July 15.
