Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of orchestrating the theft of confidential trade secrets as it develops new AI-powered hardware, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions between two firms that were once strategic partners.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in a federal court in California, alleges that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees it was recruiting to share proprietary information and even advised them on how to avoid attracting attention while leaving the iPhone maker.
“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the lawsuit states.
“Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.”
The legal action names OpenAI as well as two former Apple executives who now hold senior positions at the AI company.
Among the defendants is Tang Tan, the former Apple executive who played a key role in designing the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod before becoming OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer. Also named is Chang Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer whom the company says worked on some of its most sensitive hardware development projects before joining OpenAI earlier this year.
According to Apple, its internal investigation uncovered what it described as “a pattern of theft” involving confidential company information allegedly taken by former employees after they moved to OpenAI.
The company claims Liu accessed and downloaded confidential hardware-related files using an Apple-issued device that he retained after leaving the company.
Apple also alleges that Tan instructed job candidates who were still employed by Apple to bring “Actual parts” from Apple to interviews conducted by OpenAI.
The lawsuit further claims OpenAI’s emerging hardware business has been built partly on Apple’s proprietary technology.
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” Apple alleged in the court filing.
The iPhone maker said it first contacted OpenAI in February to raise concerns uncovered during its investigation but claimed the AI company failed to respond.
In a statement issued on Friday, an Apple spokesperson said the company would vigorously protect its intellectual property.
“We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”
OpenAI, however, rejected the allegations, saying it was reviewing the lawsuit and denying any interest in competitors’ confidential information.
“We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said.
The lawsuit shines a spotlight on OpenAI’s closely guarded hardware ambitions. Although the company has not disclosed exactly what type of AI device it is developing, executives have previously described the project as an effort to create a new way for people to interact with artificial intelligence beyond traditional smartphones and computers.
The initiative gained momentum after OpenAI recruited legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive to oversee the development of next-generation AI hardware.
Last year, OpenAI announced a secret collaboration with Ive and later acquired io Products, a product engineering company co-founded by Ive, Tang Tan and other former Apple executives, in a deal reportedly valued at $6.5 billion.
Apple’s lawsuit also names io Products as a defendant, further broadening the legal dispute.
The case marks a striking deterioration in relations between Apple and OpenAI.
The two companies became partners in 2024 when Apple integrated ChatGPT into the iPhone as part of its Apple Intelligence initiative, allowing Siri to hand off complex queries to OpenAI’s chatbot. However, as OpenAI expanded into consumer hardware, the relationship increasingly evolved into direct competition.
The legal battle also comes at a pivotal moment for OpenAI as the company explores a potential public listing and faces mounting competition from rivals including Anthropic and Google in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence industry.
While OpenAI has scaled back several non-core business initiatives this year to concentrate on ChatGPT, company executives have maintained that developing a dedicated AI device remains a strategic priority, setting the stage for what could become one of Silicon Valley’s most consequential intellectual property disputes in the AI era.
AP
