Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing trade secrets to develop its own hardware device. The complaint alleges that OpenAI poached Apple employees, coercing them to hand over confidential material, product designs, and other tightly held information.
Allegations of Misappropriation
An Apple spokesperson stated: "Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products." Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for OpenAI, said the company was reviewing the court filing and added: "We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."
The lawsuit marks a sharp turnaround for the two tech giants, which announced a major partnership in 2024 to integrate OpenAI's ChatGPT into Apple's operating systems. However, when Apple showcased its revamped Siri last month, its AI component was based on Google's Gemini model, not ChatGPT.
Hardware Ambitions Spark Tensions
Tensions began to simmer last year when OpenAI spent $6.4bn to acquire a hardware startup founded by former Apple design guru Jony Ive, signaling the AI titan's foray into hardware. Ive's startup, io Products, is also named in Apple's lawsuit. Apple wrote: "OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets."
The suit alleges several former Apple employees joined OpenAI, taking trade secrets with them. Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a former Apple vice-president, is named. Apple claims Tan took information about Apple suppliers and encouraged interviewees to divulge confidential company information. The complaint reads: "He has directed job candidates still working for Apple to bring ‘actual parts’ from Apple to their interviews for ‘show and tell’ sessions in which he and his team at OpenAI can elicit still more Apple confidential information."
Specific Incidents of Theft
Another former Apple employee, Chang Liu, who was hired at OpenAI, is accused of taking an Apple laptop when he left. Apple alleges Liu used an authentication bug to breach the company's internal network and downloaded "dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files." The Apple spokesperson said: "Our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously."
Apple is seeking damages and a court order to block OpenAI from possessing or using its trade secrets. The case highlights growing rivalry between the two companies as AI development intensifies.
