Apple has accused OpenAI of being “rotten to its core” in a federal lawsuit filed on Friday, alleging a systematic campaign to steal confidential product development information through the hiring of former Apple employees.
The lawsuit, which also names io Products — the design startup founded by longtime Apple executive Jony Ive and acquired by OpenAI last year — and two former Apple workers, claims that OpenAI engaged in “a pattern of theft” of trade secrets. At least two long-time Apple employees who joined OpenAI allegedly emailed themselves internal Apple information before leaving.
“Apple sues OpenAI alleging trade secret theft via former employees, calling the AI company 'rotten to its core.'”
The two former employees are Chang Liu, a senior electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple, and Tang Yew Tan, a vice president of design for iPhone and Apple Watch who worked for the company for 24 years. Tan is now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer. Apple alleges that through their access to “sensitive projects, trusted partner relationships, proprietary manufacturing techniques, and unreleased products,” OpenAI gleaned details of its product plans and operations.
The suit also claims that during job interviews, OpenAI interviewers told prospective Apple hires to “bring ‘actual parts’ as ‘props’ from Apple for ‘show and tell.’” Apple says the defendants are “acting in concert and as an enterprise, exploiting Apple’s confidential information to advance OpenAI’s efforts to enter the consumer hardware market.”
OpenAI is expected to release its first hardware product. Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the AI company, told the BBC: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.” He added that OpenAI is “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere” and is reviewing the complaint. An Apple spokesman said the lawsuit is based on “significant evidence.”
The legal action marks a major shift in relations between the two companies. Apple’s outgoing CEO, Tim Cook, had integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Apple devices as the company sought to offer more AI features. But Apple has since shifted more of its AI features to run on Google’s Gemini model. When Cook announced his departure in April, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman called him “a legend” and said he was “very thankful for everything he has done.” Now Apple accuses OpenAI of undertaking a “strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information.”