Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of benefiting from trade secrets stolen by former Apple employees. The complaint alleges that a group of engineers who previously worked at Apple carried confidential information to their new employer, helping advance OpenAI's hardware ambitions.
The lawsuit extends beyond OpenAI itself, also naming io Products, the device startup founded by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive as a defendant. Ive partnered with OpenAI in 2023 to build an AI-powered device envisioned as a potential successor to the smartphone, a project that has largely remained under wraps until now.
In court filings, Apple describes OpenAI's hardware operation as rotten at its core, suggesting the startup's competitive edge in this space rests, at least in part, on information obtained improperly. The company says it identified a systematic pattern of leaks from personnel who had firsthand knowledge of Apple's internal processes and designs.
Neither OpenAI nor io Products has publicly addressed the allegations, and it remains unclear exactly which documents or technologies are at the center of the dispute. The litigation arrives as both companies compete ever more directly to shape the future of AI-driven personal devices, a market Apple has dominated for more than a decade through the iPhone.
The case could carry significant consequences for the hardware project Ive and OpenAI have been developing, which still has no confirmed release timeline. Should the lawsuit move forward, it may also raise broader questions about talent mobility between tech giants and AI startups, a trend that has intensified as companies like OpenAI aggressively recruit engineers with consumer hardware design experience.