Apple has sued OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of orchestrating a systematic campaign to steal Apple's trade secrets as both companies race to build AI-powered consumer hardware. According to the BBC and Financial Times, the lawsuit was filed Friday in a federal court in California and also names two former Apple employees. Quartz and AppleInsider report that one of them is Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president of product design.
Apple alleges that OpenAI poached former Apple workers and coached incoming employees to bring confidential material about unannounced products, including during job interviews, according to Mashable, Inc. and Tom's Hardware. In one striking claim reported by Axios, Apple says a former engineer kept a work-issued Apple laptop and exploited a software bug to access Apple's cloud file storage while employed by OpenAI. The Information reports the complaint describes the alleged conduct as a "systematic" scheme and chronicles how ex-employees supposedly violated confidentiality agreements. Multiple outlets, including the BBC and Engadget, note that Apple called OpenAI's fledgling hardware business "rotten to its core."
OpenAI has denied wrongdoing. In a statement reported by 9to5Mac, the company said it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets." The dispute also spilled onto social media: CNBC reports that Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman sparred on X after the filing.
The backdrop matters. The New York Times notes that Apple and OpenAI struck a 2024 deal to offer AI services on Apple devices, a partnership that has since soured. Commentator M.G. Siegler of Spyglass argues the lawsuit could sidetrack OpenAI's hardware ambitions for years, potentially threatening any planned ChatGPT device.
Why it matters: two of the most valuable names in tech are now openly at war over the future of AI hardware, and the outcome could shape who gets to build the devices that follow the smartphone.