Apple on Friday accused of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the company.
Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a California federal court that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees it was recruiting to share confidential information, even guiding how to avoid scrutiny when taking jobs at the other company.
鈥淭his case is about Apple鈥檚 former employees stealing Apple鈥檚 trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,鈥� the filing says. 鈥淎pple brings this suit to put a stop to it.鈥�
Two former Apple employees who now work for OpenAI are also named as defendants. One is Tang Tan, who helped design the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPod and is now OpenAI鈥檚 chief hardware officer. The other is Chang Liu, a former electrical engineer Apple says it entrusted with some of its most sensitive product development efforts before Liu left Apple to join OpenAI earlier this year.
OpenAI said it is still reviewing the filing, but spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement Friday that OpenAI has 鈥渘o interest in other companies鈥� trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.鈥�
The suit accuses OpenAI of seeking shortcuts on hardware
OpenAI has never said exactly what type of device it is building, but has described it as an effort to find a new way to interact with AI that goes beyond 鈥渢raditional products and interfaces.鈥� It鈥檚 part of a broader push to create a physical embodiment of the latest AI advances, a decade after Amazon and Google introduced screen-free talking speakers into homes.
The lawsuit claims the effort was built partly on knowledge stolen from Apple.
鈥淥penAI鈥檚 nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,鈥� the lawsuit says.
Apple said it began investigating whether some of its confidential information was compromised and 鈥渦ncovered a pattern of theft鈥� of Apple鈥檚 trade secrets by former employees who moved on to positions at OpenAI.
The lawsuit alleges both Liu and Tan accessed Apple鈥檚 confidential company information and files while working at OpenAI. Among the allegations, Apple claims Liu accessed and downloaded several confidential hardware-related files on an Apple-issued device he kept after departing. It also alleges Tan directed job candidates who were still working for Apple to bring 鈥淎ctual parts鈥� from Apple to their interviews at OpenAI.
Apple said in the lawsuit that it reached out to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns early in its investigation, but said that OpenAI did not respond.
An Apple spokesperson said in a statement Friday that the company will 鈥渁lways defend our teams鈥� hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.鈥�
A partnership with Apple has edged toward rivalry
Apple sought help from OpenAI several years ago as it was behind in the AI race sparked by ChatGPT鈥檚 arrival. The two companies partnered in 2024 to use ChatGPT as an AI-powered 鈥渁nswer engine鈥� on the iPhone when the built-in Siri technology couldn鈥檛 satisfy user needs. More recently, the partnership has veered toward rivalry.
As part of its expansion efforts, OpenAI recruited to oversee a project to build an AI-powered device that many analysts believe could eventually challenge Apple鈥檚 products.
Last year, OpenAI announced it was working on a secret with Ive to pioneer a new way of communicating with artificial intelligence. As part of the collaboration, OpenAI acquired io Products, a product and engineering company co-founded by Ive, Tan and two others, in a deal valued at nearly $6.5 billion.
That led a little-known tech startup iyO Inc. to sue Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for trademark infringement due to the similar-sounding name and the firms鈥� past interactions. The startup also sued one of its own former employees for allegedly leaking a confidential drawing of iyO鈥檚 unreleased product, and it later added trade secret theft claims against Tan to the lawsuit.
Apple鈥檚 lawsuit also names io Products as a defendant. Lawyers who previously represented the firm and Tan referred The Associated Press to OpenAI for comment.
Apple鈥檚 lawsuit comes as OpenAI has been exploring whether to go public on Wall Street and faces heightened competition from rivals including Anthropic and Google.
OpenAI winnowed down some of its business ventures earlier this year to focus on its core product, ChatGPT, but has continued to pursue a device, the company鈥檚 chief financial officer told The Associated Press this spring.
鈥淲e have consumer hardware that will come towards the end of this year,鈥� CFO Sarah Friar told the AP in April.
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