Lawsuit against OpenAI for theft of “trade secrets”

2026-07-12 10:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Apple's allegations: aggressive efforts by OpenAI to recruit Apple employees and extract confidential information.

Apple has accused OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and two of its former employees of misappropriating trade secrets in order to benefit OpenAI in its entry into the consumer device market. The lawsuit paints a picture of an aggressive effort by OpenAI to recruit Apple employees and extract confidential information, with the aim of building its own device.

Apple claims that the company's trade secrets were illegally used to support OpenAI's project in the field of consumer electronics.

The lawsuit is directed against: a former Apple chief electrical systems engineer, a former vice president of iPhone and Apple Watch product design, the OpenAI Foundation, the OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products.

“This case involves former Apple employees who stole Apple trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the lawsuit states. “Apple brings this lawsuit to end this conduct.”

What is known about the lawsuit?

The lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in California.

Apple alleges that one of the defendants failed to return a company-issued work laptop and then exploited a flaw in Apple's authentication system to access Apple's internal network, downloading "dozens of confidential files related to Apple hardware devices."

According to Apple, the other defendant emailed himself information about Apple's suppliers and internal industry briefings before his departure from the company.

"At every level, from technical staff members to the Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI stole Apple's trade secrets and confidential information," the 41-page complaint states.

From collaborators to competitors

The lawsuit significantly escalates tensions between the two technology giants, after months of disagreements and years of cooperation.

Previously, Apple had allowed its users to get answers from ChatGPT via Siri, as well as giving iPhone users the ability to sign up for ChatGPT subscriptions directly from the iOS settings menu.

Last year, OpenAI acquired hardware company io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, in an effort to expand its business beyond software and enter the consumer hardware market.

OpenAI has not yet clearly explained what kind of device it is developing. The company has described the project only as an attempt to find a new way to interact with artificial intelligence, beyond "traditional products and interfaces."/ DW