Apple Sues OpenAI for Trade Secret Theft

APPSO · wechat · 2026-07-11

Apple is suing OpenAI, io Products, and two former Apple employees for allegedly stealing trade secrets, breaching confidentiality and departure agreements, and seeking damages, injunctions, and the destruction of compromised materials. Apple also demands OpenAI remove the relevant tech from its upcoming hardware.

The lawsuit centers on two former employees: one allegedly exploited an unreturned laptop and Apple system vulnerabilities to access internal files and download massive amounts of unreleased product and engineering data; the other allegedly fished for unreleased product details while interviewing Apple staff, even asking candidates to bring batteries, logic boards, SIP packages, CAD files, and prototypes to interviews for "show and tell."

The article also notes Apple's claim that over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI across design, screens, antennas, supply chain, and hardware procurement. The two companies, once closely collaborating on projects like integrating ChatGPT with Siri, saw their relationship plummet due to OpenAI developing its own hardware, acquiring io Products, and poaching Apple's hardware talent.

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