OpenAI Hardware Project Plagued by Trademark and Lawsuit Battles

heyshrutimishra · x · 2026-07-13

This deep dive outlines the latest developments in OpenAI's hardware project Sweetpea and its legal and organizational disputes.

OpenAI paid $6.5 billion to acquire io Products for this hardware, but legally the product cannot use "io" or related spellings for now, because iyO sued and won the trademark infringement case.
Sweetpea is described as a screenless, pocketable device that relies on cameras and microphones to sense the environment, responding to users in a "calmer" manner rather than primarily reacting to inputs like a phone.
Apple filed a federal trade secret lawsuit on July 10, accusing former Apple employee Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu; Apple claims OpenAI hired over 400 former Apple employees and alleges they solicited hardware parts during interviews as "demos".
Another court document shows Sweetpea won't ship until at least February 2027; packaging and marketing materials aren't ready yet. Manufacturing has reportedly shifted to Foxconn, targeting production in the US or Vietnam.
The article summarizes OpenAI's external narrative as a "calm companion device," while Apple's lawsuit narrative paints it as an "iPhone replacement"—the two are fundamentally incompatible in public.

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