Apple sues OpenAI over trade secrets tied to hardware push
What's new: Apple alleges OpenAI used ex-Apple staff and supplier contacts to obtain parts, designs and manufacturing know-how.
Apple sued OpenAI in federal court in Northern California on Friday, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing trade secrets to speed its move into consumer hardware. The lawsuit marks a sharp break between the companies, which partnered in 2024 to bring ChatGPT into the iPhone operating system. Apple named OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president, and former Apple employee Chang Liu as defendants. Apple alleges Tan encouraged job candidates still at Apple to bring actual parts to interviews and that OpenAI coached departing employees on avoiding Apple security checks. The filing also alleges Liu took an Apple laptop and that OpenAI sought a metal-finishing process Apple says it invented after buying Jony Ive's IO Products for $6.4 billion.