Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware trade secrets

Apple's lawsuit reflects mounting tensions around talent mobility and intellectual property in the AI hardware race. The complaint underscores how OpenAI's aggressive hiring of Apple engineers—more than 400 former staff now work there, per Apple's claim—creates a channel for sensitive hardware knowledge to flow to a competitor preparing to enter the consumer device market. Apple alleges not just individual wrongdoing but a pattern: former executives like Tang Tan emailing supplier information to themselves before leaving; staff being instructed to bring prototypes to interviews; departing employees being coached to avoid signing additional agreements.

The timing matters. OpenAI's hardware product is expected next year, and Apple's lawsuit explicitly attacks its legitimacy, arguing the company cannot ship without relying on stolen secrets. By suing now, Apple is attempting to establish a legal record of misappropriation before that launch, potentially exposing OpenAI to injunctive relief or damages if a court agrees that foundational hardware designs or supply chain practices were compromised. OpenAI's defense—that it has no interest in trade secrets and remains focused on building innovative technology—does not address the specific allegations of accessing systems, copying files, or instructing employees on document transfer. The lawsuit also implicates IO Products, the hardware startup Jony Ive co-founded that OpenAI acquired in 2025, suggesting Apple believes OpenAI's hardware ambitions are entangled with misappropriated work from the start.