Apple-OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit escalates

Apple and OpenAI escalated a San Jose, California, court fight over OpenAI's secretive consumer device project after OpenAI called Apple's trade-secret allegations baseless and asked for the case to be dismissed permanently.

Apple sued OpenAI last month, accusing the ChatGPT maker of orchestrating a campaign to steal the iPhone maker's trade secrets through former employees as it develops consumer hardware. In a court filing Monday, Apple described OpenAI's actions as “repeated instances of deliberate theft” and said OpenAI should not be allowed to use Apple's secrets to gain “an unjust head start.”

OpenAI rejected the claims in a Wednesday filing, saying Apple's lawsuit was “rotten to its core” and that Apple had not identified any specific Apple product allegedly copied. OpenAI said it is “building something entirely new and different.”

Federal Judge Edward Davila is due to consider the requests at an Oct. 1 hearing.

The dispute comes despite the companies' partnership: ChatGPT has been integrated into Apple products since 2024. Apple's initial complaint said more than 400 former Apple employees work at OpenAI.

Apple says the harm is ongoing and argues that every day without an injunction lets OpenAI embed knowledge of allegedly stolen Apple information into its hardware work. Apple also accuses OpenAI's head of hardware, Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president of design, of using knowledge of unreleased Apple products to extract information from job candidates. Apple alleges candidates were asked to bring prototypes and design files to interviews.

OpenAI says it follows standard industry practices and says Tan repeatedly told recruits and his team not to bring or disclose former employers' confidential information. OpenAI also accused Apple of failing to properly protect its own data, including by encouraging employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work and failing to manage departing employees' access cleanly.

Apple cited media reports about OpenAI's first device, including a TechCrunch article and a Bloomberg report describing a screenless smart speaker being designed with LoveFrom, the studio founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive. OpenAI has not confirmed those reports.