Apple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging that the AI firm pilfered confidential hardware trade secrets and recruited a wave of former Apple engineers to accelerate its own device program. The complaint details a series of infractions, including an engineer who texted a colleague about accessing network storage, a checklist compiled by OpenAI’s hardware chief Tang Tan to help new hires dodge Apple’s exit security, and a departing employee who offered to pull files for the startup.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the lawsuit’s impact may be felt long before any verdict is reached. A trade‑secret fight forces OpenAI to launch internal legal reviews, tighten security, and spend countless hours on depositions and discovery. Those activities pull engineers away from product development at a moment when speed matters most.
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions are already under a tight schedule. The company hopes to announce its first hardware product later this year and begin shipping it in 2027, positioning the device as a future iPhone competitor. To that end, OpenAI bought design firm io – co‑founded by Jony Ive – for roughly $6.5 billion in May 2025, according to Apple’s complaint. While OpenAI boasts world‑leading software models, it has struggled to build the hardware that would house them. The lawsuit now shadows every design decision the team makes.
People are at the heart of Apple’s case. More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and the poaching continued after Apple’s investigation began. As recently as June, OpenAI hired Apple’s smart‑glasses chief. Apple’s filing describes a “checklist that Tang put together” to help new hires avoid Apple’s security safeguards and quotes a departing engineer’s colleague, Alyssa Peng, who replied “I’m ready” when asked to help pull files.
Legal experts note that winning the case will not be straightforward. California does not enforce non‑compete clauses and largely rejects the “inevitable disclosure” doctrine, meaning Apple must prove specific conduct—such as retained devices, unauthorized access, or coached evasion—rather than merely the fact that employees left. The complaint also alleges that OpenAI’s shared manufacturing partner used a proprietary metal‑finishing technique that Apple believed was exclusive, suggesting the breach could extend beyond individual employees.
The timing of the suit is problematic for OpenAI, which is gearing up for a public offering. Its valuation has surged from about $29 billion in 2023 to $852 billion by April 2026, and it has raised more than $180 billion. The company already faces scrutiny from 42 state attorneys general and competition from rivals like Anthropic. Apple’s lawsuit, rooted in a strained ChatGPT‑Siri partnership, adds another layer of uncertainty to OpenAI’s IPO plans.
Apple continues to press forward with its own hardware roadmap, including a new wave of AI‑enabled wearables. OpenAI, for its part, maintains that it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.” Whether Apple can prove its claims remains to be seen, but Gurman argues the lawsuit may have already achieved its most valuable goal: buying OpenAI time. Every month the startup spends on legal battles is a month it is not shipping the device meant to challenge the iPhone.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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