Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in federal court, accusing the AI company of stealing trade secrets to develop its own hardware. This legal action marks a dramatic shift in the relationship between the two firms, which had previously partnered in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's iPhone operating system.
The lawsuit claims that OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, Tang Tan, who is a former Apple executive, directed Apple employees to share confidential information during job interviews. Apple alleges that Tan encouraged candidates to bring actual Apple parts to these interviews for 'show and tell' sessions, which were intended to extract more proprietary information.
Additionally, Apple claims that OpenAI coached former employees on how to bypass security measures when leaving the company, and that one former employee, Chang Liu, stole an Apple laptop. The lawsuit also suggests that OpenAI may be misleading hardware partners about the use of Apple's patented metal finishing techniques.
Apple is seeking damages and an injunction to prevent OpenAI from using its trade secrets. The outcome of this lawsuit could have significant implications for both companies, particularly as Apple is set to release an updated version of its Siri assistant based on Google's AI models, distancing itself from OpenAI's technology