Apple has filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, of stealing trade secrets as it develops its own artificial intelligence hardware. The suit, filed in a California federal court, alleges a "coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level" by OpenAI, according to court documents.
At the center of the legal action are two former Apple employees now working for OpenAI: Tang Tan, who was instrumental in the design of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPod, and now serves as OpenAI's chief hardware officer; and Chang Liu, a former electrical engineer accused of accessing sensitive Apple product development information before joining OpenAI earlier this year.
Apple claims Liu and Tan accessed and downloaded confidential hardware-related files while employed at OpenAI, and that Tan allegedly directed job candidates still at Apple to bring company components to interviews at OpenAI. The lawsuit asserts that OpenAI's nascent hardware venture is built on stolen intellectual property, stating its foundation is "rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets."
OpenAI has described its hardware initiative as an effort to create a new way to interact with AI, moving beyond current interfaces. This move into physical AI devices follows similar ventures by Amazon and Google with smart speakers.
Apple stated it reached out to OpenAI in February to discuss its concerns but received no response. A spokesperson for Apple confirmed the company is taking all appropriate steps to defend its employees' work and innovations.
The lawsuit emerges from a partnership that has shifted towards rivalry. Apple initially collaborated with OpenAI in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone as an AI-powered fallback for its Siri technology. However, OpenAI has since recruited former Apple designer Jony Ive to lead a project for an AI-powered device that could potentially compete with Apple's offerings.
In the past year, OpenAI announced a hardware collaboration with Ive, acquiring his product and engineering company, io Products, for nearly $6.5 billion. This collaboration also led to separate legal challenges, including a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by a startup named iyO Inc., which also included trade secret theft claims against Tan. Apple's current lawsuit also names io Products as a defendant.
The legal action comes as OpenAI faces increased competition from rivals like Anthropic and Google, and explores a potential Wall Street debut. Despite some business venture consolidations, OpenAI remains committed to its device project, with its Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar telling The Associated Press in April that consumer hardware is anticipated by the end of the year.