Apple and OpenAI are heading to court.On Friday, July 10, Apple sued OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company led by CEO Sam Altman, and two former Apple employees, accusing the ChatGPT maker of obtaining confidential Apple information to help build its own consumer hardware. The lawsuit names OpenAI’s commercial and nonprofit entities, its hardware company io Products, OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” Apple said in the complaint.The filing contains claims involving secret project names, confidential presentations, Apple-issued laptops, physical hardware components, supplier relationships, and even instructions for getting through an Apple exit interview. It also arrives as OpenAI prepares to release its first consumer device with former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
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There is a lot going on. Here are the 8 most important things to understand about the lawsuit, what Apple is actually alleging, and what could happen next.Our big Guessing Game is back! Enter now for a chance to win an Apple watch.1. Apple is accusing OpenAI of more than simply hiring its employeesThe first important distinction is that it is generally legal for one company to recruit employees from a competitor. A former Apple engineer is allowed to accept a job at OpenAI. That engineer is also allowed to use general knowledge, professional experience, and skills developed over the course of a career. Apple does not own everything a person learned while working there.A trade secret is different— it is valuable information that is not publicly known and that a company has taken reasonable steps to protect. That could include an unreleased product design, a private manufacturing process, a confidential list of suppliers, or technical specifications for a component that has not yet reached the market.Apple alleges that OpenAI did not merely hire people with experience. It says OpenAI used those employees and its recruiting process to obtain protected documents, designs, physical parts, manufacturing knowledge, and information about unreleased products.In plain language, Apple’s argument is essentially this: OpenAI was free to hire Apple engineers, but it was not free to ask them to bring Apple’s files and hardware along with them.That remains Apple’s version of events. A complaint lays out what the plaintiff says happened; it is not a court ruling that those allegations are true. OpenAI's Director of Strategic Communications Drew Pusateri has denied wanting or using Apple’s confidential information with a statement on X:
