While Apple did its best to insulate Jony Ive in its lawsuit against OpenAI, the company may not be able to keep its former design chief out of the fight. Here’s why.
OpenAI has a chance to make things very awkward for Apple
In its lawsuit accusing OpenAI of trade secret theft, Apple went out of its way not to mention Jony Ive, whose company, io Products, partnered with OpenAI to develop the hardware at the center of Apple’s allegations.
At one point, Apple alleges that “OpenAI and its cohorts have been engaging in a coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level,” including io, which it describes only as “a venture co-founded by Mr. Tan and other former Apple leaders.” Beyond that, the lawsuit does not mention Ive, Evans Hankey, or any other former Apple executives by name, aside from Tang Tan and Chang Liu, who are directly accused of wrongdoing.
While it might be too early to tell whether Ive will be called to the witness stand, that is certainly one possibility, particularly if OpenAI decides to deploy him to make things painful or uncomfortable to Apple.
