Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged AI Trade Secret Theft

Apple filed suit against Sam Altman's OpenAI this month, and the allegations read like a corporate espionage script. According to the complaint, a group of former Apple employees who now work at OpenAI used job interviews to pump candidates for trade secrets, then went further and downloaded files from Apple's servers tied to hardware manufacturing. OpenAI has denied the claims, though its formal legal response hasn't landed yet.

The timing makes this messier than a typical trade secrets fight. OpenAI spent $6.5 billion last year to buy io Products, the AI hardware startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, a deal that put OpenAI on a collision course with the company Ive spent decades helping build. Apple has a long history of suing rivals over stolen ideas, going back to fights with Microsoft and Samsung.

Those companies had the balance sheets to absorb years of litigation. OpenAI, still burning through cash and figuring out its own strategy, may not.

The Verge's Hayden Field has been tracking OpenAI's moves for years and spoke with intellectual property lawyers about how much legal trouble the company is actually in.