In 2024, Apple and OpenAI entered into a comprehensive partnership under which ChatGPT was to be integrated into the iPhone operating system iOS. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman showed up at Apple headquarters specifically for the announcement.
OpenAI buys startup from ex-Apple designer
However, relations may have cooled down at the latest when OpenAI bought the startup io Products (io) from former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, as CNBC writes. One goal of the approximately $6.5 billion takeover is to develop an AI device that has not yet been announced in detail.
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According to rumors, this could also be an AI agent-based smartphone, which Apple and Samsung will not like. In any case, OpenAI poached a lot of Apple employees for hardware development, especially from product development. There are currently over 400 former Apple employees working at OpenAI.
Apple accuses OpenAI of stealing secrets
Apple is now accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets and filed a lawsuit in federal court in Northern California on July 10, 2026. The plan behind the theft of secrets is to be able to accelerate the development of their own hardware, as stated in the lawsuit.
The theft of secrets took place “at all levels,” from simple employees of the technology team to the top boss of the product department and in collaboration with business partners, according to Apple’s accusation. In addition to OpenAI and io, two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, are explicitly listed as defendants.
Liu, a senior system developer at Apple involved in secret projects, is said to have continued to access Apple’s confidential hardware-related files without permission after joining OpenAI in January 2026. According to the lawsuit, this included “extensive, detailed information about unpublished products, technical presentations, specifications and proprietary project data.”
Applicants are said to have provided information
Tan, who was most recently vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch at Apple, co-founded io and rose to become OpenAI’s top hardware boss after the takeover. According to Apple’s accusation, Tan is said to have used job interviews to question applicants in detail about Apple products. Tan is also said to have asked applicants to bring work samples from their current Apple projects to the interviews at OpenAI.
The AI company did not respond to a corresponding request from Apple in February 2026, in which OpenAI was confronted with the allegations and asked for clarification. Apple therefore has no choice but to sue. The aim is to prohibit OpenAI from further use of the allegedly unlawfully appropriated information. The iPhone company is also seeking damages in an undisclosed amount.
Apple Intelligence: In these 6 cases the AI was wrong
Incidentally, Tan was already in court in the summer of 2025 because of similar accusations from the audio startup iyO, according to a statement. As part of a trademark dispute between iyO and io, Tan is said to have testified under oath that a former iyO manager provided confidential information in his io application. The legal dispute resulted in OpenAI not calling the devices in an upcoming AI hardware series io.
OpenAI rejects Apple allegations
OpenAI has meanwhile rejected the Apple allegations. They have no interest in the secrets of other companies and remain focused on developing innovative technologies themselves, as it says in a statement.
