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Apple sues OpenAI for theft of “trade secrets”

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Apple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging the AI company has stolen the iPhone maker’s trade secrets to develop its own yet-to-be-unveiled AI gadgets.

In the suit, filed in the District Court of Northern California, Apple accuses OpenAI of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.

↫ Lisa Eadicicco and Hadas Gold at CNN

I find this about as interesting and watching artificial grass grow, but with the common wisdom being that Apple is behind on “AI”, it was honestly only a matter of time before the lawsuits came. After all, that’s usually what companies who can’t win in the market do. At the very least this will give corporate tech news websites a whole slew of new material.

I just hope they both implode. We’d all be better off for it.

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Thom Holwerda

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2 Comments

  1. 2026-07-10 10:43 pm
    Alfman verbose=1

    Liu and Tan played a critical role in the theft, Apple alleges. Liu left Apple to join OpenAI in January 2026 and did not respond to Apple’s attempts to ensure that he signed the company’s confidentiality reminder, schedule an exit interview and confirm that he returned his company devices, Apple claimed in the suit. The lawsuit says he failed to return a work-issued laptop and also gained access to a former colleague’s work computer after leaving the company.

    Clearly apple property needs to be returned. But other than that sorry apple, employees leaving are under no obligation to sign anything. If this really is apple’s policy, it comes across as extremely petty and I wouldn’t sign out of principal. Agreements need to be signed BEFORE employees gain access to confidential information. Duh!

    Liu accessed and downloaded “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data,” the lawsuit says.

    Timing is everything. Did this happen while Liu was employed. Did the employee account have access to these materials? If so then I don’t see foul play.

    Apple alleges that Tan used confidential company information when recruiting candidates, including instructing them to bring Apple parts during the interview process. It also alleges Tan and OpenAI coached Apple employees on how to leave the company.

    I understand that poaching employees is very annoying to the company being poached, but it’s not illegal and states like california don’t allow non-compete agreements. If apple can produce actual evidence of wrongdoing, fair enough, but it’s just as plausible that these allegations are reaching by a company that found themselves behind the curve and is turning to lawsuits for leverage.

  2. 2026-07-11 3:02 pm
    Adurbe

    OpenAI have poached a load of people from Apple. Same as Apple did to Google and others. It goes in cycles. With the herd flocking to the latest trendy of the month.

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