Key Points
- OpenAI alleges a departing employee sent himself over 100 confidential files on an unreleased device.
- The counterclaim lands in a trade secret case Apple filed against OpenAI in July.
- Apple says it found no evidence, accusing OpenAI of deflecting from its own conduct.
The latest:
More than 100 files described as highly confidential, covering at least one unreleased OpenAI device in development, were sent by a departing employee before he returned to Apple, OpenAI claimed in a legal filing Wednesday. Apple said it found no evidence supporting the allegations. The filing escalates a trade secret case Apple opened in July against its AI rival.
Details:
- The allegation: OpenAI’s filing claims the former employee sent himself more than 100 files it describes as highly confidential, concerning at least one unreleased device under development. OpenAI does not name the person, though it refers to him using a male possessive adjective.
- What was taken: The material included engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information and project files, according to the filing. OpenAI alleges some files were sent just after midnight on June 2, the employee’s final day of a six-month stint before he returned to Apple, where he had worked previously.
- The Apple briefing: OpenAI further alleges the former employee delivered a presentation on OpenAI’s product plans to Apple leadership, including a vice president of operations in Asia. The filing does not identify that executive by name.
- The causation claim: OpenAI alleges Apple used the information to advance its push into AI-enabled products, pointing to the smart home devices Apple announced Tuesday. Apple products typically take years to develop, and it is not established how recently received information would have shaped the new HomeView smart hub, which resembles an Apple Watch on a stand.
- Apple’s response: Apple said it had found no evidence supporting the new allegations, and that OpenAI had not answered its request for further information to assist its own investigation. Apple said the claims are an attempt to shift attention away from evidence that OpenAI took Apple’s confidential material.
- The original case: Apple filed the underlying suit in July, alleging its own confidential information was carried out by employees who left for OpenAI. OpenAI’s Wednesday filing is a counterpunch within that proceeding rather than a separate action.
- The talent flow: OpenAI has hired hundreds of Apple employees to support its hardware ambitions, and hopes to build AI-driven devices capable of competing with the iPhone. The June departure described in the filing ran in the opposite direction, back toward Apple.
- The Siri factor: Apple’s latest iPhone software update shipped a rebuilt Siri that more closely resembles a modern chatbot. It still trails rivals, leaving room for companies pairing advanced AI with their own hardware.
- Disclosure: News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, holds a content deal with OpenAI and a commercial agreement supplying news through Apple services.
Background:
The two companies signed a deal in 2024 to connect ChatGPT with Apple’s Siri assistant. That partnership has deteriorated as OpenAI moved toward building its own consumer devices, turning a supplier relationship into a direct contest over hardware and talent.
Between the lines:
Each side now accuses the other of taking confidential material, and both accusations sit inside the same case. The timing argument is the weakest link in OpenAI’s version: Apple’s hardware cycles run years, so information allegedly passed in June would struggle to explain devices unveiled this week. Apple’s counter-framing, that the filing is a diversion, targets exactly that gap.
What’s next
Watch for Apple’s formal response in the July case, any court move to compel identification of the unnamed ex-employee, and whether OpenAI supplies the information Apple says it requested for its internal investigation.
