Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI contains a figure that explains the entire conflict: More than 400 former Apple employees now work at the AI company. What's particularly irksome for Cupertino is which department most of them come from – and that OpenAI is sticking to its timeline despite the lawsuit.
Last Friday, Apple filed a lawsuit in California against OpenAI for the theft of trade secrets. The allegation: Former Apple employees are said to have taken internal hardware knowledge and used it to help OpenAI develop its own devices. The lawsuit itself, along with parallel media reports, now paints a much clearer picture of just how deep the personnel ties between the two companies have become.
The number from the statement of claim
In the document, Apple specifies for the first time how many former employees now work at OpenAI: more than 400. Apple does not infer any general misconduct from this – on the contrary, the company acknowledges that with such a large number, knowledge of internal processes inevitably transferred to the other company. These individuals, however, are bound by confidentiality agreements.
The actual accusation then begins: According to the lawsuit, OpenAI actively exploited this knowledge to extract further confidential information from current Apple employees and suppliers. Even job interviews were allegedly structured to elicit internal information from candidates – and OpenAI attempted to conceal this practice. The fact that former Apple employees work at OpenAI does not, the lawsuit argues, justify their right to use Apple's trade secrets to accelerate their own hardware development. So far, none of this has been proven; a court has not yet ruled.
The exodus is hitting the very department of the future CEO
The most explosive point is not in the lawsuit, but in a report from Saturday. According to this report, the majority of Apple's departures to OpenAI came from the hardware engineering department – precisely the area that John Ternus headed before succeeding Tim Cook on September 1st.
This is exacerbated by a personal element: Tang Tan, now head of hardware at OpenAI and previously responsible for product design of the iPhone and Apple Watch at Apple, is said to have had a strained relationship with Ternus. The most prominent move occurred just a few weeks ago – at the end of June, Paul Meade, Apple's head of Vision Pro and the planned smart glasses, left for OpenAI. The man who will take over Apple in seven weeks is losing his best hardware experts to the company he is now suing.
OpenAI is sticking to its schedule
OpenAI has not yet responded to the lawsuit with any delay. According to sources close to the company, OpenAI still intends to unveil its first device this year and launch it in 2027. However, a change of course is not out of the question: once the company has fully evaluated Apple's allegations, the plan could still change.
This is the second legal case concerning trade secrets that OpenAI's hardware plans have been embroiled in within just over a year. Previously, the startup iyO had filed a lawsuit – initially over the trademark, later expanding it to include the allegation that OpenAI had appropriated trade secrets.
Nobody knows what OpenAI is actually building
It's remarkable how little is known about the device that is the subject of such fierce debate. Following the acquisition of Jony Ive's company io Products in May 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a compact, screenless product worn around the neck that uses cameras and microphones to capture its surroundings, while the smartphone handles the processing.
OpenAI itself contradicts this: In a court filing in the iyO case, the company clarified that the first product would be neither an in-ear nor a body-worn device. They also mentioned multiple devices instead of a single one. These two statements are inconsistent – meaning the crucial question remains unanswered.
The dispute goes in both directions
The lawsuit is only one side of the story. In the spring, it was revealed that OpenAI was also considering legal action against Apple – due to what it considered a disappointing Siri partnership. Meanwhile, the ChatGPT integration in iOS remains in place and is explicitly not the subject of the current lawsuit.
Two companies suing each other yet forced to collaborate: This situation is likely to shape the rest of the year. Things will get particularly interesting when the case enters the evidentiary phase – and OpenAI can demand access to Apple's internal documents, just as Apple does in reverse. (Image: Shutterstock / Henry Franklin)
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