OpenAI says its device plans leaked to Apple.
OpenAI says a former employee sent more than 100 files on an unreleased device to a personal account before joining Apple, a reminder of how much can leave any company with one person.
OpenAI says its device plans leaked to Apple
OpenAI has accused a former employee who left for Apple of sending more than 100 files about an unreleased product to a personal account1. It says the employee later presented the material to Apple leadership, including the vice president of the company's operations in Asia2. The claim is in a filing in US federal court in San Jose, California, in a trade secrets dispute that Apple started earlier this year1.
According to OpenAI, the files include images of at least one unreleased device, supplier information, engineering data, project files and standards for cosmetic finishes2. They also include reports about the "coating and sealing of hardware components"2. The employee is not named2.
OpenAI links the presentation to Apple's own new products, citing the release of Apple's HomeView product this week1. "That presentation appears to have happened months ago," OpenAI says, and "now, armed with that information, Apple is making a new push into AI-enabled products"2. It says it is very concerned that its confidential information "is now circulating inside Apple"1. Apple's product plans usually run on a very long timeline, and its smart display has been rumoured for years2.
Apple says it has policies and procedures to make sure new employees do not use confidential information from previous employers, and that it has found no evidence to support OpenAI's allegations1. The case began the other way round. Apple alleged that its own employees left and took confidential information to OpenAI's hardware division, which OpenAI denies1.
The two companies were due to face each other in court on Wednesday, and the new allegation delayed the hearing1. OpenAI said it may file a countersuit based on the new claim1. Earlier this week Judge Edward Davila granted part of Apple's request for early access to digital files from OpenAI1. The case is likely to go to trial in October 2027, though OpenAI has said it could be ready by June 20271.
What walks out with a leaver
None of this is before a British court, and neither company has said anything about the UK. It is an allegation in a fight that each side started against the other, and Apple says it has found nothing. Treat it as a claim, not a finding, and do not read much into who wins.
The part worth your time is the method alleged. It was not a hack. It was a member of staff with ordinary access sending files to a personal account before leaving, then taking what they knew to a rival. That is cheap to do and easy to miss in any company, and it is the same whether the files are device drawings or your price list and customer accounts. If you could not say today whether a hundred files went to a private address in someone's last month, that is the gap, and it is a question for whoever runs your IT, not a lawyer.
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OpenAI accuses employee who left for Apple of leaking plans for unreleased device
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OpenAI claims an ex-employee took its product plans and presented them to Apple
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