Apple sues OpenAI, alleging trade-secret heist and 'show and tell' interview tactics

Apple has filed a blockbuster trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the AI startup of orchestrating a coordinated, multi-year scheme to steal confidential hardware designs, engineering documentation, and supplier relationships as OpenAI prepares to launch its first AI hardware device next year.

The 41-page complaint, reported by The Verge and TechCrunch, centers on three former Apple employees who allegedly siphoned proprietary information and recruited others to do the same.

Alleged tactics: from 'funny' access to 'show and tell'

Apple claims that one of the defendants, a hardware engineer, accessed Apple’s cloud-based network storage weeks after leaving the company using an authentication vulnerability. In a text exchange, he reportedly wrote, “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny,” and then proceeded to download dozens of confidential files, including technical specifications and engineering presentations on logic board manufacturing.

OpenAI’s head of hardware allegedly instructed job candidates to bring physical Apple components — batteries, system-in-package (SiP) modules, main logic boards, and shields — to interviews for "show and tell sessions." Candidates were also asked to prepare "Technical Deep Dive" presentations that revealed Apple trade secrets. One message shows an Apple employee being told to “bring some parts [she] worked on” and that it “be good to show” other interviewers these components.

Coaching defectors on security evasion

The lawsuit further alleges that OpenAI kept an internal document detailing Apple’s employee offboarding procedures and coached Apple employees on how to avoid the company’s security checks. Advice included:

• Not signing anything during the exit interview.
• Not disclosing their new employer to Apple.
• Avoiding a "dreaded walk out" that would lock them out of Apple systems for two weeks.

Apple claims this has had "its desired effect," with a recent trend of employees leaving for OpenAI and taking steps to evade security measures, such as ignoring security personnel.

Supplier deception and metal-finishing technique

Perhaps the most aggressive allegations involve Apple’s supply chain. Apple claims OpenAI approached a trusted partner that performs a proprietary multi-step metal-finishing technique, misleading the partner into believing that OpenAI had Apple’s permission to use the process. “Apple has not given OpenAI or io permission to use or a license to any of Apple’s trade secrets or confidential information,” the complaint states. OpenAI also allegedly approached at least one other Apple supplier, using internal codenames to ask targeted questions about power and battery components.

OpenAI responded with a statement shared on X: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”