OpenAI wants a US court to dismiss Apple’s lawsuit concerning the alleged theft of trade secrets. Apple filed the case on 10 July, alleging that OpenAI and its former employees had used confidential information whilst developing a new hardware business. OpenAI counters that Apple has not specified with sufficient precision which protected secrets were allegedly misappropriated, and argues that it is working on products that are fundamentally different from Apple’sdevices .
The dispute has implications that go beyond legal issues. In 2025, the io team – developed by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive – joined OpenAI. The company has officially announced the development of a new family of AI products. This signals that OpenAI wants to move beyond models and cloud services and exert greater control over how users interact with artificial intelligence.
For Apple, this potential competition is significant, although its core business remains very strong. In the last quarter, the company generated $109.4 billion in revenue, and iPhone sales rose significantly. At the same time, the two companies continue to collaborate. ChatGPT is integrated with Apple Intelligence and can support, amongst other things, Siri and the system’s content creation tools.
The most significant consequence of the proceedings could be the impact on the pace of OpenAI’s expansion into hardware. Apple is seeking to restrict the use of information it considers confidential, and arguments regarding the motion to dismiss the case are due to be heard on 1 October. If the court grants Apple an injunction, the development of new OpenAI devices could be hampered. Dismissing the claim, on the other hand, would increase competitive pressure, particularly in the battle for engineers and hardware expertise.
