OpenAI claims ex-employee took unreleased product files to Apple and presented them to executives

In a filing with a U.S. federal court in San Jose, California, OpenAI accuses a former employee who left for Apple of copying more than 100 files concerning an unreleased product to a personal account. The complaint further alleges that the former staff member gave a presentation on the same undisclosed device to senior Apple executives several months earlier. OpenAI contends that its trade secrets are now circulating within Apple, potentially influencing Apple’s new AI-related products, and points to the recent launch of Apple’s HomeView as evidence of Apple’s AI ambitions.

Apple responded that it has strict onboarding procedures to block the use of former employers’ confidential information and says it has found no proof of any wrongdoing. The filing is part of an ongoing trade-secret dispute in which Apple earlier claimed OpenAI had taken confidential data from its hardware division, a claim OpenAI has denied. Both companies are locked in parallel lawsuits over alleged misappropriation of proprietary information.