Apple Sends Legal Warnings to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI

Apple is escalating its legal fight against OpenAI, sending personal legal letters to roughly 40 former employees now working at the artificial intelligence startup. The warnings direct recipients to preserve documents and communications and request meetings with Apple's legal team as the company seeks additional evidence to support its trade secret theft claims.



According to the Financial Times, the targeted individuals represent about 10 percent of the estimated 400 former Apple employees currently employed by OpenAI. The aggressive legal tactic follows Apple's recent decision to sue OpenAI and two former engineers for allegedly misappropriating confidential hardware plans and manufacturing processes. In its court filings, Apple argued the alleged misconduct described in the complaint was only the "tip of the iceberg." Apple and OpenAI declined to comment on the report.


The underlying lawsuit centers on claims that OpenAI's head of hardware, Tang Yew Tan, instructed Apple employees to bring proprietary Apple components and CAD files into OpenAI. Apple also alleges another former engineer exploited a network authentication bug to download highly sensitive engineering presentations after resigning from the company. OpenAI has denied the allegations, saying it takes the claims seriously but has seen no evidence that the complaint has merit and has no interest in competitors' trade secrets.

This growing friction comes as OpenAI attempts to build its own consumer hardware division. The startup acquired Jony Ive's design studio io last year for $6.5 billion and is reportedly developing a movable, screenless smart speaker. The palm-sized device will use cameras and microphones to interpret audio and visual cues from its surroundings, supporting a context-aware AI assistant that draws on a user's personal data and daily interactions.

The escalating legal fight marks a rapid breakdown in the relationship between the two tech giants. While Apple initially collaborated with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri, the company has since also partnered with Google on its latest artificial intelligence features. Apple's more personalized Siri will use Google's Gemini models to help power its most advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.