OpenAI Accuses Former Employee of Showing Unreleased Device Files to Apple Before Leaving
OpenAI has accused a former employee in legal documents of sending over 100 files related to the company's unreleased devices to a personal account before leaving to join Apple, and subsequently presenting the related products to Apple's senior management.
The employee previously joined OpenAI from Apple and returned to Apple after working for about six months. The files were sent to the personal account on the employee's last day at OpenAI (June 2, 2026).
The files include detailed images of at least one unreleased device, engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information, project documents, appearance processing standards, and reports related to hardware component coatings and seals.
OpenAI claims the employee presented OpenAI's product plans to Apple's senior leadership (including the Vice President of Asian Operations) months ago.
OpenAI stated that it has directly raised concerns with Apple, but has not received confirmation from Apple regarding the non-possession or non-use of its confidential information. Apple has stated that it found no evidence supporting these allegations and has policies in place to ensure new employees do not use confidential information from previous employers.
This document comes in the context of Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI filed in July this year. Apple accuses OpenAI and the former employee of stealing its trade secrets related to unreleased hardware products, escalating the intellectual property dispute over hardware technology between the two parties.
Who is buying: Both parties are competing for hardware-related intellectual property and talent in the lawsuit. Who is selling: The former employee is transferring files between the two companies. Event-driven: Mutual trade secret allegations. Funding and resources are directed towards hardware development and legal defense. The beneficiary is the party that can prove it has not used the other's confidential information; the pressured party is the employees and companies facing counterclaims and evidence investigations.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and former employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan in July this year, accusing them of stealing Apple's trade secrets related to unreleased hardware products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains for OpenAI's hardware business. OpenAI has previously denied the allegations, calling Apple's lawsuit "careless, aggressive, and unusually personal."
In terms of capital pathways, both parties are engaged in legal battles over the flow of hardware talent and file transfers. OpenAI is countering Apple's original lawsuit with these document allegations, focusing resources on evidence collection and seeking court permission to file a counterclaim. The motivation lies in competing for technological and supply chain advantages in the AI hardware field, preventing the other party from using its secrets to accelerate product development.
Similar cases include mutual lawsuits between tech companies due to former employees carrying confidential documents. The industry is currently in an expansion phase, and as AI companies enter the hardware sector, conflicts over talent and intellectual property with traditional hardware giants are intensifying, with capital concentrating on legal defenses and independent supply chain construction.
Essentially, this is about technological substitution and industrial chain restructuring. As AI model capabilities extend to hardware terminals, both parties are attempting to acquire unreleased product information through talent movement to accelerate their own hardware development. The mechanism is that images, manufacturing data, and supplier information of unreleased devices constitute key barriers, and mutual accusations shift the industry chain from simple talent competition to information isolation under legal constraints, altering the cost and risk structure of hardware innovation pathways.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Mutual talent flow, confidential documents follow
Original lawsuit unfinished, counterclaim has arrived, litigation costs precede product launch
Hardware barriers at the unreleased stage, leakage window on the day of resignation