Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI, filed last week in a US federal court, accuses the artificial intelligence company of systematically poaching employees and misappropriating trade secrets to build a competing consumer device. The complaint seeks monetary damages and an injunction that would force OpenAI to halt the alleged conduct and destroy any confidential Apple material in its possession. According to Apple’s legal filing, the suit is necessary to “expose and begin to remedy the widespread theft” of its intellectual property, and it directly threatens OpenAI’s plans to develop a hardware product that could rival the iPhone, a project that involves former Apple design chief Jony Ive.

OpenAI has rejected the allegations. In a statement, the company said it “has no interest in the trade secrets of other companies” and would remain focused on developing innovative technology. Apple, however, contends that OpenAI instructed former Apple employees and even job candidates to bring proprietary information about unreleased products, and that it used a checklist prepared by an ex-iPhone design executive to help new hires circumvent Apple’s security procedures. The Cupertino-based company argues that OpenAI’s aggressive recruitment—it now employs more than 400 former Apple staff—has weakened teams responsible for the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, forcing Apple to rebuild some groups and offer unusually high retention bonuses.

The legal dispute is already casting a shadow over OpenAI’s hardware ambitions. Industry analysts in San Francisco note that the mere filing of the lawsuit complicates OpenAI’s ability to recruit top engineering talent and could delay product development timelines, even before any court ruling. The case echoes Apple’s 2011 intellectual-property suit against Samsung, which used Google’s Android software to challenge the iPhone, though this time the competitor is a well-funded startup that has drawn heavily from Apple’s own talent pool. Apple’s internal concern over trade secrets, according to people familiar with the matter, has surpassed worries about new tariffs or component shortages, reflecting the perceived threat from OpenAI’s device project.

The lawsuit lands amid a widening series of feuds involving OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. This week, Altman publicly mocked rival Anthropic’s new advertising campaign that invites the public to pose “hard questions” about AI, sarcastically referencing Anthropic’s recent practice of silently downgrading its frontier model for certain users. The exchange highlights the competitive pressure OpenAI faces from Anthropic, which has gained ground in enterprise AI. It also follows the unravelling of OpenAI’s once-exclusive partnership with Microsoft, which ended in a non-exclusive arrangement after reports of contractual tensions. Viewed from Washington, the legal and rhetorical battles underscore the high stakes as AI firms increasingly recruit from Big Tech to fuel hardware ambitions. The case is in its preliminary stages, with discovery expected to take months; no hearing dates have been set, but Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction could force OpenAI to alter its hiring practices or device development plans well before a final judgment.