Apple says more than 400 former employees now work at OpenAI, a figure revealed in its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company. The iPhone maker claims OpenAI used confidential information from former Apple staff to accelerate its hardware plans and gather more details from current employees and business partners.
In the filing, Apple said the large number of former employees gave some OpenAI workers access to sensitive knowledge about its products, internal processes, and unreleased technology.
“OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple’s trade secrets,” Apple said in the lawsuit, adding that this “does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts.”
Apple Raises Concerns About OpenAI’s Hiring Practices
Apple also accused OpenAI of structuring interviews to encourage candidates to reveal confidential information while taking steps to hide those actions. However, the filing did not identify specific employees or explain which trade secrets OpenAI allegedly obtained.
Bloomberg previously reported that OpenAI hired employees from several Apple teams, including Paul Meade, who worked on Apple Vision Pro and the company’s smart glasses project. The report also said many recruits came from Apple’s engineering division, which incoming CEO John Ternus currently leads.
The case could reveal more details if it reaches the discovery stage, where both companies would exchange internal documents and evidence.
