Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of a “pattern of theft” involving the iPhone maker’s confidential product development and engineering data.

The suit, lodged on Friday, also names io Products, the hardware venture co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, along with two of its former employees who now work at OpenAI.

Allegations against former staff

According to the filing, at least two long-tenured Apple employees who moved to OpenAI took part in the alleged misconduct, including emailing Apple’s internal information to their personal accounts before leaving the company.

Company responses

A spokesperson for OpenAI told the BBC: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” adding that the firm is reviewing Apple’s complaint. An Apple spokesperson said the lawsuit rests on “substantial evidence.”

A cooling partnership

The case marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the two companies. It comes just months after Apple confirmed it would build its revamped Siri assistant on Google’s Gemini AI models instead of OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology, ending speculation that ChatGPT would remain central to Apple Intelligence.