The “Open AI” project is in a legal dispute with Apple over the launch of its first connected devices, which escalated this week after Apple demanded that it stop exploiting its industrial secrets and inspect the computers developed by the group for ChatGPT, which in turn has asked to drop the "baseless" proceedings.

In a document filed with a federal court in San Jose, California last Monday, Apple no longer mentions attempts to entice its employees to leave and join Open AI as was the case in the initial complaint submitted on July 10. Instead, it complained about "repeated and deliberate acts of theft" aimed at "advancing Open AI's software and computing hardware ambitions."

Apple's petition states that "Open AI should not be allowed to use Apple's secrets to gain an unfair advantage" in this competition and cause harm "that cannot be compensated financially."

On Wednesday, Open AI responded by demanding the dismissal of the lawsuit, which would prevent Apple from raising the issue again.

In their letter, its lawyers wrote that "Apple has built its reputation on paying close attention to even the smallest details. This complaint," they described as "corrupt to the core," is "the opposite."

On October 1st, Federal Judge Edward J. Davila will consider the arguments of both parties, who continue to cooperate since ChatGPT has been integrated into Apple products since 2024.

The lawyers for OpenAI considered that “Apple should not use a baseless complaint as an excuse to compensate for its difficulties in recruiting and retaining employees, as well as its failure to integrate artificial intelligence into its products.”

They recalled the legislation adopted in California which “encourages” employee mobility and which “is credited with the technological revolution that has made this state the envy of the world.

More than 400 former Apple employees are now working for OpenAI, according to the complaint.

Apple, on its part, considered that “the damages are currently occurring”. In the absence of any court orders, every day OpenAI can “integrate” more of this information into the development of its devices, making it difficult to return things to their previous state.

- A connected speaker -

In order to convince the judge of the urgency of the case, Apple relied on an article published by TechCrunch about details leaked about OpenAI’s most anticipated device: a connected speaker designed with John Ivy Studio, the former head of design at Apple.

Bloomberg reported that the device is circular in shape, like a doughnut, costs between $300 and $400, and is expected to be launched in 2027.

OpenAI has not confirmed these leaks. It revealed in court that it is working on “something completely new and different from what Apple offers,” noting that the latter “never claimed that an OpenAI device shared any design element... or supply or configuration with an Apple product.”

Apple, for its part, accuses Tang Tan, head of computer hardware at OpenAI who was vice president of design there, of using an internal code name for an undisclosed product to extract information from candidates.

In its lawsuit, it revealed that he asked candidates during interviews to bring “prototypes” or design files during sessions reviewing a specific idea, much like schoolchildren.

OpenAI responded by saying these are “common practices in the industry” and that Apple did not mention “any specific trade secret” that could have been disclosed to Tan.

His lawyers said he “asked candidates and employees on his team not to disclose any confidential information to their previous employers.”

OpenAI also believes Apple did not properly protect its data, noting that it “remained in contact with the personal accounts” of engineer Zhang Liu, one of two former employees being sued, “for a long time after he left,” which constitutes negligence that prevents invoking the confidentiality of information.

This lawsuit comes at a very sensitive time for the OpenAI group, which is preparing to go public with an estimated value of around $852 billion and faces fierce competition from its rival and neighbor in San Francisco, Anthropic.