OpenAI says an ex-employee took its device files to Apple

The filing describes one person. OpenAI does not name him. It says he came to OpenAI from Apple, worked there for six months, and has since gone back to Apple.

According to OpenAI, a "recent and ongoing forensic investigation" connected to the lawsuit found that he sent "over a hundred highly confidential files" about at least one unreleased OpenAI device to his personal accounts. OpenAI says the files were sent on June 2, 2026, his last day at the company, 9to5Mac reports.

OpenAI lists what it says those files contained:

• Images: detailed pictures of the unreleased device or devices.
• Engineering data: confidential engineering and manufacturing information.
• Suppliers: information about the companies that make the parts.
• Project files: working documents from the hardware project.
• Finishes: standards for how the surfaces of the device should look and feel.
• Coating and sealing: reports on how hardware components are coated and sealed.

In real life Cosmetic finish standards are the rules that decide whether a phone feels smooth or grippy, and what shade of gray it is. Coating and sealing reports cover how a device keeps out water and dust. These are the boring-sounding details that take hardware teams years to get right.

This is the part OpenAI seems most worried about. The filing says the former employee "made a presentation about OpenAI's plans to Apple's senior leadership." OpenAI says that included Apple's vice president of operations in Asia.

"That presentation appears to have happened months ago, and now, armed with that information, Apple is making a new push into AI-enabled products," OpenAI writes.

OpenAI also links that presentation to products Apple showed this week, including its new HomeView smart display. To support the link, The Verge reports, OpenAI cites an article and an Apple announcement about the new devices.

The catch: The Verge points out that Apple usually plans products on a very long timeline, and that its smart display had been rumored for years.

OpenAI says it has raised the issue with Apple directly. According to the filing, Apple has not given OpenAI the assurances it asked for: that Apple does not have OpenAI's confidential information and has not used it.

OpenAI says it is "very concerned" that its trade secrets are "now circulating inside Apple, where Apple engineers can shape Apple's upcoming products."

Apple told Reuters it has not found any evidence to support OpenAI's claims, 9to5Mac reports. Apple also said it has "policies and procedures in place to ensure new employees do not use confidential information from previous employers."

Apple did not immediately answer The Verge's request for comment.

The case started the other way around. In July, Apple sued OpenAI, its hardware unit io and two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan. Fortune describes the 41-page complaint as alleging "a pattern of theft" of Apple's hardware secrets.

Here's how the case has moved so far:

• July 2026: Apple sues. It claims breach of an intellectual property agreement and misappropriation of trade secrets under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, Fortune reports.
• Late August 2026: Apple files what it calls "shocking evidence" from an early forensic look at a MacBook Liu used. Apple says he downloaded a confidential schematic for a power converter circuit on March 7, 2026, after he had left for OpenAI, and used it in his work there, 9to5Mac reported at the time.
• August 31, 2026: OpenAI answers in federal court in San Jose. It says the dispute comes from Apple's own internal practices, not wrongdoing, according to Ukrainian tech outlet Mezha.
• October 14, 2026: OpenAI files its own allegations about the employee who went back to Apple.

At the time of the July filing, OpenAI told Fortune it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

Before this week, OpenAI was playing defense. In its August response, Mezha reports, OpenAI argued:

• Free movement: California law lets people move freely between competing companies, so hiring former Apple staff is not proof of anything.
• Personal cloud accounts: Apple encourages employees to use personal iCloud accounts for work documents, which makes it hard for people who leave to separate personal files from company ones.
• Fast exits: Departing Apple employees are walked out quickly, OpenAI says, without enough time to return equipment or hand over files.
• Competition: The lawsuit may be an attempt to slow down a possible rival in AI devices.

Liu said in a filing that he only accessed Apple documents after leaving to help former colleagues find files or answer work questions, according to Mezha. Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years, said he returned all device prototypes and kept only material that was not confidential.

The new filing changes the shape of the case. It is no longer only about what left Apple. It is also about what OpenAI says arrived there.

Not long ago, they were partners. Apple teamed up with OpenAI in late 2024 to put ChatGPT inside Siri, a feature that still exists, Fortune notes. Then in January 2026, Apple picked Google Gemini as its main AI partner going forward.

At the same time, OpenAI has been building hardware. It bought io, the AI device startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, in 2025. OpenAI has hired about 400 former Apple employees, according to Apple's complaint.

The big picture: Both companies now want to sell you a physical AI device. Apple is shipping new home products this year. OpenAI has said almost nothing about its device, except that CEO Sam Altman called an early prototype "the coolest piece the world will have ever seen" in May 2025, Fortune reports.

So it's a bit like two bakeries that used to share a kitchen and now open shops on the same street. Each one is checking the other's recipe book.

The case is in federal court in San Jose. OpenAI's filing adds claims; it does not decide anything.

What's next: The court will weigh both companies' accusations. The forensic work OpenAI mentions is described as ongoing, so more details may come out in later filings.

Nothing here is a finding of fact. Every claim, from either side, is an allegation until a court rules on it.

• Your devices: Nothing changes today. ChatGPT in Siri and your Apple products work the same way.
• OpenAI's device: The filing confirms OpenAI has at least one unreleased device with real engineering, suppliers and finish standards behind it, but still no public details.
• Apple's new products: HomeView and the other new devices are going ahead as announced. OpenAI's claim about them is an allegation, and Apple disputes it.