Apple sues OpenAI for Theft of Trade Secrets!

The NewYorkTimes.com reported that “Apple accused OpenAI on Friday of stealing secrets about products still in development, setting up a legal face-off between two of the world’s biggest tech companies.”  The July 10, 2026 article entitled " Apple Sues OpenAI, Accusing It of Stealing Company Secrets” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/technology/apple-openai-lawsuit.html) included these comments from Reporters Kalley Huang and Cade Metz:

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the consumer tech giant said OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence that has a new hardware business, had asked job candidates from Apple to share details about secret projects and to bring device components and prototypes to their interviews.

Apple also accused an OpenAI employee of downloading internal documents from a laptop owned by the iPhone maker. That employee and OpenAI’s top hardware executive were named as defendants in the suit. Both used to work at Apple.

OpenAI used the confidential information to approach Apple’s manufacturing partners, including asking one partner to demonstrate Apple’s technique for finishing metal on its devices, the lawsuit said.

Anyone surprised?