OpenAI Device Leak Claim Targets Ex-Employee Now at Apple
The legal fight over OpenAI’s unreleased AI device has taken a new turn. OpenAI now says a former employee who went back to Apple sent more than 100 highly confidential files about its hardware to personal accounts. Apple says it has found no evidence to support the claim.
What OpenAI is alleging
In a new filing, reported by 9to5Mac, OpenAI says the employee joined Apple, spent about six months at OpenAI, and then returned to Apple. OpenAI claims the files were sent on June 2, 2026, his last day at the company.
The files allegedly include detailed images of at least one unreleased device, plus engineering and manufacturing data. OpenAI also alleges he presented its plans to senior Apple leaders, including an operations executive in Asia. Its argument is that Apple is now pushing harder into AI-enabled products with that knowledge. Apple denies this.
How the dispute got here
This is a counterpunch. Apple sued OpenAI in July, accusing it of using former Apple employees to obtain trade secrets for its hardware project. The suit names Tang Tan, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, and engineer Chang Liu.
OpenAI later called Apple’s claims baseless and asked the court to dismiss the case. It argued that Apple was using the lawsuit to cover for its own struggles to keep talent and to build AI into its products. Apple says more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI, according to The Week.
What we know about the device
Very little. OpenAI hasn’t said what it’s building, only that it wants a new way to interact with AI beyond traditional products and interfaces. Former Apple design chief Jony Ive is involved. Unconfirmed leaks describe a screenless smart speaker, which OpenAI has not confirmed.
Why it matters
AI is moving off the screen. Both companies are racing to build hardware where AI is the main interface, not an app. If that works, AI becomes something that runs in the background of daily life, which is the idea behind ambient AI.
Talent is the real battleground. Both sides are effectively fighting over who can hire, and keep, the people who know how to build these devices.
Allegations aren’t findings. Nothing here has been decided by a court. Both companies are making claims, and Apple disputes OpenAI’s latest one. The case could affect the timing of OpenAI’s first device, and neither company has said whether it will.
Expect more filings as both sides trade evidence. We’ll keep tracking this story.
