The competition for artificial-intelligence hardware talent has produced a trade-secrets dispute running in both directions. OpenAI has accused a former employee who joined Apple of moving more than 100 files about an unreleased OpenAI product to a personal account and later presenting information about that product to senior Apple leaders, according to a Reuters report published by the Guardian. The claims are allegations in a federal court filing and have not been established as fact.

OpenAI made the allegation in a filing in US federal court in San Jose, California. The company said the presentation occurred months ago and argued that Apple is now building AI products of its own, pointing in the filing to Apple's release of HomeView this week. OpenAI said it was concerned that its confidential information and trade secrets could be circulating inside Apple and influencing future product work. It also indicated that it may bring a countersuit based on the new claim.

Abstract digital files move toward a locked vault beside an obscured prototype silhouette.
OpenAI alleges that files about an unreleased product were transferred to a personal account before an employee joined Apple.

Apple denied that the evidence supports OpenAI's allegation. The company said it has policies and procedures intended to prevent new hires from using confidential information belonging to former employers and that it had found no evidence backing OpenAI's account. The new filing arrived hours before the companies were expected to face each other in court on Wednesday, but the allegation delayed that hearing, Reuters reported.

The dispute began from the opposite direction. Apple sued OpenAI earlier in 2026, alleging that former Apple employees took confidential information with them when they joined OpenAI's hardware division. OpenAI has denied Apple's claims. The latest filing therefore turns the case into a broader argument about whether sensitive device knowledge moved between the companies as engineers and designers changed jobs.

Mirrored discovery rooms contain encrypted storage blocks, deposition chairs and sealed evidence cases.
Court-authorized discovery and expedited depositions will test the companies' competing accounts before any trial.

The court has already authorized faster evidence gathering on part of Apple's case. Earlier this week, US district judge Edward Davila granted Apple limited early access to digital files from OpenAI and allowed expedited depositions of three former Apple employees. Reuters identified two defendants as Chang Liu, formerly a senior system electrical engineer, and Tang Yew Tan, a former vice-president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

The competing allegations show how the AI hardware race is extending beyond models and software into product design, electrical engineering and the protection of unreleased device plans. They do not establish that either company used the other's information. At this stage, Apple says its former employees carried secrets to OpenAI, OpenAI denies that claim and now says information moved in the other direction through a worker who joined Apple.

The timetable suggests the dispute will remain unresolved for some time. Reuters reported that the case is likely to reach trial in October 2027, although OpenAI has said in court filings that it could be prepared for trial as early as June 2027. Before then, discovery and depositions may determine whether the claims remain parallel accusations or develop into evidence that either company's confidential work crossed corporate boundaries.