Apple’s new lawsuit against OpenAI looks less like a routine complaint about trade secrets and more like a detail of how the iPhone maker says its rival built its consumer hardware ambitions.

Filed on Friday, the lawsuit accuses OpenAI of “a coordinated pattern of institutional-level misconduct,” including everything from exploiting a security bug to recruiting Apple engineers for “show-and-tell” interview sessions involving sensitive hardware.

In a statement to Business Insider, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company “has no interest in the trade secrets of other companies.”

“We remain focused on creating innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” the spokesperson said.

Here are the biggest accusations.

OpenAI allegedly took advantage of an Apple security bug

According to the complaint, the Apple investigation began after former employee Chang Liu left for OpenAI in January. Apple alleges that Liu failed to return a company laptop and later discovered he could still access Apple’s internal systems due to what the company describes as an authentication error.

Instead of reporting the issue, Apple said Liu downloaded dozens of confidential engineering files while working on OpenAI, including unreleased product-related documents, technical specifications, presentations, and manufacturing processes.

Apple also alleges that Liu encouraged another Apple engineer he was interviewing at OpenAI to study confidential Apple materials before his interviews and advised him how to avoid drawing the attention of Apple’s security team while copying files. The complaint says the two moved the conversations to a private messaging app to avoid detection.

Apple says OpenAI turned interviews into intelligence gathering sessions

Apple also accuses OpenAI of systematically using its labor recruitment process to obtain trade secrets. The buzzy artificial intelligence company, which filed initial paperwork ahead of an initial public offering, has become one of the most in-demand tech employers. Amid the influx of talent, several Apple hardware engineers have moved to the AI ​​giant.

The lawsuit claims that hardware director Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president who spent 24 years at the company, asked Apple job candidates to bring physical components for “show and tell” sessions during interviews. OpenAI employees would also ask candidates for prototypes and information about vendors, the complaint alleges.

A then-Apple employee took a screenshot and downloaded files from a “highly confidential Apple project,” the lawsuit says, alleging that Tan then asked about that project during the interview.

“OpenAI’s recruiting practices suggest that it hires these individuals, at least in part, because of the Apple-specific confidential knowledge and experience they have and could improperly obtain,” the complaint says.

Apple says misconduct reached OpenAI leadership

Apple says it raised concerns with OpenAI earlier this year and asked the company to investigate whether Apple’s confidential information had entered its business.

According to the complaint, OpenAI never responded, prompting Apple to continue its investigation before filing a lawsuit on Friday.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” the complaint reads. “Apple lacks visibility into what has been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership.”

“However, this much is clear: at every level, from members of its technical staff to its director of hardware, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing trade secrets and confidential information from Apple,” the complaint continues. “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to the core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”

Apple said it has “no choice” but to seek damages in an amount to be determined at trial and court orders preventing OpenAI and the individual defendants from possessing or using Apple’s trade secrets.

The lawsuit marks a dramatic escalation in what had been one of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile AI partnerships, following Apple’s integration of ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence in 2024. The relationship has frayed as OpenAI ramped up its own consumer hardware ambitions by hiring former Apple executives and engineers.

Apple’s lawsuit is not the only high-profile claim that OpenAI has engaged in dishonest business practices.

The creator of ChatGPT is also involved in a legal battle with The New York Times over accusations that he allowed his chatbot to use copyrighted material to train its systems.

Elon Musk also previously filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that CEO Sam Altman and company president Greg Brockman “stole” the original OpenAI nonprofit and unjustly enriched themselves by changing it to a for-profit model. A jury awarded OpenAI a legal victory in May, concluding that Musk had breached the three-year statute of limitations to sue.

Tan, Liu and Apple representatives did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.