This week's episode of
The MacRumors Show covers OpenAI's move into hardware and the
trade secret lawsuit Apple filed against the company earlier this month.
Apple
sued OpenAI in the Northern District of California on July 10, alleging a months-long scheme to obtain confidential information about unreleased products. The complaint centers on OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who previously led iPhone product design, and former Apple electrical engineer Chang Liu. Apple claims Tan coached recruits on evading its exit-interview security procedures and told at least one employee to bring hardware components to an interview, and that OpenAI persuaded a supplier to apply a proprietary metal-finishing technique to an OpenAI device by falsely stating it had Apple's permission. The filing describes OpenAI's hardware business as "rotten to its core."
The suit follows a souring of the 2024 partnership that brought ChatGPT to Siri, with OpenAI itself
weighing legal options against Apple in May. More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, including
Vision Products Group leader Paul Meade, and former design chief Jony Ive leads design on the hardware lineup through LoveFrom after OpenAI's
$6.5 billion acquisition of his startup io Products. Apple has countered with
retention bonuses of up to $400,000 and has now
sent legal preservation letters to around 40 former employees, suggesting it believes the alleged misappropriation goes beyond those named. OpenAI
says it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman argues the case is
already causing damage ahead of any ruling, deterring Apple engineers from interviewing at OpenAI and making Asian suppliers wary of deepening ties with the company. Ive is not named in the complaint, which Gurman
believes was deliberate given Apple's relationship with io Products investor Laurene Powell Jobs.
OpenAI's first device,
teased for months by Ive and CEO Sam Altman, is believed to be a
portable, screenless smart speaker that is
now expected in early 2027 at $200 to $300. Powered by ChatGPT and
GPT-Live, it has a rechargeable battery so it can be carried between rooms, a camera for understanding its surroundings, and motorized elements that move on their own to give a sense that the device is alive. OpenAI reportedly does not regard the HomePod or HomePod mini as comparable, and people familiar with the project told
Bloomberg the device is unlike anything Apple sells, making infringement unlikely. Apple's own
smart home hub is the closest analogue.
Further out, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo
reported that OpenAI is developing an "AI agent phone" built around a continuous, context-aware interface rather than individual apps, with the company controlling both the operating system and the hardware. Kuo
has since revised his mass production expectation from 2028 to the first half of 2027, projecting combined 2027 and 2028 shipments of around 30 million units. The device is rumored to be a direct iPhone rival.
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If you haven't already listened to the
previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion where we look ahead to the 20th anniversary iPhone, the radically redesigned model that Apple is expected to launch in 2027.
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The MacRumors Show: Can OpenAI Really Beat the iPhone?
