Apple vs. OpenAI: A Trade-Secret Showdown in the AI Race

Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI accusing it of poaching Apple engineers, keeping a company laptop, exploiting a security flaw to access internal systems, downloading confidential files, and coaching departing employees to evade exit checks, while also allegedly using a shared supplier to replicate Apple’s proprietary metal-finishing process. OpenAI denies any secrets theft and says it’s focused on innovation. The high-profile case, unfolding as Sun Valley events wind down, has sparked mixed expert takes on California trade-secret law, potential supply-chain risks, and what the dispute could mean for AI talent and IP in the tech industry.