苹果指控 OpenAI 窃取商业机密用于开发未公开的 AI 设备

苹果上周五对 OpenAI 提起诉讼，指控这家 AI 公司窃取了 iPhone 制造商的商业机密，用于开发自己尚未发布的 AI 设备。

诉讼提交至加州北区联邦地区法院，苹果指控 OpenAI 盗用商业机密并违反合同。

OpenAI 去年公布 正与苹果前首席设计官合作一个秘密项目，打造旨在将智能手机用户带入 AI 时代的设备。

该设备预计今年晚些时候亮相——但这场诉讼可能打乱这一计划。诉讼还可能使 OpenAI 近期那场规模巨大、备受期待的上市计划复杂化。

“我们对其他公司的商业机密毫无兴趣，”OpenAI 发言人德鲁·普萨特里说。“我们依然专注于打造能够赋能全球人们、充满创新精神的技术。”

诉讼将 OpenAI、OpenAI 的苹果前工程师 Chang Liu，以及曾领导 iPhone 和 Apple Watch 产品设计的 OpenAI 硬件主管 Tang Tan 列为被告。诉讼还将 io Products 列为被告，该公司由苹果前首席设计官乔尼·艾夫创立，他在 2019 年前一直帮助将 iPhone 变为现实。诉讼并未将艾夫列为被告，也未指控他有不当行为。OpenAI 于去年收购了 io。

苹果指控，Liu 和 Tan 在盗窃行为中扮演了关键角色。苹果在诉状中称，Liu 于 2026 年 1 月离开苹果加入 OpenAI，且未回应苹果为确保其签署保密提醒、安排离职面谈以及确认他已归还公司设备所做出的尝试。诉讼指出，他未归还公司配发的笔记本电脑，并在离职后还获取了前同事的工作电脑。

诉状写道，Liu 访问并下载了“数十份苹果机密硬件相关文件，包括关于未发布产品的大量详细信息、工程演示文稿、技术规格和专有项目数据”。

苹果指控，Tan 在招聘候选人时使用了公司机密信息，包括指示他们在面试过程中携带苹果零件。苹果还指控 Tan 和 OpenAI 指导苹果员工如何离职。

苹果指出，Tan 还向 OpenAI 透露了与苹果供应商的关键会议信息，并在离职前将相关供应商信息通过邮件发给自己。

苹果还表示，已发现证据表明其他前苹果员工在离职前往 OpenAI 时携带了机密信息。

“在苹果，我们的团队每天都在开发突破性技术，以打造全球最好的产品和服务，保护他们的工作和知识产权是我们高度重视的，”苹果在声明中表示。

苹果在诉状中称，在调查初期曾联系 OpenAI 提出关切，但从未得到回应。

这起诉讼也意味着两家公司关系的破裂，它们在 2024 年曾宣布 合作 将 ChatGPT 整合到苹果产品中。不过今年 5 月，彭博社 报道称 OpenAI 正在考虑对苹果采取法律行动，可能指控苹果违反合同，声称苹果未在其设备上充分整合和推广 OpenAI 的产品。

OpenAI 一直积极挖角苹果现任及前任核心领导层和工程人才，主要目的是建立一个专门的硬件部门。

根据 CNN 对 LinkedIn 资料的统计，OpenAI 最近至少招募了 10 名直接从苹果跳槽过来的工程师。

这场诉讼凸显了科技巨头为争夺 AI 时代主导权而进行的高风险竞争。OpenAI 已对其产品战略做出大范围调整，力图将 ChatGPT 置于消费者数字生活的中心。而苹果则准备在今年晚些时候推出酝酿已久的 Siri 改版，新款 Siri 将能够跨应用工作，并通过引用用户的 iPhone 数据提供个性化回答。

OpenAI 对其秘密硬件项目公开透露的内容不多。The Information 报道称 OpenAI 正在研发一款智能音箱，而《华尔街日报》报道 称 OpenAI 的设备将能够感知用户周围的环境。

AI 正在重塑人们与技术互动的方式，诸如此类的硬件项目正是科技公司为站在变革最前沿而做出的努力。科技巨头普遍认为，随着 AI 智能体处理日常任务的能力越来越强，消费者或许不再需要频繁使用应用或与屏幕交互。

本文已更新补充信息。

Apple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging the AI company has stolen the iPhone maker’s trade secrets to develop its own yet-to-be-unveiled AI gadgets.

In the suit, filed in the District Court of Northern California, Apple accuses OpenAI of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.

OpenAI last year announced it has been working with Apple’s former design chief on a hush-hush project to build devices meant to bring smartphone users into the age of AI.

The device is expected to be unveiled later this year – but the lawsuit could throw a wrench into those plans. The suit could also complicate OpenAI’s plans to go public soon in a massive, hotly anticipated IPO.

“We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” said Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for OpenAI. “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

The suit names OpenAI; OpenAI’s Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer, and OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan, who previously led iPhone and Apple Watch product design. The lawsuit also named io Products, the company founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s design chief until 2019 who helped usher the iPhone into existence. The suit does not name Ive as a defendant, nor does it accuse him of wrongdoing. OpenAI bought io last year.

Liu and Tan played a critical role in the theft, Apple alleges. Liu left Apple to join OpenAI in January 2026 and did not respond to Apple’s attempts to ensure that he signed the company’s confidentiality reminder, schedule an exit interview and confirm that he returned his company devices, Apple claimed in the suit. The lawsuit says he failed to return a work-issued laptop and also gained access to a former colleague’s work computer after leaving the company.

Liu accessed and downloaded “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data,” the lawsuit says.

Apple alleges that Tan used confidential company information when recruiting candidates, including instructing them to bring Apple parts during the interview process. It also alleges Tan and OpenAI coached Apple employees on how to leave the company.

Tan also told OpenAI about key meetings with Apple suppliers and emailed himself information about those suppliers before leaving his role, Apple alleges.

The company also says it found evidence that other former Apple employees had taken confidential information with them upon leaving to work for OpenAI.

“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously,” Apple said in a statement.

In the lawsuit, Apple said it contacted OpenAI to raise its concerns when the investigation was in its early stages but that it never received a response.

The lawsuit also represents a breakdown in the relationship between the two companies, which in 2024 announced a partnership to start integrating ChatGPT into Apple products. But in May, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI was considering legal action against Apple, potentially alleging breach of contract over claims that Apple had not sufficiently integrated and promoted OpenAI’s products across its devices.

OpenAI has aggressively poached top current and former Apple leadership and engineering talent, primarily to build a dedicated hardware division.

According to a CNN count of LinkedIn profiles, OpenAI has recently hired at least ten engineers who joined the AI company directly from Apple.

The lawsuit highlights the high-stakes rivalry among tech giants to dominate the AI era. OpenAI has made sweeping changes to its product strategy, aiming to put ChatGPT at the center of consumers’ digital lives. And Apple is set to launch its long-awaited revamped version of Siri later this year, which will be able to work across apps and personalize answers by referencing a user’s iPhone data.

OpenAI hasn’t said much publicly about its secretive hardware project. The Information has reported that OpenAI is working on a smart speaker, while The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI’s device will be aware of a user’s surroundings.

AI is reshaping how people interact with technology, and these kinds of hardware efforts are part of a push by tech companies to keep themselves at the forefront of those changes.**** Tech giants largely believe that as AI agents grow more capable of handling everyday tasks, consumers may not need to use apps or interact with screens as often.

This story has been updated with additional information.