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Bloomberg/Getty Images A new job is your chance to put what you know to work. Just be sure not to share what belongs to your current or former employer.
Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI serves as a fresh reminder of the risks involved in drawing on your expertise without crossing into protected territory.
Filed on Friday, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI sought confidential details from Apple engineers during job interviews and that one former employee continued accessing sensitive material after joining OpenAI.
Two former Apple employees were named as individual defendants alongside OpenAI, which previously told Business Insider it has no interest in other companies' trade secrets. The named employees and representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
While the allegations have yet to be tested in court, the case raises broader questions about how workers can change jobs without sharing a former employer's trade secrets. Legal experts say sharing this information can expose both the worker and the new company to lawsuits, substantial legal bills, and reputational damage.
"Whether you intend to or not, it can open up a huge can of worms," said Joseph H. Harris, a partner at employment law firm FordHarrison.
Such disputes are not unusual, and employers may deliberately recruit workers to gain access to a competitor's confidential knowledge, said Betsy Bulat, an equity partner with the employment law firm Martenson, Hasbrouck, Simon, and Bulat LLP.
"There are some unscrupulous employers that probably do hire people just for the sole purpose of getting a competitor's information," Bulat said, speaking generally.
She added that the stakes can be especially high for AI companies because the field is new and the pool of workers with deep expertise remains limited.
"I think we're going to continue seeing these kinds of lawsuits going forward," Bulat said.
How trade secrets walk out the doorIt may seem obvious not to share trade secrets, yet Harris said employees sometimes take sensitive documents with them when leaving a company, reasoning that because they helped create the material, it's fair game and may come in handy later. They may have no malicious intent, he said, but these documents don't belong to them.
"Even though you wrote it and you worked on it, it's still the former employer's information," Harris said.
In other instances, workers may simply be trying to get up to speed and fail to recognize that moving confidential material outside company systems is not allowed.
Jennifer Schielke, CEO of staffing firm Summit Group Solutions, recalled a newly hired account manager who emailed a confidential client template to a personal account a few years ago. The employee, who didn't yet have access to their work email from home, wanted to study the template outside the office and openly mentioned doing so during onboarding.
The person was trying to learn, "but they didn't really think about the fact that they crossed the line," Schielke said.
The risk can arise before someone is hired. Michael Doud, a recruiter for The Barton Partnership, an executive search firm, said job candidates sometimes disclose confidential details about a current or past employer during interviews because they're bragging or desperate to land an offer.
The move can backfire, he said, because an interviewer may see the disclosure as an indicator of the candidate's judgment and trustworthiness.
"That's not the right first impression," said Doud. "It absolutely could hurt your candidacy."
The cost of sharing too muchThe potential consequences of sharing trade secrets during a job interview or after getting hired can be severe.
A former employer can sue both the worker and the new company for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets. Claims may arise from nondisclosure provisions in an employment agreement or company policies that the worker signed upon joining the business.
Harris said a new employer could fire the worker to distance itself from the alleged misconduct, potentially leaving the worker on the hook for substantial legal fees. Even if a case doesn't go to trial, a public lawsuit accusing a worker of theft or dishonesty can create "severe reputational risk," Harris said.
These kinds of disputes often end in settlements because they are expensive to litigate and difficult to prove. Evidence that confidential material was taken does, however, sometimes surface.
Employment lawyer Pam Howland said her firm once handled a case involving several employees who left a business with few competitors in the region. Soon afterward, a new company emerged that looked strikingly similar and began taking market share from their former employer.
The former employer sued the workers and their new company, and years into the litigation, a document surfaced that Howland said showed the workers had used their former employer's proprietary information after all. The case was then settled.
'Don't take the bait'The AI talent wars are prompting employers to scrutinize candidates' past work more closely as they try to distinguish genuine expertise from "lip service," said Tara Flickinger, a partner at executive search firm ON Partners.
That deeper questioning can lead applicants to reveal too much as they try to prove their credentials.
Her rule of thumb: "If you wouldn't say it in front of your former employer's general counsel, then don't say it in an interview."
Knowing where that line falls starts with reviewing any employment agreements and trade-secret policies before changing jobs, Bulat said. Workers can use the expertise and industry knowledge they developed in a previous role, she said, but not a former employer's documents, data, or other confidential information.
"Don't share anything," Bulat said of a current or former employer's confidential information. "If someone's trying to bait you into doing it, don't take the bait."
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Sarah E. Needleman You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Sarah E. Needleman covers leadership and the workplace for Business Insider.Previously, she was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for more than two decades, covering technology companies, entrepreneurship, and recruiting.In 2022, Sarah received an honorable mention with WSJ colleagues for their coverage of workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.Sarah graduated from Rutgers University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She lives with her husband, daughter, and fur child (an Australian labradoodle) in northern New Jersey.Have feedback or a tip?Contact Sarah on Signal at saraheneedleman.13, or email her at [email protected] of Sarah’s scoops, exclusives, and most-read articles include: 'Entitled,' 'complacent,' and 'sloppy': Inside the workplace tension at the world's largest HR organizationShe won a religious exemption from using AI at work. The Pope's remarks could fuel similar appeals.The CEO behind 'Grand Theft Auto' doesn't drink, smoke, or play video gamesPTO, parental leave, pensions: Even the most prized benefits are on the chopping blockGoodbye, middle managers. Hello, 'player-coaches' and 'org leads.'She used to manage 3 employees. Now she oversees 24. Welcome to the age of the megamanager.America's new sink-or-swim era is hereInside the AI divide roiling video game giant Electronic ArtsMeet your new office bestie: ChatGPT
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images For years, Silicon Valley has had a comfortable way of digesting disruption. OpenAI is refusing to play by these unspoken rules.
That's my takeaway after reviewing Apple's angry lawsuit against the AI startup, and coverage of the blockbuster complaint.
The usual Silicon Valley playbook goes something like this: engineers work on secret projects inside Big Tech, gain expertise, then sometimes leave to start companies of their own.
Most of these startups stay relatively small. They solve narrow technical problems that Apple, Google, Nvidia, or Amazon haven't prioritized. Many fail. The successful ones usually become suppliers, software partners, or acquisition targets. Either way, they end up strengthening the existing dominant players.
Less risk, more controlThat arrangement suits Big Tech just fine. Let someone else take the technical and financial risk, then use the new technology once it's proven, or buy the startup to control the products and the people behind it.
Sometimes it's an acqui-hire after a startup fails. Sometimes it's a multibillion-dollar deal after it succeeds. Either way, the founders often end up back at Big Tech companies, the cycle begins again.
For example, I have a neighbor in Silicon Valley who developed a specialized semiconductor component at a startup. Apple acquired that business, and he spent about four years in Cupertino doing similar work that helped make AirPods successful.
Kiva Systems followed a similar pattern. Amazon used technology from this robotics startup to make its warehouse more efficient. Then it acquired the business, and made it the foundation of Amazon's massive robotics operation.
Google took a similar approach with Noam Shazeer. He left to build the startup Character.ai before Google engineered a deal that brought the AI expert back to the search giant.
OpenAI's behavior blows this comfy, established playbook out the water in various ways. This is partly why the company upsets Big Tech companies — even those it previously partnered closely with, such as Microsoft and Apple, as Peter Kafka explained on Monday.
In other words, the Silicon Valley establishment loves to talk about disruption, but when they get truly disrupted themselves, the knives come out.
Sandberg's refusal
Sheryl Sandberg Bloomberg/Getty Images The last major example of this I can recall is Facebook, which, like OpenAI, was well-funded and refused to play by the usual rules of the industry. These rules mainly revolve around talent. Who gets to hire, retain, and essentially control, great technical minds — and the ideas held in these prodigious brains.
Back in the 2000s, Apple, Google, Intel, Pixar, Adobe, and Intuit entered into a secret pact that prevented the companies from directly soliciting each other's employees, according to a Justice Department lawsuit.
Facebook refused to take part, and instead went on a hiring spree, luring away hundreds of Googlers. The effort was partly overseen by Sheryl Sandberg, a former top advertising executive from Google. (You may have heard of her!).
Google — just like Apple today — was furious that it was losing talent to a scrappy startup that wasn't playing by Silicon Valley's rules.
"Fix this problem. Propose that you will substantially lower the rate at which you hire people from us," Google executive Jonathan Rosenberg told Sandberg in an email in August 2008. "Then make sure that happens."
But Sandberg refused, and Facebook went on to build the only digital advertising business that has really challenged Google (so far), becoming a $1.7 trillion tech juggernaut in the process.
OpenAI won't stay in its lane
Jony Ive Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Will OpenAI follow in Facebook's successful steps, or will it crash and burn? That's unclear right now. But the startup is certainly refusing to stay in its lane when it comes to Silicon Valley talent.
The scale of the departures from Apple to OpenAI are astounding. I hadn't realized, until Apple told the world in its lawsuit on Friday that more than 400 of its employees work there now. That's not a small hardware startup.
Some of the Apple talent OpenAI has brought on is unusually senior. Jony Ive is the famous iPhone designer, and Tang Tan spent a quarter of a century at Apple overseeing the design of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPod. These are not mid-level technical engineers who dabble in niche projects. They are either visionaries and/or top-level execs who ran big teams at Apple and know how to bring huge projects to life.
"Apple hasn't really had competition for its best hardware and operations people until now, " tech blogger Ben Thompson wrote on Monday. "From what I understand, there has never before been a mass exodus from Apple for a competitor like has happened in this case, and I don't think Apple likes that very much!"
A threat to AppleRelated to this: OpenAI isn't trying to fix some small technical thing that Apple is too busy to focus on. This startup wants to either directly challenge the iPhone, or completely replace this device as the go-to gadget of the AI era.
OpenAI hinted at this ambition in its response to Apple's complaints, saying it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."
Instead of helping Apple from the sidelines, OpenAI is going for the jugular. That's a huge threat.
Thompson wrote on Monday that Apple finally has to "actually wrestle with the possibility that AI is such a paradigm shift that it actually might threaten the iPhone."
And OpenAI is ridiculously well funded, so it's beyond being easily acquired to bring talent back to Apple. The startup raised more than $100 billion earlier this year. Even if the valuation collapses 70% from here, it would cost about $100 billion to acquire. Even for Apple, that would be a pricey acqui-hire!
To me, all this explains the intensity (or desperation?) of Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI.
Normally, if a small startup is getting too successful, or too big for its britches, in Silicon Valley, it can be easily squashed, or just acquired. This time, OpenAI is too big, too well-funded, and too ambitious to swat away or subsume easily.
Sign up for BI's Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at [email protected].
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Alistair Barr You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Alistair Barr is the author of Business Insider's Tech Memo newsletter. Sign up here. Before that, he was BI's Global Tech Editor and the Big Tech team leader at Bloomberg, following a reporting career at The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, and MarketWatch. Alistair won a Gerald Loeb Award in 2007 for coverage of short selling and was a finalist in 2013 for scoops on the Facebook IPO. More recently, he won a 2024 San Francisco Press Club award for commentary. Got a tip? Reach out using the secure messaging app Signal (+1 415-341-4927) or via email on [email protected] oversees all things Big Tech, along with startups and venture capital. He writes analysis and columns about topics including generative AI, large language models, cloud computing, semiconductors, online search, e-commerce, EVs, robotics, and autonomous vehicles.Popular StoriesArtificial Intelligence:It's getting harder to make big leaps at the frontier of AIOpenAI's AI-adjusted earnings numbers have echoes of Groupon and WeWorkDeath by LLM: Stack Overflow's decline, and its plan to survive, shows the future of free online data in an AI worldCloud computing:Amazon dominated the first cloud era. The AI boom has kicked off Cloud 2.0, and the company doesn't have a head start this time.In cloud, there's AI (which is hot) and everything else (which is not)Chips:Why Intel is still so important: Real countries have fabsApple's made-in-the-USA chips signal a turnaround for the US's big semiconductor betEVs and Tesla:Tesla's AI supercomputer has a Silicon Valley town rushing to meet surging electricity demandTesla's Cybertruck is outselling almost every other EV in the USOnline Search:Google is losing its status as a verbA simple way to fix search: Bright pink ads
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On CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Monday morning, Jim Cramer and David Faber discussed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) and its newly filed lawsuit against OpenAI, framing the case as a serious escalation with real IPO consequences. Cramer’s take was that this lawsuit carries weight because Apple rarely files them.
“There are a lot of people who feel that the Apple lawsuit is heavyweight, because it’s not the kind of thing that Apple typically does. They have very good general counsels. They are not prone to suing for the sake of suing,” Cramer said, referencing the parallel Elon Musk and Sam Altman feud playing out on X.
Apple Says OpenAI Stole Trade Secrets and iPhone Technology According to filings and coverage circulating July 12 and 13, Apple sued OpenAI, its subsidiary IO Products, former Apple VP Tang Tan (now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer), and former Apple employee Chang Liu, accusing them of a coordinated effort to misappropriate confidential hardware information and unannounced product details.
The complaint alleges former Apple employees copied confidential materials and brought hardware prototypes into OpenAI interviews. The suit specifically accuses OpenAI of stealing trade secrets and iPhone technology.
OpenAI’s response has been dismissive. Sam Altman said he is “not afraid of Apple,” expressed “tremendous respect” for the company, and called Apple an “S-tier company,” while OpenAI stated it is “reviewing the filing” and has “no interest in competitors’ trade secrets.”
Why Apple’s Lawsuit Could Be the Real Deal Faber noted the case lands as OpenAI is moving toward a potential public offering. “Doesn’t help the S-1, right?” he added, before noting the severity of the issue: “I think it’s serious. I come down on the serious side… don’t you for a minute fall for this thing [being] just classic Silicon Valley going at it… when I speak to the people on this who are on the Apple side, it’s just a highly rare [move].”
Cramer acknowledged the counter-view. “There are serious people who are taking the side of OpenAI on this case… saying this is Apple just trying to stall. But there are a lot of people who just say, look, Tim Cook would not do this unless he really and truly believed that they’re just stealing,” he said. Apple reported that over 400 employees have moved to working for OpenAI over the years, which makes the trade-secret theory both plausible and legally messy.
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Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s Feud Is Just the Sideshow Running alongside the litigation, Elon Musk accused Sam Altman of scamming, calling him a scammer on X, and Altman fired back at Musk’s space data center plans.
As entertaining as the exchange is, the Apple complaint carries real balance-sheet consequences for OpenAI’s IPO paperwork.
Apple Investors Are Looking Straight Past the OpenAI Fight Apple has a market cap of roughly $4.63 trillion, with the stock at $316.98, up 16.2% year to date and 49.04% over the past year. Citi just raised its price target to $365 from $315, citing margin expansion and share gains. On fundamentals, Apple’s most recent quarter delivered revenue of $111.18 billion, up 16.6% year over year, with diluted EPS of $2.01 and record Services revenue of $30.98 billion.
What to Watch Next Apple’s July 30 earnings report and September iPhone launch remain the biggest near-term events for shareholders, but the OpenAI lawsuit introduces a separate risk that could grow over time. Early court filings and the discovery process may reveal whether former Apple employees actually brought confidential hardware information to OpenAI or whether the case is primarily an attempt to slow a new competitor.
The lawsuit could also complicate OpenAI’s path toward an IPO. If Apple’s allegations gain credibility, OpenAI may need to disclose the case as a material legal risk in its S-1 filing. The public feud may generate attention, but the lawsuit’s potential effect on OpenAI’s offering could carry much greater financial consequences.
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According to a report, the company plans to skip higher-performance versions of some of its processors along the way.
Omar Gallaga has covered technology, digital culture and other topics for outlets including CNET, NPR, WIRED, Texas Monthly, MSNBC, Consumer Reports, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and the Austin American-Statesman, where he was a longtime tech reporter, editor and podcaster. He lives in the Texas Hill Country.
3 min read
Apple is changing the way it will handle the release of its next flagship M processors going forward, according to a report from Bloomberg's Power On newsletter.
Power On author Mark Gurman wrote that in a race to get to its M7 generation of processors, which use neural processing to improve AI performance, Apple will skip some iterations of processors along the way. For instance, whereas Apple may have released Pro, Max and Ultra versions of some M-series processors, it may not do so for the next one in line, M6, due out this fall.
Apple's M5 processors for desktop and laptop Mac computers, as well as some iPads, started becoming available in those products in the fall of 2025.
Bloomberg previously reported anticipated changes in the M6 roadmap in June, but is now reporting how Apple's plans for its processor lineup, up to the M8, are being influenced by artificial intelligence, including competition from companies like Nvidia. Gurman points to the development of advanced AI performance for the M7 Ultra processor as one reason for accelerating the chip-release roadmap. An even more advanced M8 processor codenamed Soko is also in the works, according to the report.
A representative for Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.
Apple's long game on AIApple has not been as overtly aggressive with its AI efforts as other tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Meta and OpenAI. But as Gurman suggests in his report, it has been quietly laying the groundwork for its long-term AI goals using technology it developed, even on failed projects such as the canceled Apple Car.
The company has delayed versions of its Siri assistant to refine its AI capabilities while continuing to develop processors that can handle the high demands of on-device AI rather than offloading processing to data centers, as many AI services do.
This strategy has served Apple well in the past: Wait for others to introduce new technology, learn from their mistakes, and then release its own products that are more refined. It's how Apple dominated headphones with its AirPods and what it did in wearables with the Apple Watch.
But with AI, Apple is battling competitors -- including partners like Google -- on several fronts. And that is requiring the company to shift its strategy in several ways. With its processors, Apple is pushing for improvements in memory bandwidth and Neural Engine improvements, said Mahdi Eslamimehr. executive vice president at Quandary Peak Research.
"Skipping the M6 Pro, Max and Ultra to pull the M7 generation forward is the clearest signal yet that AI has displaced CPU and graphics as the organizing principle of Apple's chip roadmap," Eslamimehr told CNET.
That move, he said, is bolstered by the company's hardware chief, John Ternus, taking over as CEO in the fall. "That silicon-first bet now has backing at the very top of the company," Eslamimehr said.
Apple, he said, won't be competing with Nvidia on the data center side of the AI business where it dominates with its processors, but will instead focus on making devices that excel as private, on-device AI computing powerhouses that eventually "would push local performance toward workstation class."
The payoff for Apple power users, he said, will be more powerful hardware-native AI, but it might not be until late 2027 before they get their hands on top-tier Apple M7 hardware.
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Omar Gallaga has covered technology, digital culture and other topics for outlets including CNET, NPR, WIRED, Texas Monthly, MSNBC, Consumer Reports, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic and the Austin American-Statesman, where he was a longtime tech reporter, editor and podcaster. He lives in the Texas Hill Country. See full bio
Apple acquired certain assets of SigScalr and hired certain SigScalr employees, according to a list of acquisitions maintained by the European Commission.
The list said that “SigScalr develops a data log management and observability tool” and that Apple notified the commission of the acquisition on March 12.
The commission posted the details on its website Monday (July 13), according to 9to5Mac, which flagged the news of the acquisition in a Monday report.
SigScalr offers the open-source observability platform SigLens, which helps developers collect, search and analyze logs, metrics and traces generated by apps and infrastructure, according to the report.
The company’s website is now offline, and the platform’s GitHub repository was made read-only, according to the report.
In an archival notice posted in the repository, SigScalr said: “As we focus on something new, the repository will remain available in read-only mode for anyone who finds it useful. If you’d like to fork it, build on it, or take it in a new direction, we wholeheartedly encourage that. We are also changing the license to a more permissive Apache 2.0 license.”
MacRumors said in a Monday report on the acquisition that SigLens “was known for being a cost-effective and fast solution compared to many competing platforms.”
Apple Insider reported Monday that Apple’s acquisition of SigScalr will give it “a tool to monitor and debug the processes of large numbers of interrelated applications.”
SigLens Founder and CEO Kunal Nawale said in his LinkedIn profile: “By using our self-hosted or our SaaS, companies save 90% on their observability bills. We provide lightning-fast query response times on any volume of data thereby reducing your debugging time during production issues.”
SigScalr announced in a February 2024 press release that it emerged from stealth and closed a $1.76 million pre-seed round that was led by Scribble Ventures with co-investments from WestWave Capital and Forward Slash Capital.
PYMNTS reported in November that Palo Alto Networks announced plans to acquire observability platform Chronosphere for $3.35 billion.
Like other observability platforms, Chronosphere collects detailed data from applications and infrastructure to help engineers understand why problems occur and where they originate, according to the report.
Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of the company closed in January, according to a Jan. 29 press release.
Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI announced Friday (July 10) includes allegations that highlight the importance of protecting corporate data when employees leave, TechCrunch reported Monday (July 13).
The lawsuit includes allegations that a former employee who went to work for OpenAI exploited an authentication bug to access the company’s network after leaving Apple. It does not describe the nature of the bug, according to the report.
The company said that it fixed the bug upon learning about it and that only the one former employee exploited the bug when it was active, per the report.
Apple alleged that the former employee failed to return an Apple-issued laptop when leaving the company, misused the access of an acquaintance who was an Apple employee at the time but later went to work for OpenAI, discovered the authentication bug after leaving Apple, and failed to report that bug as required by his employment agreement, according to the report.
TechCrunch reported Monday that the allegations show why companies often immediately cut off access by departing employees, as well as the risks companies face if they fail to do so completely.
It was reported Friday that Apple sued OpenAI and two former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, including the one later featured in the TechCrunch report, alleging that they stole trade secrets from Apple to support OpenAI’s development of devices.
The suit alleged that one employee emailed himself information about Apple’s suppliers and asked Apple employees to bring parts to OpenAI during job interviews; that the other employee downloaded confidential files from Apple’s network and coached an Apple employee on how to copy confidential files; and that “at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information.”
An OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
PYMNTS reported Monday that Apple’s lawsuit echoes the company’s legal battles in the 2010s against various companies making Android phones, including one legal fight that lasted eight years before the two sides reached a settlement.
Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) stock has climbed 15% since June 25, adding $600 billion in market value, pushing shares to $317.18 and right up against the 52-week high of $323.45. That’s striking for a company mocked for sitting out the generative AI capital-spending race while peers wrote record checks.
Every other Magnificent 7 name trades well below its own high. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock sits at $392 versus a $551 high, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares at $355 versus $408, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares at $249 versus $279, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares at $204 versus $236, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) shares at $660 versus $794, and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares at $393 versus $499. The market treats Apple’s conservative-capex approach as an AI-spending safe haven.
The question for investors: Is there still time to buy, or was that the trade? The math on valuation, catalysts, and downside settles it.
The Valuation Question Apple shares trade at a trailing P/E ratio of 38x and a forward P/E ratio of 33x. That’s rich versus Apple’s own history and rich versus a business growing revenue in the mid-teens.
Meanwhile, the analyst consensus tells a stark story. The consensus price target of $315.57 sits essentially at the current Apple share price, the least implied upside of any Magnificent 7 stock, with peers carrying 24% to 38% implied upside after their pullbacks. On valuation alone, most of the easy re-rating has already happened.
The Forward Catalyst Case Apple’s fundamentals still give bulls plenty to work with. The company’s Q2 FY2026 report delivered revenue of $111.18 billion, up 17% year over year (YoY), with Services revenue at an all-time record of $30.98 billion and iPhone revenue of $56.99 billion on iPhone 17 demand, marking the eighth consecutive EPS beat.
The catalyst calendar is loaded. Apple’s next earnings report lands July 30, a foldable iPhone carries a 92% Polymarket probability of a pre-2027 launch, and Apple’s $30 billion-plus partnership with Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) for U.S.-made wireless chips secures supply through 2031. On April 20, Apple announced Tim Cook will become executive chairman and John Ternus, SVP of Hardware Engineering, will become CEO effective September 1, placing a silicon and hardware engineer at the top as Apple leans into on-device AI.
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Citi lifted its price target on Apple stock to $365, implying 16% upside, and our proprietary 247 model rates Apple a Buy with 12% implied upside ($354.88). The 2.5 billion active device installed base keeps feeding the high-margin Services engine that anchors Apple’s results.
The Downside and How to Enter The downside is real. Apple shares carry the smallest analyst-implied upside in the group, the Apple lawsuit against OpenAI over alleged hardware trade-secret theft adds legal overhang, and Apple is building its own AI stack rather than leasing someone else’s. Microsoft is running an estimated $190 billion of AI capex in 2026, and once that spending produces visible returns, Apple’s safe-haven premium could fade.
For investors wanting Magnificent 7 exposure without picking a winner, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (NASDAQ:MAGS) offers equal-weight access with no leverage. The tradeoff is concentration in just seven mega-caps, so single-name risk cuts both ways.
The Verdict Owning Apple stock could still make sense, though the next 12 months probably won’t look like the last 12. Apple shares are up 49% over one year with the consensus target already reached, and that’s the market saying further upside depends on the July 30 earnings report, the Ternus transition, and proof that Apple Intelligence and Apple silicon convert the installed base.
Investors weighing a new position should keep sizing modest and leave room to add on a pullback toward the 50-day moving average of $297.77. Apple stock looks best suited to measured accumulation at these levels rather than aggressive chasing.
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On Friday, Apple dropped the bombshell news it was suing OpenAI over the alleged theft of trade secrets, claiming that OpenAI stole Apple’s confidential data and engaged in efforts to learn proprietary information while recruiting former Apple employees.
In accusing OpenAI of stealing secrets about Apple’s unreleased products, Apple revealed that a former employee allegedly siphoned reams of sensitive files from the company’s shared network folders, weeks after leaving Apple for a job at OpenAI.
In its complaint, Apple says the former employee, a system electrical engineer named Chang Liu, allegedly “exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug” that allowed access to the company’s network. The bug is classified as a zero-day vulnerability, meaning that Apple had no time to fix it before it was allegedly exploited.
Apple has since fixed the bug and said it terminated the employee’s access once it learned of this “security breach.” In its complaint, Apple said the bug could have allowed a “few other” people to access data on its network, but alleged that only Liu exploited the bug to steal Apple’s confidential information while no longer an employee, citing a check of its server logs.
The disclosure, while light in detail, highlights the challenges that organizations face with protecting sensitive corporate data after employees no longer work there. Companies often move to immediately cut off departing staff from further access to protect any sensitive information from leaving, including inadvertently. Companies that fail to fully decommission their employees’ accounts can face future security lapses, data breaches, or malicious actions by disgruntled staff.
Apple spokespeople did not respond to an email from TechCrunch with questions about the security vulnerability, how it was exploited, and when the company decommissioned the employee’s credentials.
“LOL… so funny.” In the complaint, Apple alleged that Liu took “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files” over the course of several weeks while as a new OpenAI employee.
Apple said the files contained “detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.”
The company claims Liu failed to return the Apple-issued work laptop he had previously used to access Apple’s network, suggesting it was once able to send and receive files from Apple’s internal systems. The complaint said that Liu allegedly claimed to have “another computer.” While he was at OpenAI, Liu also allegedly misused the access of an acquaintance, Yu-Ting Peng, a then-Apple employee who later went to work for OpenAI. Liu allegedly used Peng’s Apple-issued work laptop “while she was still employed at Apple and he was not.”
Apple said that during February 2026, Liu “tried to access Apple’s network storage — a cloud-based file repository containing Apple’s confidential engineering files, project documentation, and other proprietary information.”
Liu had allegedly discovered that he “still could access Apple’s network repository after leaving Apple, the result of a then-unknown authentication vulnerability.”
Apple did not describe the authentication “bug” that Liu allegedly used to access Apple’s network. However, authentication bugs generally refer to flaws in the login process that allow improper access to systems or data, either because of a weakness in how the login mechanism works or due to a misconfiguration, such as overbroad permissions or not decommissioning the login credentials of a former employee.
Apple wrote in its complaint that when Liu learned he had unauthorized access to Apple’s systems, he did not report the bug to Apple under his employment agreement obligations, nor did he return his Apple-issued work laptop.
The complaint added that Liu also failed to “delete the program that allowed the access” to Apple’s network. The company did not say what program or app that Liu allegedly used to access Apple’s systems. It’s not uncommon for employees to have tools, such as a work-approved VPN or remote-viewing app, that allow them to access sensitive data from outside of the company’s offices using their credentials.
Given that Liu was previously granted credentials to Apple’s network as an employee, TechCrunch asked Apple when the company decommissioned Liu’s access, but we did not hear back.
Once Liu allegedly gained access to the network share, he wrote to Peng: “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.”
Apple filed its suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, and has demanded a jury trial. OpenAI previously said it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”
The case, if it proceeds, could begin this year.
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Apple (AAPL) and Samsung gained smartphone market share in the second quarter even as global shipments fell 4% year over year, highlighting how the industry's l
Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI is packed with a number of extraordinary allegations that paint a picture of a coordinated effort to extract confidential information from current and former Apple employees. But what’s perhaps most striking is how casually the alleged misconduct is described, including one message that reads, “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.”
The 41-page complaint, which was filed on Friday, is filled with unusually detailed allegations, like this and others. Here are some that stood out the most to us:
“Normalized and exemplified by leadership.” With this description of OpenAI, Apple is making it clear its lawsuit isn’t just focused on rogue employees, but that misconduct like this is part of OpenAI’s culture and is led from the top. “Rotten to its core.” Leave it to Apple to work a rotten fruit analogy into its criticism of OpenAI’s behavior in this case. The AI model maker is rumored to be working on a hardware device to challenge the iPhone, potentially a smartphone of its own. But Apple wants to stress that what OpenAI is developing was allegedly built with Apple’s trade secrets. “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” the complaint states. “This is the tip of the iceberg.” In addition to documenting the allegations against its former employees, Apple is suggesting that the alleged misconduct outlined in the complaint is only a fraction of what it will uncover after the discovery process gets underway. In discovery, corporate documents and communications, including texts and emails, are obtained, potentially uncovering other examples of this kind of behavior at OpenAI. “Discovery will expose that the misappropriation has been occurring on a scale many times greater than the several instances described below,” Apple’s complaint states. “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” Apple says that Chang Liu, previously a senior systems electrical engineer at Apple before joining OpenAI, sent this message to an Apple employee, Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, who allegedly was a conduit between Apple and OpenAI. Peng later left to join OpenAI herself but is not a defendant in the lawsuit. Peng allegedly replied to the message, “I’m ready.” Apple claims that Liu was able to access Apple’s systems by exploiting an authentication bug, which he did from Peng’s Apple-issued work computer. “I still have another computer.” Liu allegedly also texted this within hours of leaving Apple, referring to another Apple computer he allegedly planned to use to access Apple’s confidential information. Apple discovered the message on Peng’s Apple-issued work laptop. “Didn’t even know we could take those from the office.” One of the wilder allegations is that OpenAI job candidates working at Apple were directed by OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch, to bring “act ual parts” from Apple to their interviews at OpenAI for “show and tell sessions.” One candidate was surprised by the request, saying he didn’t even realize that Apple parts could be taken out of the office, Apple alleges. Apple also says employees were instructed to bring “CAD/design artifacts” and “prototypes” to interviews. Avoiding the “dreaded walkout.” Apple alleges that OpenAI coached departing Apple employees on how to evade Apple’s security procedures to reduce the chance their alleged trade secret theft would be caught. The complaint claims that OpenAI circulated an internal Apple document bearing a “Need to know” designation to new hires with details on how to avoid the “dreaded walkout,” which would immediately remove them from Apple after giving notice, instead of letting them continue to work for the typical two weeks, which would allow them more time to access Apple’s confidential information. “Let OpenAI know ‘asap’” if asked to sign anything when quitting Apple. In addition to helping OpenAI job candidates avoid Apple’s security procedures, the complaint alleges that if Apple asked departing employees to sign anything at an exit interview, they should let OpenAI know immediately, and advised them not to sign. “Over four hundred former Apple employees now working at OpenAI.” Another surprise: the complaint reveals the extent to which Apple employees have left the iPhone maker to work for OpenAI. Apple leverages this figure to paint a picture of the potential scale of the problem, noting that “it is not surprising that certain OpenAI personnel have knowledge of Apple’s confidential and proprietary information, which they are obligated to keep confidential. But OpenAI has resorted to exploiting this confidential information…” “io…access, exploited and used Apple’s secret, proprietary industrial design techniques, processes, and know-how related to metal-finishing.” Founded by former Apple employees, including Jony Ive, the company io was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.5 billion deal. Now, io is a defendant in this lawsuit, as Apple alleges that the firm used its industrial design techniques by misleading Apple’s partner into believing that it had Apple’s permission to carry out a “confidential metal-finishing technique,” the complaint states. Apple also alleges that OpenAI approached a supplier using its confidential information about design and components related to power and batteries, even using “internal terminology” to ask targeted questions that “only Apple-insiders would know to ask.”) “Apple is left with no choice.” Though seemingly typical legal language, in this case, it appears that Apple may have tried to resolve the situation outside the courts first. The tech giant says that it first tried to contact OpenAI in February, raising its concerns, but OpenAI never responded. So far, OpenAI has only commented publicly via a statement shared on X on Friday, which reads: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
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Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow breaks down why an AI-fueled stock rout in South Korea spilled over into the US market Monday, sending SK Hynix ADRs falling in their second US trading day. Plus, Apple and OpenAI's AI rivalry enters the courtroom, with Apple filing a sweeping trade secrets lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker.
Apple's lawsuit accusing OpenAI of systematically stealing its intellectual property threatens to disrupt the AI company's device ambitions long before the case is resolved. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman joins Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Tech.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California accusing OpenAI (Unlisted:OPAI), its hardware subsidiary io Products, and two former Apple employees of misappropriating trade secrets related to the development of OpenAI's planned consumer AI hardware.
The complaint alleges OpenAI engaged in a coordinated effort to obtain Apple's confidential information as it accelerated work on its hardware ambitions following its acquisition of Jony Ive's startup io Products for approximately $6.5 billion.
Apple named the OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and io Products as defendants, along with OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and former Apple engineer Chang Liu.
In the filing, Apple alleged that OpenAI and its employees took "illegal shortcuts" to develop AI hardware. "This much is clear, however: at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information,” the company said in the filing.
The lawsuit claims Liu failed to return a company-issued MacBook after leaving Apple and exploited an authentication flaw to regain access to Apple's internal cloud storage, where he allegedly downloaded thousands of confidential hardware documents.
Apple further alleged that Tang Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple before joining OpenAI, instructed Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI to bring unreleased Apple components and prototypes to interviews for "show and tell" sessions.
According to the complaint, OpenAI also sought access to Apple's manufacturing know-how by misleading one of Apple's industrial design partners into believing it had permission to replicate a proprietary metal-finishing process for OpenAI devices. Apple additionally alleged that OpenAI has recruited more than 400 former Apple employees for its hardware division.
"Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement
OpenAI denied the allegations. “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement.
The lawsuit marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the companies, which partnered in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's operating system. More recently, Apple selected Google's Gemini models rather than OpenAI technology to power an updated version of Siri expected later this year.
Shares of Apple added 1.5% at about $320 on Monday morning.
Apple Inc. is emerging as an unlikely winner from Wall Street's growing scepticism over artificial intelligence spending, with investors increasingly rotating into the iPhone maker as chipmakers and cloud-computing companies face mounting pressure.
The stock has rebounded sharply after disappointing investors with its latest AI announcements, adding nearly $600 billion in market value since bottoming on June 25 and returning to record highs, Bloomberg reported.
Apple's AAPL shares have climbed 15% over the period, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has declined 7% even as it still stays up by about 75% this year.
The broader S&P 500 has gained 3%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 has risen just 1.3%.
The rally has also made Apple the best-performing member of the so-called Magnificent Seven this year.
The stock has gained about 18% in 2026, outperforming Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Tesla.
Alphabet and Amazon are both trading more than 10% below their May peaks, while Microsoft's 18% decline has put the software giant on track for its weakest annual performance since 2022.
Apple's resurgence comes as investors question whether the massive sums being spent on AI infrastructure will ultimately generate sufficient returns.
Unlike rivals such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, Apple has largely avoided the costly race to build AI data centres, a strategy that was initially viewed as leaving the company behind in artificial intelligence.
That perception is now changing.
"There's a battle in the market, and right now Apple is benefiting because it isn't in the storm that the rest of the AI trade is in," Mark Bronzo, chief investment strategist at Rye Strategic Partners, told Bloomberg.
"People are concerned about what kind of return hyperscalers could get from their AI spending, and there are also arguments that semis have gotten ahead of themselves. As a result, investors have gravitated back to Apple as a steady-eddy name without those risks."
The shift in sentiment has helped Apple recover despite continued criticism of its AI offerings, including the lukewarm reception to its latest Apple Intelligence features.
The company's recovery is particularly notable because it comes amid rapidly rising memory chip prices, which threaten margins across the consumer electronics industry.
Apple responded by raising prices on Macs, iPads and home devices on June 25, triggering its biggest single-day decline since April 2025.
While iPhone prices have so far remained unchanged, the company has indicated that further price increases remain possible.
Apple is also reportedly negotiating with two Chinese semiconductor manufacturers to diversify memory chip supplies and lower procurement costs.
Analysts believe Apple's premium customer base gives it greater flexibility than many rivals to pass on higher component costs.
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said pricing increases have historically had little impact on long-term demand, raising PT to $345.
"Long-term trends suggest that pricing has limited implications on volume opportunity over a multi-year period," Chatterjee wrote in a July 7 note.
"Apple has taken meaningful pricing across the portfolio in the past, and volumes have continued to expand despite those price increases."
Citi remains bullish ahead of earningsWall Street has also become increasingly optimistic ahead of Apple's fiscal third-quarter results later this month.
Citi on Monday reiterated its Buy rating on the stock while raising its price target to $365. This implies an almost 14% upside to its current trading level.
The brokerage expects Apple to continue gaining market share even as broader smartphone and personal computer demand weakens.
Analysts said Apple "continues to outperform the broader smartphone market through share gains, design-driven demand, and strong positioning in the mid-range price segment via promotions and subsidies."
Citi also expects Apple to raise iPhone prices during the September launch cycle, particularly on premium models where consumer demand remains relatively resilient.
The firm believes Apple's enhanced Siri capabilities under Apple Intelligence are unlikely to trigger a major device replacement cycle immediately, but could improve user engagement and support long-term growth in its high-margin services business.
Another reason for Apple's renewed momentum is growing optimism surrounding its long-rumoured foldable iPhone.
Citi said the September iPhone launch was "an important catalyst that could further strengthen investor sentiment."
According to Nikkei, Apple has instructed suppliers to prepare production of around 10 million foldable iPhones this year, up from an earlier estimate of seven to eight million units.
The premium pricing expected for the new device has strengthened confidence that Apple can offset higher component costs while boosting revenue growth.
"While Apple is immune from AI weakness, the main reason to not sell it is that it probably has a huge hit coming," Louis Navellier, chief investment officer at Navellier & Associates, told Bloomberg.
"Pricing for the folding phone will be so strong that it will offset the memory issue on margins, and I think demand will be so strong that it will really support growth."
Although Apple's expected revenue and earnings growth remains slower than many AI-focused technology companies, investors increasingly value its financial discipline.
Apple is projected to generate nearly $140 billion in free cash flow this year, a record level that would represent more than 40% growth from 2025.
By comparison, Alphabet's free cash flow is forecast to fall about 67% this year to roughly $21 billion as spending on AI infrastructure accelerates.
Analysts expect Apple's revenue to rise nearly 15% in fiscal 2026, marking its strongest annual growth since the pandemic-driven electronics boom in 2021. Net income is forecast to increase 17%.
The stock market’s biggest winners are changing. For much of the past two years, investors rewarded the companies building AI infrastructure, propelling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) to become the world’s most valuable company. Now the market is beginning to recognize that the biggest opportunity may lie with the companies that turn AI into products consumers use every day.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reached a new milestone this morning, climbing to an all-time high above $321 per share and lifting its market capitalization to roughly $4.73 trillion. That leaves it just $320 billion behind Nvidia’s $5.05 trillion valuation. In today’s market, that’s a surprisingly small gap.
Apple Has More Than One Engine Driving Growth It’s easy to focus on the iPhone, but that’s no longer the whole Apple story.
The tech and consumer electronic gadget giant generated more than $100 billion in trailing-12-month free cash flow. Few companies have that kind of financial firepower. It gives Apple the flexibility to invest aggressively in AI, repurchase billions of dollars of stock, increase its dividend, and still keep one of the strongest balance sheets in corporate America.
The numbers also show Apple becoming less dependent on hardware sales. Services — including the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, AppleCare, advertising, and financial services — continue producing high-margin recurring revenue from an installed base that now exceeds 2 billion active devices.
Apple Intelligence is also still in its early innings, but deeper AI integration across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision products creates another reason for customers to upgrade while making the ecosystem even harder to leave.
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Ordinarily, that would worry investors. Apple isn’t an ordinary hardware company. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners and Counterpoint Research continue to report industry-leading iPhone loyalty and retention rates. Apple has repeatedly demonstrated that customers will pay more when new devices deliver meaningful improvements. Even modest price increases spread across hundreds of millions of annual iPhone sales can generate billions of dollars in additional revenue.
Meanwhile, Apple’s massive share repurchase program keeps shrinking the number of shares outstanding. As earnings rise and the share count falls, earnings per share receive an extra lift even before new products contribute meaningfully.
Key Takeaway In short, Apple doesn’t need to outperform Nvidia in AI chips to become more valuable. In fact, its go-slow approach to AI has proved to be a winning formula. Rather, it simply needs to keep doing what it has done for years — expand its ecosystem, deepen customer loyalty, generate enormous free cash flow, and return that cash to shareholders.
Granted, risks remain. Higher memory prices could pressure margins, and AI features still need to prove they can drive a major upgrade cycle. Yet Apple enters those challenges from a position of unusual strength. More than $100 billion in annual free cash flow, over 2 billion active devices, recurring Services revenue, and unmatched pricing power give it multiple paths to growth.
Ultimately, Apple is only about $320 billion away from overtaking Nvidia. For a company that has added trillions of dollars in market value over the past few years, crossing the $5 trillion mark before the end of 2026 no longer feels like a stretch. It feels like the next logical milestone.
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In a lawsuit filed last week, Apple accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (July 13).
That lawsuit echoes Apple’s legal battles in the 2010s against various companies involved in making Android phones, the report said. Both cases revolve around allegations that a competitor stole Apple’s innovations. Apple accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the iPhone with its own smartphones. Samsung denied these claims, and the companies settled in 2018 after an eight-year legal fight.
Additionally, both cases center around a perceived breach of trust by Apple, according to the report. Google’s CEO at the time of the Android lawsuits, Eric Schmidt, was part of Apple’s board while his company was developing Android.
Apple alleged in its new suit that “at every level … OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets,” accusing two employees of OpenAI of taking part in the theft, the report said.
One of them is OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, a former Apple employee. The suit accuses him of soliciting trade secrets from Apple workers interviewing for positions at OpenAI, encouraging them to bring “actual parts” from Apple for “show and tell” sessions, according to the report.
However, bringing parts to an engineering interview is not out of the ordinary, as interviewers want prospects to discuss their work, the report said. Apple is now seeking discovery to gauge whether these parts were sensitive.
An OpenAI spokesperson said, per the report: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
In a post on social platform X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote: “I am not afraid of Apple, but I have tremendous respect for them.”
i am not afraid of apple, but i have tremendous respect for them. s-tier company.
— Sam Altman (@sama) July 11, 2026
The suit came as the tech world scrambles to develop AI-powered devices that go a step beyond the smartphone, the report said. The winner of this race could play the same role Apple now plays in the consumer market.
Meanwhile, there “has been speculation about the sorts of devices OpenAI may be developing at least since the company acquired io, an AI device startup created in 2024 by former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and Apple designers Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan,” PYMNTS reported in April.
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reignited their nearly decade-long feud over the weekend, trading barbs after Apple sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing its trade secrets.
In a Saturday post on X, Musk replied to another post announcing that OpenAI was suing Altman’s company, invoking his longtime nickname for Altman: “Scam Altman strikes again…”
A few minutes later, Musk jabbed at Altman again, writing: “He takes scamming to a whole new level.”
Tesla founder Elon Musk (above) lashed out at OpenAI’s Sam Altman after Apple sued the AI company. Getty Images The world’s richest man continued his barrage of posts with an image of Altman that included the words “I’m doing this because I love it” – writing, “By ‘this’ he means scamming.”
“He might literally love scamming more than any human alive!” Musk added.
The stream of posts apparently caught Altman’s attention, who quickly took the opportunity to lash out at Musk’s own business ventures – including his debut of rocket-launch firm SpaceX on the Nasdaq last month, which was the largest-ever IPO. OpenAI has filed for its own IPO.
“[H]omeboy you’re the one sellling [sic] public market investors on short-term space datacenters,” Altman wrote in a Saturday post that has racked up nearly 15 million views.
Musk replied: “We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves. After stealing an open source AI charity, you then stole all of Apple’s phone technology! Wow. What do you plan for an encore? That’s tough to beat.”
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Apple alleged that “at every level… OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets.” According to the complaint, one junior employee improperly used an Apple employee’s login credentials to access company servers.
Apple also alleges that OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan – who spent 24 years at Apple, including as vice president of product design – solicited confidential information from Apple employees interviewing for jobs. Tan allegedly encouraged them to bring “actual parts” from Apple to “show and tell” sessions.
The lawsuit harks back to Apple’s bruising legal war against Google’s Android ecosystem more than a decade ago – during which Steve Jobs vowed to wage “thermonuclear war” against what he called a “stolen product.”
Apple also previously accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the iPhone with its smartphones. Samsung denied the allegations, and after years of courtroom fights the companies settled in 2018.
But Altman took Musk’s mockery on Saturday as a chance to promote OpenAI’s newest chatbot.
Last week, OpenAI released GPT-5.6 Sol while Musk launched Grok 4.5.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (above) criticized Musk’s SpaceX IPO. Getty Images “[T]here are a lot of benchmarks that suggest 5.6 sol is the best model in the world right now, but the most reliable way to tell is that elon is obsessed with me again,” Altman taunted.
Altman also replied to a post from a Tesla fan account accusing the OpenAI exec of being scared of Apple, responding: “[I] am not afraid of apple [sic], but i [sic] have tremendous respect for them. s-tier [sic] company.”
Nikita Bier, who leads X’s product division, responded: “Incredible trade secrets as well, some of the best.”
Musk and Altman initially worked together to launch OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit AI research lab – but they devolved from colleagues into public enemies as Musk launched a legal battle against OpenAI.
Musk and Altman initially worked together to launch OpenAI in 2015. REUTERS In 2018, Musk left OpenAI’s board after donating tens of millions to the nonprofit. He later sued the company for attempting to transition into a for-profit vehicle, alleging he was misled into believing it would stay a nonprofit.
A jury ruled in favor of Altman and OpenAI, though Musk has said he plans to appeal the case.
Tensions between the pair heated up after Musk brought over AI researchers and engineering staffers from OpenAI for his own businesses, while also pressuring OpenAI to allow him to merge the lab with Tesla.
After OpenAI refused, Musk ended his donations to the company.
Last summer, Musk sued Apple and OpenAI, alleging they colluded to demote Grok in the App Store’s rankings of AI chatbots. The case is ongoing and has not gone to trial.
Apple's 15% rebound reflects investor preference for stronger cash flow over AI infrastructure spending. Summary
Apple outperforms AI peers as investors reassess AI spending returns.
Investors have moved back into Apple AAPL , the iPhone maker, as growing concerns about returns from artificial intelligence spending weigh on chipmakers and cloud-computing companies. Apple shares have climbed 15% since reaching a low on June 25, adding nearly $600 billion in market value and returning to record territory. Over the same period, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index declined 7%, while the S&P 500 advanced 3% and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.3%. Investors increasingly appear to view Apple's decision to avoid the data-center spending race as an advantage, particularly as the market questions how much return large technology companies may generate from their AI investments. Mark Bronzo, chief investment strategist at Rye Strategic Partners, said Apple is benefiting from being outside the pressure facing the broader AI trade, where concerns have emerged over hyperscaler spending and semiconductor valuations.
Apple's 16% gain in 2026 has made it the strongest performer among the Magnificent Seven technology companies, even though the semiconductor index remains 83% higher this year. Alphabet GOOGL , a technology company investing heavily in cloud computing and AI, and Amazon AMZN , a technology company operating a major cloud-computing business, are both more than 10% below their May peaks, while Microsoft MSFT , a technology company with a large cloud-computing operation, has fallen 20% in 2026. Apple has also faced pressure from rising memory-chip prices, which could affect profit margins and prompted the company to increase prices across Macs, iPads and home devices on June 25. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee suggested that Apple's past pricing increases have had limited effects on longer-term sales volumes, supporting the view that its customers may be more willing than other hardware buyers to accept higher prices.
Investors may also see a potential catalyst in Apple's foldable iPhone, which is expected to be released in September and carry a premium price. Apple reportedly asked suppliers to prepare production for approximately 10 million foldable iPhones this year, above an earlier projection of seven million to eight million units. The company's fiscal 2026 revenue is expected to increase nearly 15%, representing its fastest annual growth since 2021, while net income is projected to rise 17%. Apple's free cash flow is forecast to reach a record $140 billion this year, more than 40% above 2025, while Alphabet's free cash flow is expected to decline about 67% to $21 billion. However, Apple trades at 33 times projected earnings for the next 12 months, compared with its 10-year average of 23 times, and only 61% of analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, suggesting investors are paying a substantial valuation premium for its cash generation, more conservative spending approach and possible new iPhone upgrade cycle.
Apple stock is trading flat. What’s the outlook for AAPL shares? The LawsuitA second named defendant, Chang Liu, a former senior Apple systems electrical engineer who joined OpenAI in 2026, is accused of failing to return an Apple-issued laptop and using it to download confidential Apple technical documents — including information about unannounced technologies, features, and products.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” Apple said in the filing. “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
Apple is seeking a court order barring OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, requiring the return of all confidential materials, and preserving evidence related to the case. Apple said it sent a letter to OpenAI in February raising its concerns and received no response.
Apple Shares Remain FlatAAPL Price Action: At the time of publication, Apple shares are trading 0.23% higher at $316.04, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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Apple's decision to sue OpenAI marks one of the biggest legal confrontations yet in the artificial intelligence industry, transforming what was once a strategic partnership into an increasingly bitter rivalry.
The iPhone maker alleges that OpenAI systematically acquired Apple trade secrets to accelerate its ambitions in AI hardware, accusing the ChatGPT creator of using former employees, recruiting tactics, and supplier relationships to gain access to confidential information.
The lawsuit filed on Friday comes at a time when the battle in artificial intelligence is expanding beyond software models into consumer devices, making hardware the next major competitive frontier.
Here is a closer look at what Apple's lawsuit is about, why it matters, and what it could mean for the AI industry.
Apple's complaint alleges that OpenAI orchestrated a broad campaign to obtain confidential information relating to Apple's unreleased technologies, manufacturing processes, and products.
According to the lawsuit, OpenAI relied heavily on former Apple employees and supplier relationships to accelerate development of its own hardware products.
"Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products," an Apple spokesperson said.
OpenAI has denied the allegations.
"We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets," OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said.
"We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."
Apple is seeking a court order preventing OpenAI from possessing or using its confidential information and wants the AI company to return any Apple intellectual property it may possess.
The lawsuit represents a remarkable reversal in the relationship between the two companies.
In 2024, Apple announced a major partnership with OpenAI that integrated ChatGPT into iPhones, iPads, and Macs as part of its Apple Intelligence initiative.
That alliance, however, has steadily weakened.
Last month, Apple unveiled a revamped Siri powered by Google's Gemini AI model rather than ChatGPT, signalling a shift in its AI strategy.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has increasingly moved toward building its own consumer hardware ecosystem.
The turning point came when OpenAI agreed to acquire io Products, the hardware startup founded by legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive, in a deal valued at $6.4 billion.
The acquisition made clear that OpenAI intended to compete directly in hardware rather than simply provide AI software.
"OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets," Apple said in its complaint.
Much of Apple's complaint focuses on former executives who later joined OpenAI.
Among those named is Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a former Apple vice president.
Apple alleges Tan directed Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI to disclose confidential information.
"He has directed job candidates still working for Apple to bring 'actual parts' from Apple to their interviews for 'show and tell' sessions in which he and his team at OpenAI can elicit still more Apple confidential information," Apple alleged.
The lawsuit also names former Apple employee Chang Liu, alleging he stole an Apple laptop before joining OpenAI.
According to the lawsuit, Liu allegedly left Apple with three key assets: a company-issued MacBook that was never returned, an ongoing relationship with an Apple employee who continued sharing internal information, and, most significantly, knowledge of a software flaw that gave him continued access to Apple's internal file servers.
"LOL, I found out I can access the (network storage), so funny," Liu allegedly wrote to his former Apple colleague, Alyssa Peng, Bloomberg reported.
Liu then used that access to download presentations, hardware designs, manufacturing details and testing procedures – while already working at OpenAI, Apple alleges.
According to Apple, OpenAI also coached departing employees on how to avoid Apple's internal security procedures when leaving the company.
The complaint notes that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.
"That OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple's trade secrets does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts," Apple wrote.
The complaint goes beyond employee recruitment.
Apple alleges OpenAI sought confidential information from Apple's manufacturing partners and suppliers.
One allegation claims OpenAI asked a hardware supplier to reproduce a proprietary metal-finishing technique developed by Apple while leading the supplier to believe Apple had authorised the work.
The company also claims that Tang Tan carried confidential information relating to Apple suppliers after leaving the company.
Apple said it first raised concerns with OpenAI in February, writing to the company about what it believed was the misuse of confidential information.
According to the complaint, OpenAI did not respond.
The lawsuit reflects a broader shift underway in artificial intelligence.
While AI companies initially competed by building increasingly powerful language models, attention is now turning toward dedicated AI devices that could reduce dependence on smartphones.
OpenAI's acquisition of Jony Ive's startup signalled ambitions to create new categories of AI hardware.
For Apple, whose business remains centred around the iPhone, such efforts represent a potential long-term competitive threat.
"Apple sees OpenAI moving from partner to potential rival, while OpenAI is trying to reduce its dependence on the iPhone and build a direct relationship with consumers," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore told Reuters.
"Even if the allegations are not proven, the lawsuit could delay OpenAI's hardware ambitions and further weaken what is already becoming an increasingly fragile partnership."
Does Apple have a history of such lawsuits?Yes.
Apple has previously taken legal action against former employees whom it believed misused confidential information.
In 2019, it sued former chief chip architect Gerard Williams III after he left to establish semiconductor startup Nuvia.
Apple eventually dropped that case in 2023.
The current lawsuit also recalls one of the company's most famous legal battles under Steve Jobs.
Jobs famously described Google's Android operating system as "a stolen product" and vowed to wage "thermonuclear war" against it.
According to accounts published at the time, Jobs said he would "spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong."
Some observers see Apple's action against OpenAI as a similar attempt to slow an emerging competitor before it can reshape the consumer technology landscape.
Legal experts say Apple has raised serious allegations, but proving them may not be straightforward.
Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, said the case could become significant if Apple can demonstrate that confidential documents were actually taken and used.
"But if Apple's claims that the employees took confidential documents with them — and that OpenAI is using those documents — are true, that is a problem for OpenAI," Lemley said in a Reuters report.
At the same time, he noted that hiring former employees is not illegal in California, where employment laws have historically encouraged labour mobility.
Rutgers Law School professor Camilla Hrdy said the dispute could prove unusually complex because most previous AI trade-secret cases have focused on software rather than hardware.
"These trade secret lawsuits are frequently brought in the tech space, and we usually learn much, much more as the case develops. OpenAI is not a defendant that can't afford to defend itself," Hrdy said.
Regardless of the eventual outcome, the lawsuit underscores how the AI race is rapidly expanding beyond algorithms into hardware, manufacturing and intellectual property, making the competition between technology giants increasingly resemble the smartphone wars that defined the previous decade.
This is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Happy Monday. I spent the weekend on an overnight trail race in Vermont. Even if you stayed home, you likely still felt inflation's pinch.
Stock futures are lower this morning. The S&P 500 is coming off a winning week.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Air forcesStock futures are sliding this morning after the U.S. and Iran traded air strikes over the weekend. U.S. Central Command said last night that American forces hit dozens of targets "to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz."
Here's what to know:
As CNBC's Spencer Kimball writes, disagreement over control of the critical sea lane is partially the result of a lack of defined shipping routes in the U.S.-Iran deal signed last month.Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard on Saturday said it had closed the strait "until further notice," though the U.S. military denied that claim. In an interview with NBC News aired yesterday, President Donald Trump said that the strait was open.Oil prices jumped to start this week following the renewed fighting over control of the Strait of Hormuz.The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both coming off their fourth winning week in the last five, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped its longest weekly positive streak since 2024.Follow live market updates here.2. Graham dies at 71Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died Saturday following a "brief and sudden illness," according to his office. The longtime Republican lawmaker and loyal Trump ally was 71.
A preliminary report found his death was the result of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a statement from his office said. Graham's death was unexpected. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine.
As CNBC's Garrett Downs writes, the death of Graham — who was known to work across the aisle on policy issues — could now cause challenges for several Republican priorities in Congress. Rep. Nancy Mace and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster are among the names being floated to fill Graham's seat.
3. Courting controversyApple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging that the artificial intelligence startup stole trade secrets as part of its effort to develop its own hardware products. The iPhone maker said in a legal filing that OpenAI had been "stealing" information "at every level."
As CNBC's Kif Leswing and and MacKenzie Sigalos note, the lawsuit a shocking twist given the two firms inked a partnership in 2024. The companies have appeared less cordial, however, after OpenAI last year announced its plans to enter the hardware industry.
Following the lawsuit, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revived his public feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, referring to him as "Scam Altman" in an X post. Altman responded by crediting his company's latest AI model release as the reason Musk is "obsessed with me again."
4. Job market jungleOver the last year, Amazon conducted its largest wave of layoffs in the company's history. As CNBC's Annie Palmer reports, it hasn't been easy for some of the impacted workers to land on their feet.
The let-go Amazon employees entered a tech labor market that's grown increasingly tight. Industry layoffs in May hit their highest level since 2024, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The consulting firm said in a report last week that, for the fourth month in a row, AI was the primary reason companies gave for cuts.
"I always had this thought of, 'I have Amazon on my resume, this prestigious thing,'" Dorian Smith, who was laid off by Amazon in January, said. "But when this layoff happened, it was like, 'OK, big deal, so do 30,000 other people.'"
5. No signature requiredThe bipartisan housing bill focused on increasing supply and affordability became law on Saturday, despite not receiving Trump's signature.
The president announced on Friday that he would not sign the legislation, citing the Senate's failure to pass the SAVE America Act. But Trump also did not veto the housing bill, which as a result automatically became law Saturday morning.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to encourage home building, open financing and cap purchasing by big investors. However, experts told CNBC that homebuyers shouldn't expect prices to come down immediately. Here's what to know about the legislation.
The Daily DividendHere's what we're watching this week:
Tuesday: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup earnings (before the bell); consumer price index for JuneWednesday: Morgan Stanley and Johnson & Johnson earnings (before the bell); United Airlines earnings (after the bell); producer price index for June; Federal Reserve's Beige BookThursday: UnitedHealth earnings (before the bell); Netflix earnings (after the bell); retail sales data for June— CNBC's Fred Imbert, Sean Conlon, Azhar Sukri, Garrett Downs, Justin Papp, Emily Wilkins, Kif Leswing, MacKenzie Sigalos, Jordan Novet, Annie Palmer, Sarah Agostino and Mike Winters contributed to this report.
Luke Fountain assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.
With geopolitical tensions flaring up once again between the U.S. and Iran, Tom White explains how the conflict is adding pressure on markets to start the trading week. AI memory stocks like Micron (MU) didn't get much help from SK Hynix (SKHYV), which pulled back in overseas markets following its explosive U.S. ADR Nasdaq debut.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) faces significant gross margin compression due to surging NAND and DRAM costs, with price hikes across Macs, iPads, and soon, possibly iPhones. AAPL's historical gross margin strength (peaking at 49%) is at risk, with even a 2% decline potentially causing an 11% share price drop. I reiterate a Strong Sell rating, citing unsustainable input cost pressures and limited ability to pass on price increases without harming unit sales.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) CEO Tim Cook is less than two months away from handing over the reins to John Ternus, a move that investors now seem to have come to terms with. Of course, it’s going to be hard to match Tim Cook’s track record when it comes to the appreciation throughout his tenure. That said, as Apple moves back to a products guy, there’s every reason for investors to be excited despite the anxiety that comes with transitioning to a new top boss.
As Mr. Cook stays on as chairman, I do think there’s an opportunity for Apple to get the best of both worlds, as Apple looks to continue its success but in a different way as AI sets the tone for the firm’s future. Apple might have been slow to start sprinting in this AI race, but, in my view, it’s more of a marathon than a 100-meter dash. And, with that, Apple might be wise to take its time, especially given how fast things are changing in the AI waters.
The best of both worlds As hyperscalers scale up, spending hundreds of billions, Apple seems to be more than willing to follow a different script.
Under its incoming CEO, John Ternus, I do think that this strategy, as well as the man’s product expertise, could help shares of Apple continue going strong for years to come as it looks to reclaim the title of world’s largest company by market cap.
With tariff threats, regulatory uncertainties, and component shortages to grapple with (RAM-mageddon has been a real phenomenon), Mr. Cook still brings plenty to the table. And, with that, I suspect Apple will still have what it takes to navigate an incredibly turbulent patch of waters that would have sunk most other ships out there.
As Mr. Cook defends the firm from blows by outside forces, Mr. Ternus, a man who’s known to roll up his sleeves and build the products that define the company’s trajectory in this AI era.
John Ternus is the perfect top boss for the AI era Undoubtedly, putting AI on a device is where Apple could score ample AI spoils at a fraction of the cost. Of course, it’s one thing to spend massive sums of cash to advance the effort, but it’s another thing entirely to deliver breakthrough innovations that reshape the race. While time will tell if AI is going to move from cloud-first to device-first, I do think that recent efforts might allow Apple to rise above the pack as the firm that not only did AI differently, but correctly.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
With WWDC 2026 unveiling some very impressive Apple Foundation Models alongside other edge AI innovations that the market may have discounted, I do think that Apple’s AI strategy is starting to look a lot more impressive compared to what other Mag Seven firms are doing. That’s probably part of the reason why Apple stock has been gaining traction in recent weeks despite having to raise prices on iPads and Macs due to higher DRAM and NAND costs.
In 2026, the first full year with John Ternus at the helm, we might witness Apple not only outpacing the S&P 500 but also much of the Mag Seven. And, of course, it’s not just about John Ternus. Rather, it’s more about the stage that’s been set in the many years prior.
John Ternus is taking over ahead of what could be a historic year for Apple While Mr. Ternus is a very capable executive and perhaps the perfect man to succeed Cook, there’s no question that he’s taking control at a time when Apple is absolutely firing on all cylinders, with what could be one of the biggest product years in recent memory.
With a foldable iPhone, big upgrades are in store for the iPhone 18 Pro, a big redesign in iPad, new camera-equipped AirPods, AI glasses, and a slew of other products with supercycle potential; there’s no question that Mr. Ternus could look good right off the bat.
The big kicker is Siri AI and how it could push consumers to upgrade their slate of products in spite of higher costs tied to higher input costs. Apple is using innovation to command pricing power, and I do think it’s going to work, especially as the company has its most eventful year yet across hardware, software, and services.
Finally, I think there’s the underpriced upside to be had from a true AI breakthrough. With recent reports swirling around Apple’s talks with startup PrismML, which managed to shrink a large model to run on-device, perhaps there’s room to shock and awe in a way that only Apple can.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The company that once partnered with OpenAI to put ChatGPT on every iPhone is now suing it for theft. On July 10, 2026, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) filed a trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI in federal court, alleging a systematic campaign to steal confidential hardware designs. Apple’s language was pointed: the scheme operated “at every level,” as an organized effort. Elon Musk immediately piled on.
What Apple Is Alleging Apple’s complaint names two former employees now at OpenAI: Tang Tan, OpenAI’s hardware chief, and engineer Chang Liu. Per CNBC and others, departing staff carried confidential product information out the door, and OpenAI interviewers encouraged job candidates to bring Apple prototypes and parts to interviews. The alleged target: hardware know-how behind OpenAI’s consumer-device ambitions, tied to io Products, the Jony Ive startup OpenAI acquired. OpenAI says it is “reviewing the filing” and has “no interest” in competitors’ trade secrets. These remain allegations; OpenAI has not responded in court.
Musk Piles On On X, Musk resurfaced an old post branding Sam Altman “Scam Altman,” adding “He takes scamming to a whole new level.” He wrote that Altman graduated from “stealing an open source AI charity” to “trying to steal all of Apple’s phone technology.” To another post: “Sounds pretty bad.” To a third: “!!” On Apple’s description of a coordinated scheme: “They sure put a lot of effort into this crime.” Backstory: Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, left its board in 2018, and lost a May 2026 jury verdict over the nonprofit dispute. Apple’s suit gives him a stage to relitigate as a commentator.
Altman’s Counterpunch Altman fired back on X: “homeboy you’re the one selling public market investors on short-term space datacenters.” That targets SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), now around a $1.1 trillion valuation after its IPO and its xAI acquisition, which has pitched orbital data centers as an answer to AI’s energy demands. When a rival AI CEO publicly mocks that pillar, SPCX shareholders should note it. The stock is soft: shares fell 4.51% on July 10 and 10.31% on the week. Elsewhere Altman was diplomatic, calling Apple an “s-tier company” and saying he is “not afraid” of it.
Worst Possible Timing OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO targeting a valuation north of $1 trillion. Polymarket bettors currently give 51.5% odds to a $1.0T year-end valuation and just 5.5% to $3.0T, with month-over-month prices declining across every high threshold. Reports that Microsoft is leaning on in-house models inside productivity apps are worth confirming, but the drift is clear: partner relationships are fraying.
Who Wins, Who Loses Apple closed Friday at $315.32, down 0.28%, on a stock up 16.2% year to date. Reddit sentiment barely flinched, sitting in a neutral 42 to 63 range through the weekend. The suit injects uncertainty into the ChatGPT-Siri integration, but immediate market damage lands on OpenAI’s story.
The most anticipated AI IPO in history is heading to market during what may be its issuer’s worst week. The open question is whether OpenAI can get its story straight before asking the public to buy in.
Listen below or on the go via Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Apple sues OpenAI, former employees. (00:13) This strike could cost Hyundai. (01:32) Wall Street is craving CAKE. (02:31)
This is an abridged transcript.
Apple (AAPL) filed a civil suit against OpenAI (OPENAI) and former employees for misappropriation of trade secrets on Friday.
The case comes as OpenAI is also in the midst of pursuing its own line of AI-powered devices.
Apple alleged OpenAI used former and current Apple employees to steal confidential hardware designs and confidential information of unreleased technologies, processes and products. It also alleges that the misconduct was orchestrated by OpenAI's leadership.
Apple is seeking an injunction to prevent two former employees from destroying any evidence and to return all confidential information. The company is also suing for monetary damages related to the alleged thefts.
This story took a twisted turn over the weekend when Elon Musk jumped in. He called Sam Altman “Scam Altman” again. Altman fired back saying ″[T]here are a lot of benchmarks that suggest 5.6 sol is the best model in the world right now, but the most reliable way to tell is that elon is obsessed with me again,” Altman wrote on X.
5.6 sol is OpenAI’s new model.
Hyundai Motor (HYMTF) workers began a three-day partial strike on Monday after wage negotiations with management ended without an agreement.
The union is demanding larger bonuses, higher wages, and stronger job protections.
The production workers at South Korea's largest automaker are walking off the job two hours before the end of their scheduled shifts through Wednesday. Union leaders are set to meet Thursday to determine their next steps while continuing negotiations with management.
The union stated, "Management has not made a responsible decision regarding our core demands, and has also betrayed the members' expectations regarding additional wage-related items," adding that they would "go their own way."
According to Yonhap News, the strike could result in production losses exceeding 18.7B won per hour, which is about $12M.
Hyundai said it has limited room to increase compensation after operating profit declined about 19.5% last year.
Shares of The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) hit record high with the help of a price target hike from Citi Research.
The restaurant’s newly launched mobile app, expanding rewards program, and its free slice promo all “may be enough to return Cheesecake Factory to positive traffic,” analyst Jon Tower said in his note to clients.
Tower also cites a more engaging social media strategy, a growing relevance with younger customers, and the re-emergence of shopping malls as an entertainment destination will also amplify a firmer same-store sales trajectory.
Citi Research views The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) as a Buy with a new price target of $90, an 18% increase from the prior PT.
What’s Trending on Seeking Alpha
SK Hynix slides 12% in Seoul as investors lock in post-Nasdaq profits
SpaceX sheds 35% from post-IPO peak one month after record debut
Which companies reporting earnings this week show the strongest bullish signals?
Stock index futures are lower before the opening bell. Tensions in the Middle East intensified after Washington and Tehran exchanged military strikes.
Crude oil is up 2.1% at $72. Bitcoin is down 1.1% at $63,000. Gold is down 1.2% at $4,071.
The FTSE 100 is little changed and the DAX is up 0.3%.
One stock on the biggest movers list: SK Hynix (SKHYV) -10% - Shares slid after the company's record-breaking $26.5B Nasdaq ADR debut.
Economic calendar:
12:30 pm Fed's Christopher Waller speaks on the economic outlook in conversation before the New York Association for Business Economics.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman criticized each other in new posts on X, highlighting the billionaires' long-standing tussle over OpenAI's evolution.
Musk and Altman helped to start OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research lab alongside a band of engineers and scientists.
In 2018, Musk left OpenAI's board after donating tens of millions to the organization, although he later objected to Altman's efforts to construct "an opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates" in a lawsuit that went to trial in California this year. A jury ruled in favor of Altman, and Musk said he would appeal the case.
Weeks later, Musk's company SpaceX — which controls the X social platform, the xAI lab that challenges OpenAI and the Starlink broadband internet service — completed its landmark initial public offering. SpaceX raised a record $75 billion as it promoted plans to launch data centers into space, in addition to ambitions in enterprise AI applications and interplanetary transportation. Meanwhile, OpenAI has filed confidentially for its own IPO.
This week, SpaceX released the Grok 4.5 generative AI model, while OpenAI debuted its own GPT-5.6 Sol. For days, Musk and Altman have hyped up their respective releases, but on Saturday the rivalry got personal.
In response to a post about Apple filing suit against OpenAI on Friday over alleged theft of trade secrets, Musk wrote, "Scam Altman strikes again …"
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has used the "Scam Altman" moniker to refer to the OpenAI CEO on several occasions over the past year. Minutes after his post, Musk doubled down, writing, "He takes scamming to a whole new level."
Next, Musk published a photo of Altman that included the words, "I'm doing this because I love it."
"By 'this' he means scamming," Musk wrote, including two rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emojis.
Musk then replied to that post, writing, "He might literally love scamming more than any human alive!"
The flurry of social activity got Altman's attention.
"[H]omeboy you're the one sellling public market investors on short-term space datacenters," Altman wrote in an X post of his own that garnered over 11 million views.
"We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves," Musk fired back.
Separately, Altman put Musk's fresh wave of attention in the context of OpenAI's fresh model release.
"[T]here are a lot of benchmarks that suggest 5.6 sol is the best model in the world right now, but the most reliable way to tell is that elon is obsessed with me again," Altman wrote on X.
Elsewhere on X, the account @iliketeslas asserted that Altman is scared of Apple. That, too, prompted a response from Altman.
"[I] am not afraid of apple, but i have tremendous respect for them. s-tier company," Altman wrote.
Altman's post led Nikita Bier, X's head of product, to respond: "Incredible trade secrets as well, some of the best."
Musk replied with a face-with-tears-of-joy emoji.
On Friday, an OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC, "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets."
Apple CEO Tim Cook (L) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (R) were both at the Sun Valley conference over the weekend. Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday. Getty Images The AI talent war may now be worthy of a Hollywood adaptation.
In a new lawsuit that reads like a corporate crime thriller, Apple accused OpenAI of poaching former Apple employees, conducting "show and tell" interviews, and accessing confidential documents to accelerate its consumer hardware push.
The complaint centers on OpenAI's hiring of an Apple employee who Apple says kept a company laptop, exploited a security bug to access internal systems after leaving, downloaded confidential files, and helped others leaving for OpenAI to evade Apple's exit checks.
The complaint also says OpenAI asked candidates to bring physical components to interviews and used a shared supplier to replicate a proprietary Apple metal-finishing process.
In a brief statement on Friday, OpenAI said it had "no interest" in the secrets of other companies. "We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere," a spokesperson said.
The bombshell lawsuit between two of the premier tech companies in the world, which were once partners, has generated a lot of reaction. Here's what smart people are saying about the latest legal battle in Big Tech.
Jean Gan, AI governance leaderJean Gan, director of legal, compliance, and enterprise risk at Savills Singapore Group and a Ph.D. researcher focused on AI and law, said that protecting trade secrets, particularly in California, is difficult.
"Look at how Apple pleaded this. California courts have largely rejected the inevitable disclosure doctrine, and the state won't enforce non-competes, so Apple can do nothing about the 400 former employees now at OpenAI," she wrote on LinkedIn. "So every allegation rests on conduct: retained devices, unauthorized access, misused documents, coached evasion. In a jurisdiction where talent moves freely by design, trade secrets law is the only legal perimeter left around institutional knowledge, and Apple has pleaded squarely inside it."
She also said that the complaint highlights a serious risk to company secrets: the supply chain.
"Apple alleges OpenAI had a manufacturing partner perform a proprietary Apple metal-finishing technique and misled that partner into believing Apple had consented. That leak ran through a shared supplier. No employee needed to carry anything out the door. Supply chains move trade secrets just as easily as departing staff do, and few confidentiality frameworks treat them with the same rigor."
Paul Semenza, professor and tech analystPaul Semanza, a professor and chair of the Engineering Management and Leadership Department at Santa Clara University and an analyst who focuses on tech hardware, said Apple is unlikely to settle this suit quietly.
"Getting an existing Apple employee to take the risk of bringing parts to an interview seems more like a test of how desperate they are to work at OpenAI than anything else," he wrote on LinkedIn. "Targeting Apple's supply chain is a declaration of war. And given that Apple fought Samsung for years over rounded corners, it is hardly surprising to see Apple listing metal finishing as an example of IP theft. The question here is how this gets settled, given that, unlike with Samsung, Apple is unlikely to be interested in cross-licensing anything from OpenAI."
Alistair Barr, author of BI's Tech Memo newsletterAlistair Barr, the author of Business Insider's Big Tech newsletter, professed little sympathy for Apple in a post on Saturday.
"Cue the tiny violins; someone may have stolen something from Apple," he wrote. "It's a sorry tale, but one the tech giant knows very well. Maybe too well."
Barr goes on to detail similar lawsuits filed against Apple. "Over the years, Apple has itself faced lawsuits from companies accusing it of using remarkably similar tactics: recruiting away key employees and then using their knowledge to build competing products."
Rohit Mittal, cofounder of Helium VenturesRohit Mittal, the cofounder and CEO of Helium Ventures, a firm that acquires software businesses, wrote on X:
"Did not have Apple suing OpenAI on my bingo card for this year. They were the first to partner and integrate ChatGPT into their ecosystem. Crazy that Apple couldn't resolve this amicably and had to sue. Apple and Google have been partners for decades, but never heard about a lawsuit between them."
Parker Ortolani, product managerParker Ortolani, the associate director of product development at Penske Media, wrote on X: "well sun valley just got extra awkward."
This past week, tech and media executives gathered in Sun Valley for the annual Allen & Co. conference, an invite-only gathering often called "summer camp for billionaires."
The event is often a place for dealmaking behind closed doors. Apple's lawsuit became public just as the conference was ending and the executives began to leave.
Stephen Robles, podcasterStephen Robles, the co-host of the Primary Tech podcast, responded on X to a post from Drew Pusateri, OpenAI's director of strategic communications, in which he shared the company's statement that "we have no interest in other companies' trade secrets."
Robles pushed back, arguing that OpenAI's decision to hire Jony Ive, the famed iPhone designer whose company OpenAI also acquired and is named in Apple's suit, suggests an interest in Apple's products.
"'We have no interest in other companies' secrets,' while hiring Jony Ive to make you a device rings pretty hollow."
Ive, the designer behind many of Apple's most iconic products, left the company in 2019 and later partnered with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to develop AI hardware. OpenAI acquired Ive's startup, io, in 2025, positioning Ive as a potential competitor to his former employer.
Max Weinbach, tech journalistMax Weinbach, a tech journalist and analyst at Creative Strategies, wrote on X that the lawsuit focuses more on the alleged conduct of Chang Liu, a former senior electrical engineer at Apple, and Tang Tan, a former vice president at Apple, rather than on OpenAI itself.
"This really seems like the suit is against Liu and Tan personally and OAI by extension," he wrote. "Apple seems to really be pushing Liu and Tan as the bad actors and OAI, because it owns IO, rather than OAI was asking them to do all of this stuff. Nuance, but feels worth mentioning."
Paul Lembo, tech executivePaul Lembo, the chief technology officer at Broadcom, wrote on LinkedIn:
"Apple suing OpenAI for trade secret theft. Damn. Tim Cook is not Elon. He doesn't play. Knowing this was imminent was another reason for OpenAI not to IPO," he wrote. "The ex-employee theft angle can be hard to prove in court, but again, I expect Apple to bring heavy lumber to the bbq. We will see."
Livia Judith Szabo, venture capitalistLivia Judith Szabo, the founder and executive chair of the venture capital firm Moshulu Enterprise Partners, wrote on LinkedIn:
"The Apple vs. OpenAI lawsuit is a masterclass in partner-competitor risk for VCs and M&A professionals.
Yesterday's filing (July 10, 2026) reads like a due diligence nightmare.
Trade secrets, 400+ poached engineers, and a hardware chief accused of coaching new hires on how to dodge exit security checks.
Two once-close partners, now suing each other in federal court, weeks before OpenAI's expected IPO.
The lesson for founders raising serious capital: your IP and talent-transition protocols will get read line by line in diligence. Fix them before someone else's lawyers find them for you. This is exactly the kind of risk we flag before term sheets get signed, not after."
Peter Rojas, tech and media executivePeter Rojas, a senior vice president at Mozilla leading new products, wrote on LinkedIn:
"I don't know how strong Apple's claims are, but I doubt they would be this aggressive if they weren't deeply concerned that OpenAI was planning on making a phone. I still think it's a better move for OpenAI than some sort of AI wearable."
Sahil Patel, marketing executiveSahil Patel, the social lead at Okara, an AI marketing agent, wrote on X:
"apple is probably the last company you want to fight in court. they've got some of the best lawyers in tech and $140b in cash. apple doesn't file nor lose lawsuits very often. they definitely have a very strong case and will fight this aggressively. this is not going to end well."
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Lakshmi Varanasi You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Apple lawsuit OpenAI More Legal Technology Smart People Say
Bloomberg Tech host Ed Ludlow says Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI reflects an intensifying battle for AI talent and hardware leadership, with Apple alleging former employees improperly took trade secrets as OpenAI expands its device ambitions. He also says SK Hynix expects AI memory demand to outpace supply, plans to increase US investment beyond $35 billion, and sees the next test for the AI boom coming as technology companies report earnings and investors assess whether spending is translating into profits.
Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company.
Apple sued OpenAI for trade secret theft, accusing the artificial intelligence startup and its hardware chief of engaging in a coordinated campaign to steal information about upcoming products. Apple alleges that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information, components, drawings and other materials related to upcoming products.
HomeIndustriesComputers/ElectronicsThe iPhone maker claims ‘misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership’ at OpenAIUpdated July 10, 2026, 7:06 p.m. ET
Apple has sued OpenAI and one of its lead executives, alleging that the artificial-intelligence lab attempted to steal confidential information from the iPhone maker.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names two former Apple AAPL employees, Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, as defendants alongside OpenAI. It accuses both of them of engaging in what Apple named a “pattern of thefts” of confidential information related to the company’s hardware.
Apple accuses OpenAI of playing dirty in the AI talent wars By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images OpenAI has been on a recruiting tear, supercharging its headcount and yanking top AI talent from other tech companies. Now, Apple says the AI juggernaut has been playing dirty with its recruitment tactics.
The Cupertino tech giant accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets in a lawsuit filed Friday that also targeted its hardware outfit, IO, and two former Apple employees who worked at OpenAI. The lawsuit marks a dramatic escalation in the AI talent wars, where competition for elite engineers has become almost as fierce as the race to build smarter models.
The complaint accuses OpenAI of using various stages of the recruitment process to extract sensitive information from the iPhone maker.
"We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets," a spokesperson for OpenAI told Business Insider. "We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."
OpenAI recruiters reportedly told job candidates to study confidential Apple documents and prepare "Technical Deep Dive" presentations on their work at Apple, according to the lawsuit. One executive asked a candidate to bring physical Apple parts to interviews for "show and tell" sessions, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint lists some of the requested parts: batteries, logic boards, and glass samples.
The lawsuit claims that one job candidate "expressed concern over OpenAI's tactics, noting he was 'surprised people have brought' Apple parts to interviews because he 'didn't know we could take those from the office.'"
Apple is also alleging that OpenAI's interviewers would "probe for secret information" during the recruitment process, including by asking for explanations about vendors, suppliers, and engineering strategies.
The lawsuit called these actions "knowing and deliberate" and also alleged that OpenAI interviewers would use secret Apple code names.
Apple wrote in its lawsuit that it had found incriminating messages on workers' company-issued laptops.
Tang Tan, a former Apple employee and current OpenAI hardware chief named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is a central figure in his ex-employer's allegations.
In the complaint, Apple alleges that Tan used an Apple document outlining offboarding procedures to warn recruited employees about Apple's forensic and security checks. The complaint alleges that OpenAI told workers leaving Apple that they wouldn't be asked to sign anything during their exit interviews.
"Unsurprisingly, Apple has uncovered a concerning recent pattern among employees who depart and then go work for OpenAI," the lawsuit says.
It continues: "Departing employees have been taking actions to evade security measures, such as failing to provide two weeks' notice, and ignoring outreach by security personnel to schedule exit processes and security reviews, all of which may help to conceal the misuse and misappropriation of confidential information."
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Stephen Council You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Stephen is a Senior Tech Reporter at Business Insider, covering OpenAI, Anthropic and the ecosystem around the leading artificial intelligence companies.Previously he covered technology at SFGATE, and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Information and CNBC. He studied journalism and economics at Northwestern University.His work has earned an SF Press Club Investigative Reporting Award and, in 2025, SPJ NorCal’s Excellence in Journalism Award for Technology Reporting.Stephen lives in San Francisco. Contact him via email at [email protected], or on Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 415-757-8198. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday alleging the artificial intelligence firm stole company trade secrets in a move to create its own hardware device.
The suit claims OpenAI poached Apple employees, coaxing them to hand over confidential material, product designs and other tightly held information.
“Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products,” an Apple spokesperson said in an email.
Drew Pusateri, a spokesperson for OpenAI, said the company was reviewing the court filing. “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” he added. “We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
Apple’s lawsuit is a sharp turnaround for the two tech giants, which announced a major partnership in 2024. That deal involved Apple integrating OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, into the operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Macs. But when Apple showcased its revamped voice assistant Siri last month, its AI component was based on Google’s Gemini AI model, rather than ChatGPT.
Tensions between the two companies began to simmer last year when OpenAI spent $6.4bn to acquire a hardware startup founded by former Apple design guru Jony Ive, indicating that the AI titan was foraying into hardware. Ive’s startup, io Products, is also named in Apple’s lawsuit.
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” Apple wrote in its complaint.
The suit alleges several former Apple employees joined OpenAI, taking company trade secrets with them. Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and a former vice-president at Apple, is named in the suit. Apple alleges that Tan took information about Apple suppliers with him to OpenAI and encouraged interviewees at OpenAI to divulge confidential company information.
“He has directed job candidates still working for Apple to bring ‘actual parts’ from Apple to their interviews for ‘show and tell’ sessions in which he and his team at OpenAI can elicit still more Apple confidential information,” reads Apple’s complaint.
Chang Liu, another former Apple employee named in the suit who was hired at OpenAI, is accused of taking an Apple laptop with him when he left. Apple alleges that Liu used an authentication bug to breach the company’s internal network and downloaded “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files”.
The Apple spokesperson said: “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.”
The company is seeking damages and a court order that would block OpenAI from possessing or using its trade secrets.
Apple (AAPL - Free Report) ) and Broadcom (AVGO - Free Report) ) grabbed investors' attention this week after announcing a major expansion of their semiconductor partnership.
The agreement, expected to exceed $30 billion over multiple years, will see Broadcom continuing to design and manufacture custom silicon and advanced wireless connectivity technologies for Apple products while significantly expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint.
This partnership underscores Apple's commitment to strengthening its domestic supply chain while ensuring continued access to critical wireless components. Meanwhile, Broadcom further solidifies one of its largest customer relationships, extending its role as a key Apple supplier through 2031.
However, investors may be wondering if the extended partnership provides a big enough tailwind to still buy stock in either tech giant, especially Broadcom, with AVGO soaring over 130% in the last two years while Apple shares are up a respectable 37%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Apple's Supply Chain Gets Even StrongerApple has spent years increasing control over its hardware ecosystem through custom silicon, and the latest Broadcom agreement complements that strategy rather than replacing it.
The agreement covers custom silicon, radio frequency components, FBAR filters, and advanced wireless connectivity technologies that are essential for future generations of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices.
Production is expected to exceed 15 billion U.S.-made chips, with Broadcom investing approximately $1.5 billion to expand its Fort Collins, Colorado, manufacturing facility.
This will also advance Apple's broader $600 billion U.S. investment initiative, which includes expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing and reducing supply chain concentration overseas.
From a financial perspective, the agreement doesn't materially alter Apple's near-term earnings outlook. Still, it does reduce execution risk by locking in a trusted supplier for mission-critical connectivity chips, with Apple gaining traction on Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) ) to become the world’s most valuable company.
Broadcom May Be the Bigger Immediate WinnerWhile Apple benefits strategically, Broadcom may receive the more immediate financial boost.
Apple has historically represented roughly 20% of Broadcom's annual revenue, making the iPhone maker one of its most important customers. Extending the partnership through 2031 removes uncertainty surrounding one of Broadcom's largest revenue streams while reinforcing demand for its custom connectivity and semiconductor solutions.
The agreement also comes as Broadcom continues to benefit from multiple secular growth trends.
Beyond Apple, Broadcom remains one of the semiconductor industry's largest beneficiaries of artificial intelligence infrastructure spending, supplying custom AI accelerators, networking chips, and data center connectivity solutions to hyperscale customers.
The Apple agreement further diversifies Broadcom's growth profile by adding another long-duration revenue catalyst outside traditional enterprise AI spending.
Tracking the Trend of EPS RevisionsBased on Zacks estimates, Apple’s annual earnings are expected to increase 17% this year and are projected to rise another 9% in fiscal 2027 to $9.57 per share. In the last 60 days, FY26 EPS estimates have remained unchanged, while FY27 EPS revisions are modestly higher.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pivoting to Broadcom, FY26 EPS is expected to spike more than 70% to $11.73 compared to earnings of $6.82 per share last year. Furthermore, Broadcom’s annual earnings are projected to increase another 63% next year to $19.17 per share.
Broadcom’s FY26 EPS estimates are up 2% in the last 60 days from $11.45, with FY27 EPS revisions rising 7% from $17.81.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
AAPL & AVGO Valuation Comparison (P/E)At current levels, Apple and Broadcom stock trade at noticeable premiums to the benchmark S&P 500, with forward P/E multiples of roughly 36X and 39X, respectively.
While those valuations are elevated relative to the benchmark's forward earnings multiple of around 23X, neither stock appears excessively valued compared to many other high-growth technology companies.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Choosing Between Apple & Broadcom Stock Apple generally trades at a premium valuation because of its unmatched ecosystem, recurring services revenue, exceptional profitability, and consistent capital returns. Investors typically view Apple as a lower-volatility mega-cap technology holding capable of delivering dependable long-term earnings growth.
Broadcom generally offers faster earnings growth thanks to its expanding AI infrastructure business, enterprise software operations, and custom semiconductor portfolio. Although Broadcom’s valuation has risen considerably during the AI boom, analysts continue to project robust double-digit EPS growth over the next several years.
For investors seeking greater AI exposure, Broadcom may offer a higher long-term growth ceiling and better capital appreciation (stock performance). Those prioritizing stability and cash generation that lead to reliable shareholder returns through dividends and stock buybacks may find Apple the more conservative choice.
Summary & ConclusionApple's expanded partnership with Broadcom reinforces the strategic importance of both companies in the evolving semiconductor landscape. Apple strengthens its domestic supply chain while securing critical wireless technologies for future devices, and Broadcom gains additional long-term revenue visibility through one of its most valuable customer relationships.
Despite the positive implications of the announcement, Apple and Broadcom stock both land a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at the moment. That said, a buy rating could be on the way for Broadcom if EPS revisions continue to rise, but this may be less plausible for Apple after today’s news that its iPhone sales are still slowing in China.
Apple has sued OpenAI and two of its employees, alleging that they stole trade secrets from Apple to support OpenAI’s development of devices.
The OpenAI employees named in the lawsuit, Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and technical staff member Chang Liu, are former Apple employees, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday (July 10).
The suit alleges that Tan emailed himself information about Apple’s suppliers and asked Apple employees to bring parts to OpenAI during job interviews, and that Liu downloaded confidential files from Apple’s network and coached an Apple employee on how to copy confidential files, according to the report.
Apple said in the suit that it doesn’t know what OpenAI did with the information but alleged that “at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,” per the report.
Neither Apple nor OpenAI immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
In a statement provided to CNBC, an Apple representative said: “Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes and products.”
Reuters reported Friday that OpenAI currently employs more than 400 former Apple employees. The report also said that Apple said in its complaint that it wrote to OpenAI in February asking to discuss concerns about confidential information and received no reply.
Bloomberg reported Friday that with its lawsuit, Apple is demanding that OpenAI stop the practices alleged in the suit, destroy any proprietary materials and redesign its upcoming products so that they don’t use any Apple technology.
PYMNTS reported in June 2024 that Apple and OpenAI partnered to incorporate OpenAI’s ChatGPT language model into Apple’s iOS, iPadOS and macOS platforms.
In May 2025, OpenAI announced it was acquiring io, an AI device startup whose co-founders include Tan.
In December, it was reported that dozens of employees had left Apple for OpenAI and Meta at a time when competitors are working to challenge the market share held by the iPhone and other parts of Apple’s ecosystem, Apple is adjusting to the AI era, and new devices are being developed to make the most of that technology.
A person points to an iPhone during Apple's event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2025. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo /File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
SummaryCompaniesApple alleges coordinated effort to steal designs and manufacturing processesMore than 400 former Apple employees now work for OpenAI, Apple saysOpenAI bought io Products last year in a $6.5 billion dealTensions between Apple and OpenAI have simmered for monthsJuly 10 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab on Friday sued OpenAI and two former employees, alleging misappropriation of its trade secrets to benefit the ChatGPT-owner's foray into consumer hardware, in a dramatic escalation of already simmering tension between the two companies.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges a coordinated effort to steal Apple's confidential information, including product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies.
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OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit was filed against Chang Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer, and former Vice President of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch Tang Yew Tan, as well as OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC and io Products. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.
Apple alleged that Liu failed to return a company-issued work laptop and later used an authentication bug to access Apple's internal network, downloading "dozens of Apple's confidential hardware-related files."
The iPhone maker also claimed that OpenAI’s hardware chief Tan had been "methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI" by emailing himself information about Apple suppliers and internal industry summaries before his departure.
Apple alleged that Tan encouraged Apple employees to bring parts from Apple to job interviews at OpenAI for “show and tell” sessions, citing an incident in its filing where one OpenAI job candidate allegedly said that he “didn’t even know we could take those from the office.”
More than 400 former Apple employees now work for OpenAI, Apple said in the filing, saying that “it is not surprising” that some of them have knowledge of its confidential information.
“That OpenAI now employs people who were once entrusted with Apple’s trade secrets does not entitle OpenAI to use that information to jumpstart its hardware efforts,” the iPhone maker wrote in its complaint.
Apple also alleged that OpenAI employees sought confidential information from Apple suppliers, at one point allegedly having one of those suppliers carry out what Apple called a secret metal finishing technique on the belief that OpenAI had Apple’s permission to use the technique.
OpenAI bought hardware startup io Products, founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, last year in a $6.5 billion deal, in a push to move beyond software into consumer hardware. Ive is not named in the lawsuit.
TENSIONS BREWED FOR MONTHSTensions between the two tech companies have strained their relationship, as the race to develop AI products has intensified competition for talent and proprietary technology.
In its complaint, Apple claimed it wrote to OpenAI in February with concerns that its confidential information was making its way to OpenAI, asking to discuss the matter, but received no reply.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters in May that OpenAI was exploring legal options against Apple, including notifying the technology giant of a breach of contract but potentially not filing a full lawsuit.
In 2024, Apple announced the integration of its "Apple Intelligence" technology across its apps including Siri and brought OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to its devices.
Their partnership allows users to access ChatGPT results through Siri, while iPhone users can also sign up for ChatGPT memberships directly from the iOS settings menu.
Apple rolled out a long-delayed overhaul of Siri last month. The update comes two years after Apple first promised major upgrades that were repeatedly delayed.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis and Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; Editing by Maju Samuel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Jaspreet Singh joined Reuters as a technology reporter in April 2023. He covers a raft of developments including deals, layoffs, management changes, quarterly earnings and the latest in the world of AI. He is interested in stories that bring to light any corporate misconduct, abuse of power and innovation. Jaspreet graduated from Panjab University with a degree in Journalism. If you have any sensitive information or a tip to share, contact him for an off-the-record introduction chat. He will explain what it means to speak with a reporter on background.
Apple filed a lawsuit Friday against OpenAI over allegations of trade secret theft and breach of contract.
The iPhone maker alleges that this misconduct, which it says reveals a pattern of theft from OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple, was directed by OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Tan of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures, and asking for details about the company’s unannounced products.
Before joining OpenAI, Tan had spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
The accusations come at a time when OpenAI is rumored to be developing its first hardware product, which would likely compete with the iPhone. In April, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested this device could be a smartphone that would rely on AI agents instead of apps. If true, it would be one of the largest threats to Apple’s core hardware business to date.
Apple’s former lead designer Jony Ive’s device startup io was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.5 billion deal to aid the AI company with its hardware ambitions. While io was named in the filing, Ive was not.
Tan is not the only OpenAI employee referenced in the new complaint. Apple also alleges that Chang Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior systems electrical engineer, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company for OpenAI in 2026 and had used the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents.
Apple says in the complaint that the stolen documents included information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data.
Liu is also accused in the lawsuit of sharing Apple’s confidential information with other Apple employees applying for jobs at OpenAI, advising at least one of them on what to study before their interview.
Apple sent a letter to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns, and received no response, the company said in the complaint.
It alleges that the behavior of these former employees is part of OpenAI’s strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information, which included asking Apple employees to bring designs and prototypes to their interviews, and answer questions about things like component and vendor selection processes.
Apple says its ongoing investigation revealed that OpenAI and its partners have even used Apple’s confidential information while the AI model maker develops its own hardware product. For instance, the filing references a proprietary metal finishing technique that was used by OpenAI after it allegedly misled a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to do so.
Like many tech companies, Apple typically investigates potential trade secret theft or other improper activity by analyzing communications that took place on company-owned devices and reading through its server logs. By taking the case to court, Apple will have an opportunity to learn more about the extent of the alleged operation through the legal discovery process.
Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the company to return any confidential Apple materials, and preserve evidence related to the case.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” the filing states. “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
In a prepared statement, Apple also said the following:
“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. Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”
OpenAI was asked for comment.
The filing is available here, or you can read it below.
This story is developing and will be updated, and originally published at 1:32pm PT.
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Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.
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