Employee poaching stories

Aug 31, 2026

Apple alleges former employee stole circuit designs for OpenAI

Apple filed evidence in its lawsuit against OpenAI alleging a former employee accessed power converter circuit schematics after joining the AI startup. The case involves trade secret theft claims.

Aug 31, 20262 sources

Jul 17, 2026

Apple sends legal warnings to dozens of former employees at OpenAI

Apple sent cease-and-desist letters to around 40 former employees now working at OpenAI, requesting meetings with lawyers and instructing them to preserve documents and communications. This follows Apple's trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI filed last week.

Jul 17, 20263 sources

Jul 10, 2026

Apple Sues OpenAI for Trade Secret Theft Related to AI Hardware Development

Filed on July 10, 2026, this federal lawsuit accuses OpenAI of stealing trade secrets to develop competing AI hardware devices. The suit claims former Apple employees took confidential information about upcoming products for OpenAI's benefit, marking a major rupture in the partnership between the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT developer.

Jul 10, 20269 sources