Apple, OpenAI legal fight keeps escalating. Here's how we got here

Apple and OpenAI are escalating their legal fight over allegations that the ChatGPT maker used Apple employees to obtain closely guarded hardware secrets.

Why it matters: If the case makes it to the discovery process, two of the most secretive companies in tech could be forced to reveal sensitive information about how they recruit talent, develop hardware and protect confidential information.

Driving the news: On Monday, OpenAI responded to Apple's preliminary injunction request that asked a judge to block OpenAI from using any potential confidential information or trade secrets while the lawsuit remains in motion.

In its response, OpenAI said: "This dispute is a mess of Apple's own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else." After deeming Apple's allegations a "witch hunt," OpenAI said in the filing that "Apple's request for a preliminary injunction should be denied." The other side: Apple escalated on Monday too by saying in a court filing that OpenAI was actively destroying evidence in the trade secrets case, as first reported by Bloomberg .

Zoom out: The tenuous relationship between OpenAI and Apple wasn't always that way.

The two companies worked so closely that in 2025 Elon Musk even accused them of illegally colluding.

Now they're locked in a federal lawsuit that exposes their growing competition for talent, hardware and control of the next generation of AI devices.

Here are the key moments that turned Apple and OpenAI from partners into courtroom adversaries.

Apple brings ChatGPT to the iPhone Apple and OpenAI started working together in June 2024 with plans to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, iPad and Mac.

At the time, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited Apple HQ for the announcement.

"We're excited to partner with Apple to bring ChatGPT to their users in a new way," Altman said of the partnership.

"Together with Apple, we're making it easier for people to benefit from what AI can offer." OpenAI hints at hardware shift About a year later, signs of division began to appear.

In May 2025, OpenAI bought io , a startup from former Apple designer Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion — a signal that the company was leaning into AI hardware.

Ive and Altman unveiled their collaboration through a promotional commercial where they teased the future of an AI device.