Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets, Threatening $200 Smart Speaker and 2027 Phone Plans
Updated
Updated · MacRumors · Jul 28
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets, Threatening $200 Smart Speaker and 2027 Phone Plans
3 articles · Updated · MacRumors · Jul 28
Summary
July 10 litigation by Apple is already clouding OpenAI’s hardware push, with the lawsuit over alleged trade secret theft reportedly deterring Apple engineers from interviewing and making suppliers more cautious.
OpenAI’s first device is now described as a portable, screenless smart speaker priced at $200 to $300 for early 2027, powered by ChatGPT and designed with Jony Ive as a home companion.
A broader roadmap has also sharpened around an AI smartphone that could enter mass production in the first half of 2027, using a customized MediaTek Dimensity 9600 chip and camera-led sensing features.
That lineup grew out of OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s io Products and a hiring drive that brought in more than 400 former Apple employees, prompting Apple to offer retention grants of up to $400,000.
The dispute sets up a wider hardware clash as Apple is also developing AI devices including smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods, an AI pendant and a smarter home hub.