Apple’s lawsuit couldn’t come at a worse time for OpenAI

Apple’s lawsuit couldn’t come at a worse time for OpenAI
Apple filed a trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI last Friday, and it’s not messing around. The complaint alleges a pattern of misconduct reaching all the way up to OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and claims more than 400 former Apple employees now work at the company. OpenAI’s response so far has been carefully hedged, and the timing couldn’t be worse with the company reportedly eyeing an IPO […]

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<p id="speakable-summary" class="has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph">Apple <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/the-wildest-allegations-in-apples-trade-secrets-lawsuit-against-openai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed a trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI</a> last Friday, and it’s not messing around. The complaint alleges a pattern of misconduct reaching all the way up to OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and claims more than 400 former Apple employees now work at the company. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openai-pushes-back-on-apple-trade-secret-lawsuit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenAI’s response so far</a> has been carefully hedged, and the timing couldn’t be worse with the company reportedly eyeing an IPO as early as later this year. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On this episode of TechCrunch’s <a href="https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Equity</a> podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what the lawsuit could mean for OpenAI’s own hardware ambitions and IPO timeline, plus a bigger theme running through the week’s news: how much should anyone trust AI companies with their data? </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Listen to the full episode to hear more about: </p>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">Why Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/satya-nadella-has-issued-a-shocking-warning-to-companies-using-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">is warning enterprises</a> about handing data over to AI labs, and whether <a href="https://techcrunch.com/podcast/open-source-ai-matters-more-than-ever-according-to-hugging-faces-clem-delangue/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">open source</a> is really a way out of the “Trojan horse” data-trust problem </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">How <a href="https://techcrunch.com/podcast/inside-ode-with-anthropic-the-private-equity-backed-startup-betting-ai-services-are-the-future-of-enterprise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forward-deployed engineers</a> (FDEs) are changing the relationship between AI labs and their enterprise customers </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">Why General Catalyst just handed David Beckham’s health drink startup <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/david-beckhams-health-drink-startup-im8-takes-1b-from-general-catalysts-unusual-cvf-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a $1 billion customer value fund</a> </li>
</ul>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li class="wp-block-list-item">The scoop on a new <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued-at-2b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$200M drug-discovery startup from an ex-OpenAI researcher</a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph">Subscribe to Equity on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TechCrunch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">YouTube</a>,<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> Apple Podcasts</a>,<a href="https://overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> Overcast</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?si=rZDFHv2sQUul_g94iCRgpQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> Spotify</a> and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on<a href="https://twitter.com/EquityPod" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> X</a> and<a href="https://www.threads.net/@equitypod" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> Threads</a>, at @EquityPod. </p>