OpenAI has publicly responded to Apple’s lawsuit for the first time, with company president Greg Brockman saying the company has “no interest” in Apple’s trade secrets and is focused on building its own technology.
Speaking in an interview with Joanna Stern, Brockman declined to comment on the specifics of the case because of the ongoing litigation, but rejected the idea that OpenAI needs confidential information from competitors to develop new products.
We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We are plenty innovative. We are thinking about things from our own angle. That’s how we operate and that’s what we do.
The comments come after Apple accused OpenAI of conducting a months-long effort to obtain confidential information from Apple employees as it builds a new generation of AI hardware. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI benefited from Apple employees sharing proprietary information during the hiring process, describing the company’s hardware efforts as relying on stolen trade secrets.
While Brockman didn’t address those allegations directly, he emphasized that OpenAI remains committed to its own long-term product roadmap.
It’s active litigation, so not something that I want to talk about, but all I can say is we’re very committed to a long-term roadmap here and that we are focused on our own development and technology.
Beyond the lawsuit, Brockman offered a few hints about OpenAI’s future hardware ambitions. He said the company is developing a family of AI devices and confirmed that OpenAI is designing its own chips. Asked when the first device might arrive, Brockman didn’t provide a launch date, but said people should “expect them soon.”
He also turned to ChatGPT during the interview, asking it to describe what OpenAI’s first AI device could look like. ChatGPT suggested it would be “ambient and low friction,” “voice first but not voice only,” and include “a clear privacy signal.” When asked whether the device would need a display, the AI simply replied, “Nope.”
Although Brockman didn’t confirm any specific products, previous reports have suggested OpenAI’s first consumer device could be a compact, screen-free AI companion developed alongside former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Brockman also acknowledged that OpenAI’s recent integration of ChatGPT and Codex has been less than ideal, describing the current experience as “kind of a mess.” He said the company is working toward a single ChatGPT experience and expects the standalone Work tab to disappear by the end of the year as more features are consolidated into the main app.
The interview marks OpenAI’s clearest public response yet to Apple’s lawsuit, while also offering a glimpse at the company’s plans beyond the courtroom. Even as the legal battle unfolds, OpenAI appears determined to keep its focus on expanding ChatGPT and bringing its first AI hardware products to market.
