Apple said in a Friday lawsuit that OpenAI’s nascent hardware business is “rotten to its core.”

Apple has accused OpenAI of gaining access to valuable inside information through the hiring of its former employees. In a federal lawsuit filed on Friday, Apple sued the artificial intelligence (AI) company, two of its employees, as well as io Products, claiming it has engaged in "a pattern of theft" of Apple's confidential product development and related work. At least two long-time Apple workers who left the company to join OpenAI allegedly took part in this pattern by, in part, emailing themselves internal Apple information. Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for OpenAI, told the BBC: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets." Pusateri added that the company, which is currently reviewing Apple's complaint, is "focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere." An Apple spokesman told the BBC the lawsuit is the result of "significant evidence." It represents a major shift in relations between Apple and OpenAI, creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT. Tim Cook, Apple's outgoing CEO, had added ChatGPT into Apple devices as the company was looking to offer more AI features.