Apple Is Suing to Stop Jony Ive's OpenAI Device — Here's What's Actually Confirmed

The most interesting hardware story in tech right now isn't a phone or a laptop — it's the mysterious, still-unseen gadget that Jony Ive's design studio is reportedly building for OpenAI. And this week, the drama around it isn't just leaks; it's unfolding in a courtroom.

Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging the ChatGPT maker's hardware unit built its secretive device using stolen Apple trade secrets. OpenAI has called the claims baseless. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit from startup iyO has already forced OpenAI to drop the device's original name. None of this confirms what the device actually is — but together, the filings have leaked out more concrete detail than OpenAI itself ever has.

The Lawsuit: Apple vs. OpenAI

According to multiple reports, Apple filed suit against OpenAI in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, reportedly around July 10. The named defendants reportedly include OpenAI, its hardware unit "io Products," hardware chief Tang Tan, and a former Apple engineer, Chang Liu. Notably, Jony Ive himself is reportedly not named as a defendant.

Apple's complaint reportedly alleges trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract, claiming OpenAI encouraged former Apple staff and recruits to bring information about unreleased Apple products with them, and even coached some hires on how to avoid tripping Apple's internal security procedures, per the filing as described in press coverage. Later reporting suggests Apple expanded the case further, alleging more than a dozen additional former employees could be linked to the alleged scheme, and is separately seeking a preliminary injunction to block OpenAI from moving forward with the device altogether.

OpenAI, for its part, has reportedly dismissed the allegations, saying it has "no use, need or desire for Apple's trade secrets" and arguing Apple hasn't even identified a specific product that was supposedly copied. OpenAI is reportedly seeking to have the suit dismissed outright.

It's worth being clear-eyed here: a lawsuit's allegations are not proven facts, and both companies have obvious incentives — Apple to slow down a potential iPhone rival, OpenAI to protect a product it hasn't even unveiled. Treat the claims as allegations, not verdicts, until a court rules.

A Second Lawsuit Already Killed the Device's Name

Separately, a startup called iyO — which makes custom-molded, AI-powered earpieces — sued OpenAI, Sam Altman, Jony Ive, and io Products over trademark infringement. According to court-filing coverage, a federal court granted iyO a preliminary injunction earlier this year, finding the startup likely to succeed on its trademark claim, and that ruling reportedly bars OpenAI from using the name "io" for its hardware while the case continues. iyO has reportedly since amended its complaint to add trade secret claims as well.

That's the reported reason OpenAI's device is no longer being called "io" — a detail that arrived via court paperwork, not an OpenAI announcement.

So What Is the Device, Actually?

Nobody outside OpenAI has confirmed this, and the leaks genuinely conflict with each other, but here's the range of what's being reported:

A screen-free smart speaker. Bloomberg has reportedly described a circular, "hockey-puck"-sized device, screenless, with a camera and some moving parts, aimed at home use — reportedly priced somewhere around $300–$400, developed alongside Ive's design firm LoveFrom.
A behind-the-ear wearable, codenamed "Sweetpea." Separate, earlier leaks described something entirely different: a pair of removable, capsule-shaped modules worn behind the ear — not in-ear earbuds — reportedly positioned as a rival to Apple's AirPods, possibly running on a 2nm chip with Samsung's Exynos line as a rumored frontrunner.
A "family of devices." Per a leaked internal staff call reported by the Wall Street Journal, Sam Altman reportedly described plans for multiple devices rather than one single gadget, while explicitly denying OpenAI is building a smartphone. Separate reporting has claimed Foxconn was asked to prepare manufacturing capacity for as many as five distinct OpenAI hardware products.

Given how different a "hockey puck" home speaker is from a behind-the-ear wearable, at least one of these leak threads is likely wrong, outdated, or describes a different device in the same product family. OpenAI has not confirmed any of it.

Timing Keeps Slipping

OpenAI reportedly once targeted a reveal in the second half of 2026. But court filings from earlier this year reportedly stated the device "will not ship to customers before the end of February 2027," and separate reporting from the Financial Times has described real technical and infrastructure challenges behind the delay. As of the most recent reporting available, OpenAI is said to still be hoping to unveil something before year-end, with an actual retail launch pushed into 2027 — though given the pattern so far, that date should be treated as provisional too.

Why This Matters Beyond the Courtroom

Apple, OpenAI, and Google are all racing toward the idea that the next major consumer computing device won't be a phone with apps, but something built around a constant AI companion. Apple is reportedly exploring smart glasses and a revamped, possibly Gemini-powered Siri; Meta has already shipped camera-equipped glasses and is reportedly working on more. If OpenAI — a company that has never shipped a piece of consumer hardware — successfully launches a genuinely new device category with Jony Ive's design pedigree behind it, it would be a serious long-term threat to Apple's hardware dominance. That almost certainly explains why Apple is fighting this one so hard, in court, before the product has even shipped.

For now, readers should treat every physical description of the device — puck, earpiece, glasses, "family of devices" — as an unconfirmed rumor. The one thing that is genuinely confirmed is the legal fight itself, and that alone tells you how seriously Apple is taking whatever Jony Ive is building next.