Sam Altman’s long-standing admiration for Apple is facing an unusual test as the artificial intelligence company he leads finds itself locked in a legal battle with the technology giant he has admired since childhood.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said he was disappointed when he learned that Apple had filed a lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker, describing himself as an enthusiastic Apple supporter despite the escalating dispute between the companies.
“I'm like a mega Apple fanboy, and I was very sad about that,” Altman told technology journalist Alex Heath during a recent interview.
Apple filed the lawsuit in July, accusing OpenAI of engaging in a “coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level” involving the alleged theft of Apple's confidential information.
OpenAI has rejected the allegations, saying it has “no interest in other companies' trade secrets” and arguing that Apple's lawsuit does not reflect the company's reputation for paying close attention to detail.
For Altman, the allegations were particularly troubling because of his personal history with Apple.
“When I first heard about it, I was like, 'Man, this sounds egregious. Someone must have done something badly,'” Altman said.
“We don't want any company's IP, and we certainly don't want people who are going to take a company's IP and bring it to us.”
From partnership to courtroom confrontation
The lawsuit represents a dramatic shift in the relationship between Apple and OpenAI.
Just over two years ago, the companies were publicly presenting themselves as technology partners.
In June 2024, Altman appeared in Cupertino to announce that Apple would integrate ChatGPT into a range of its products. The partnership gave Apple access to one of the world's best-known generative AI systems while giving OpenAI an enormous potential audience through Apple's ecosystem.
The relationship has since become more complicated as OpenAI has expanded beyond its traditional role as an AI research company and increasingly moved into consumer technology — an area where Apple has long held enormous influence.
The tension intensified after Altman and legendary former Apple designer Jony Ive revealed that they had been working together for years.
OpenAI later agreed to acquire Ive's startup, IO, for nearly $6.5 billion, bringing the companies' relationship into direct competition with Apple's interests in consumer hardware and artificial intelligence.
Apple has since sought a preliminary injunction as part of its legal case against OpenAI. Such an order could potentially interfere with or delay OpenAI's hardware ambitions.
OpenAI, in response, accused Apple of seeking to delay its hardware plans because it feared that OpenAI's products could eventually compete with Apple's business.
The dispute therefore extends beyond allegations concerning confidential information. It reflects a broader struggle over who will define the next generation of consumer technology as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in everyday devices.
Altman's Apple connection goes back decades
Despite the legal fight, Altman's admiration for Apple is hardly new.
In 2008, he appeared at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference to demonstrate Loopt, the location-based social networking company he co-founded.
Altman later recalled that appearing on the Apple stage required the approval of then-CEO Steve Jobs.
Looking back on the moment, Altman described it as “a career highlight” and said it was “the only time in business” he had experienced that much anxiety.
His fascination with Apple dates back even further.
Altman has said that his first computer was a Macintosh LC II, a machine he received while growing up. In a 2024 conversation with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, he said he still owned the computer and that it continued to work.
His appreciation for Apple's products has also influenced how he has described his ambitions for consumer technology.
When announcing his partnership with Ive, Altman said he hoped the project could bring “some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”
The admiration remained evident last year when Altman appeared alongside Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs. During an onstage interview in November, he called the iPhone “the crowning achievement of consumer products.”
Those comments now carry an added layer of irony as OpenAI and Apple confront one another in court.
A childhood gift that became an investment
Altman's connection to Apple has even extended into his personal finances.
Although he does not own a stake in OpenAI, much of his wealth has come from investments in technology companies including Stripe and Reddit.
One of his earliest technology investments may have come from an unexpected source: his grandmother.
In a 2016 interview with his brother Jack, the brothers recalled receiving equal shares in companies selected by their grandmother as birthday gifts.
Jack received shares connected to Applebee's, while Sam received Apple.
“I still have those Apple shares marked in my brokerage account as 'Grandma's birthday Apple shares,'” Altman said.
“I'm going to keep them.”
The comments offer a glimpse into a relationship with Apple that predates Altman's rise as one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence.
A changing technology landscape
The legal dispute comes as OpenAI and Apple face a rapidly changing consumer technology market.
For years, Apple's dominance rested heavily on devices such as the iPhone and the broader ecosystem surrounding them. OpenAI, meanwhile, built its influence through software and AI models, with ChatGPT becoming one of the most recognizable technology products in the world.
The emergence of AI-powered hardware could bring those worlds into direct competition.
Altman and Ive's collaboration has been closely watched because Ive was one of the central figures behind the design philosophy that helped turn Apple products into cultural icons.
The prospect of OpenAI developing new consumer devices with Ive therefore represents more than another hardware venture. It could signal an attempt to build a new interface between humans and AI — potentially challenging the smartphone-centric model that Apple has spent decades refining.
That prospect may help explain why the legal battle has become so consequential.
For Altman, however, the dispute does not appear to have erased his affection for the company that helped inspire his career.
“I’m like a mega Apple fanboy,” he said.
For someone whose personal and professional history is intertwined with Apple, the courtroom confrontation may be one of the more complicated chapters yet in Altman's relationship with the technology giant.