Apple sued OpenAI on July 10 alleging ex-Apple employees stole intellectual property, but former design chief Jony Ive isn't named despite joining OpenAI four years ago. Mark Gurman in his Bloomberg "Power On" newsletter outlines two reasons.
First, Ive had little involvement in the alleged actions. The 40-page suit focuses on Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer, who allegedly recruited Apple staff and encouraged them to bring prototypes. Ive focuses on product design, not recruiting or operations.
Second, optics and relationships protect Ive. His closeness to Laurene Powell Jobs—widow of Steve Jobs and supporter of Tim Cook and John Ternus—makes targeting him risky. Attacking Ive, given his historic role and ties to Jobs, would draw sympathy for him and criticism for Apple, appearing as axe-grinding after his 2019 departure and 2022 consultancy end.
Apple can still damage OpenAI's hardware efforts via Tan without the reputational harm of naming Ive.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing