Apple goes to war with the British designer of the iPhone

UK Telegraph via AOL ^ | 07/15/2026 | James Titcomb

[DFG]

When Apple sued OpenAI last week, claiming the company behind ChatGPT had sought to steal its trade secrets, one name was conspicuously absent from the lawsuit.

Sir Jony Ive, the British designer whose collaboration with Steve Jobs led to Apple’s most creative years, was not mentioned in the 41-page document, despite his company, io Products, and co-founder Tang Tan being named as defendants.

Ive has recently been working with OpenAI to develop new products and Apple’s lawyers appeared to go out of their way not to mention him by name, stating that io was founded by “former Apple leaders”.

But the company’s legal manoeuvres against Ive’s new partners suggest a rift between Britain’s most celebrated designer and the company that made him a household name.

“Apple is effectively suing Jony Ive,” said Gene Munster, a longtime follower of the company at Deepwater Asset Management.

‘I’m done working with a--holes’

Ive, 59, is a part of Apple lore. His multicoloured iMac helped save the company in 1998 before the iPod’s minimalist white design and the single-button iPhone turned it into the world’s biggest company.

He left the company in 2019, in a carefully choreographed exit designed to minimise concerns from investors.

Ive set up his own design studio, LoveFrom, and said he would continue to work with Apple.

However, confidants at the time said he had become increasingly detached after the Apple Watch’s 2015 release. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, called the claims “absurd”.

A three-year contract between Apple and Ive’s studio was not renewed in 2022 and a series of pet projects followed, including designing the King’s coronation emblem as well as Ferrari’s first electric vehicle, the €550,000 (£470,000) Luce that horrified some Italians when it was unveiled in May.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: aol; butterflykeyboard; hack; jamestitcomb; leftistsource; lyinglimeyliars; telegraph; whinybritishtwit

[DFG]

[ComputerGuy]

The electric Ferrari is hideous.

[butlerweave]

Apple doesn’t have to worry it’s OpenAI , they make $1 but spend $2 ,LOL

[FreedomPoster]

You are far too kind.

[ComputerGuy]

And gentle. I figure that thing will bankrupt the company.

[TheThirdRuffian]

ChatGPT is so woke it is useless.

It’s also lazy. Or designed to not look for information. It just relies on summaries from others, even when you tell it what to calculate.

[Falconspeed]

Jony Ive is a hero at Apple and I doubt there is a “war” between them. Steve Jobs was probably a nice sociopath who died early because of his stubbornness.