Elon Musk turned Apple’s July 10, 2026 lawsuit against OpenAI into an X brawl within hours, calling Sam Altman a scammer while Altman shot back at Musk’s “short-term space datacenters” pitch. Apple alleges OpenAI used employee poaching to obtain confidential hardware information for its own device plans. According to The Guardian on July 10, Apple sued OpenAI, two former Apple employees and Jony Ive’s io Products in US federal court. According to Reuters, Apple says more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, left its board in 2018, now runs xAI, and has sued OpenAI and Altman before. Musk posted attacks including “Scam Altman strikes again” and “He takes scamming to a whole new level.” Altman mocked Musk’s SpaceX narrative, saying “Homeboy you’re the one selling public market investors on short-term space datacenters.” Apple’s complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order blocking OpenAI from using Apple trade secrets. The lawsuit names OpenAI, Tang Yew Tan, Chang Liu and io Products. Tan is OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer and a former Apple vice president. Liu is a former Apple engineer now at OpenAI. io Products is Jony Ive’s hardware startup, which OpenAI acquired for $6.4 billion in May 2025. Apple alleges that Tan directed Apple employees interviewing with