“They Sat in Our Demo Chairs, Took Notes, Then Took Our Identity”
The lawsuit outlines a trail of meetings between IYO and individuals who would later emerge as key players in IO’s launch.
In 2022, IYO met with representatives from Altman’s Apollo Projects, Jony Ive’s LoveFrom, and future IO co-founder Evans Hankey—all under the pretense of collaboration. While those talks fizzled, IYO later discovered that a design engineer from IO purchased an IYO product, asked pointed questions about its design files, and now reportedly works for IO’s design team.
“We essentially gave them a front-row seat to our innovation—and they took the stage,” IYO founder said, according to court documents.
From Friendly Pitch to Trademark Turmoil
Earlier this year, IYO even pitched a potential acquisition to OpenAI, fitting seven of their executives with the IYO ONE and presenting proprietary tech. While OpenAI eventually passed, IYO now claims it was a ruse to access trade secrets and branding.
Then came May 21, when OpenAI dropped its bombshell: a sleek IO launch, boasting ambitions identical to IYO’s, complete with talking points allegedly lifted from IYO’s own pitch decks.
Following the announcement, IYO reached out to Altman expressing urgent concerns. But the response was not what they hoped.
“Mr. Altman not only refused to change the name,” the complaint states, “he astonishingly threatened to sue IYO to force them to give up their own name.”
