‘Not Cool’: Sam Altman Says Lawsuit Over Secret Jony Ive Project Is ‘Silly’
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X that “turning to a lawsuit when you don’t get your way” sets a “terrible precedent.”
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI acquired former Apple designer Jony Ive’s startup, io, but another company is claiming trademark infringement on the name.
- Sam Altman responded to the news on X — and he brought receipts.
On Monday, OpenAI scrubbed the news of its partnership with famed former Apple designer Jony Ive from its website and social media due to a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by the CEO of a device company, Iyo. (Ive’s company is called “io”.)
One day later, Altman responded to the news on X, writing that before bringing the lawsuit, Iyo CEO Jason Rugolo had been “persistent” in his efforts to get OpenAI to acquire or invest in his company. He also added four screenshots of emails for proof.
“We passed and were clear along the way,” Altman wrote regarding the non-deal. “Now he is suing OpenAI over the name. This is silly, disappointing and wrong.”
jason rugolo had been hoping we would invest in or acquire his company iyo and was quite persistent in his efforts. we passed and were clear along the way.
— Sam Altman (@sama) June 24, 2025
now he is suing openai over the name. this is silly, disappointing and wrong. pic.twitter.com/k5oKHGLw0s
Altman added more context (and defended try-hards everywhere), writing that he did “talk” with Rugolo on “his repeated outreaches,” and that Altman and OpenAI passed on buying his company just “a few days before the lawsuit.”
“It is cool to try super hard to raise money or get acquired and to do whatever you can to make your company succeed,” Altman wrote. “It is not cool to turn to a lawsuit when you dont get what you want. Sets a terrible precedent for trying to help the ecosystem.”
all that said, i wish jason and his team the best building great products. the world certainly needs more of that and less lawsuits.
— Sam Altman (@sama) June 24, 2025
About an hour after Altman’s Tweets, Rugolo wrote on X that “there are 675 other two-letter names they can choose that aren’t ours.”
Though the post on X was not directly responding to Altman, it was part of a thread from earlier in the week, when he wrote why they are suing.
“You can’t start a company called ‘appl’ or ‘googl’,” he wrote.
we’re not gonna let sam & jony steal our name.
— jason rugolo (@jasonRugolo) June 22, 2025
“I welcome their competition in the market, we’re all trying to build dope products,” Rugolo wrote. “They just can’t use our name.”
The suit is ongoing.
