TL; DR
Apple is suing OpenAI in California federal court for trade secret theft. OpenAI claims hardware designs were stolen as it prepares to launch consumer devices.
Apple has sued OpenAI in California federal court, accusing the maker of ChatGPT of using current and former employees to steal hardware designs as it prepares to launch AI-focused consumer devices. The lawsuit, filed Friday, names OpenAI’s chief technical officer Tang Tan and former Apple engineer Chang Liu and alleges a pattern of wrongful conduct.normalized and exemplified by leadership,” According to the Financial Times.
Apple alleges that Tang Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple, including as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, shared confidential supplier information with OpenAI before leaving. The suit alleges that Tan instructed Apple employees to bring.digital designs and prototypes“to interviews at OpenAI”show and tell sessions.According to the document, more than 400 former Apple employees are currently working on OpenAI.
Chang Liu is a former electrical engineer who worked at Applethe most sensitive product development programs,” allegedly failed to return a work device, used another Apple employee’s computer to access trade secrets, taught an employee to copy files while evading security, and exploited a gap in Apple’s network storage after leaving the company. Apple Liu said he sent the employee a message: “LOL, I found out I can access (network storage), so funny.“
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Apple called the evidencethe tip of the iceberg” and OpenAI’s “the fledgling hardware business now rests on foundations rotten to the core with an illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” He seeks an injunction to prevent destruction of evidence, return of all trade secrets and damages. Apple-OpenAI relations are deteriorating As OpenAI begins preparing its own legal action over the failed ChatGPT-Siri partnership, the lawsuit escalates the conflict from a commercial dispute to a criminal lawsuit.
OpenAI said, “is not interested in the trade secrets of other companies” and remains “focused on creating innovative technology.“The startup bought Jony Ive’s io studio for $6.4 billion in May 2025, signaling its plan to compete with the iPhone. Apple said the alleged theft was partly driven by OpenAI’s need to quickly find new revenue streams. OpenAI is already under investigation by 42 state attorneys general and facing investor scrutiny for its $852 billion valuation as it was spun off by Anthropic.
