Apple sues OpenAI, accuses ex-employees of stealing trade secrets

Apple has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a campaign of trade secret theft and breach of contract. The complaint specifically targets OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, a former Apple VP of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch who spent 24 years at Apple. According to the filing, Tan allegedly used Apple's confidential project code names during the recruiting process, asked job candidates to bring Apple hardware components to their interviews, and coached departing Apple employees on how to evade the company's security procedures. The lawsuit also names Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple, accusing him of failing to return an Apple-issued laptop and using it to download confidential technical documents including specifications for unannounced technologies and proprietary project data.

Apple alleges that these actions are part of a broader strategy by OpenAI to extract Apple's intellectual property for its own hardware development ambitions. The filing claims that OpenAI even used Apple's confidential information, such as a proprietary metal finishing technique, after misleading a partner into believing Apple had given permission. This legal action comes as OpenAI is rumored to be developing its first hardware product, which industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested could be an AI agent-powered smartphone threatening Apple's core business. The lawsuit references the 2026 acquisition of Jony Ive's device startup io for $6.5 billion, though Ive was not named. Apple is seeking a court order to bar OpenAI from using its trade secrets, require the return of confidential materials, and preserve evidence. The company stated that OpenAI's hardware business 'rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.'