Apple Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Hardware Trade Secret Theft
Original: Apple Is Suing OpenAI for Allegedly Stealing Hardware Secrets
Why This Matters
The case could reshape IP enforcement norms as Big Tech and AI firms compete intensely for hardware talent and consumer device markets.
Apple filed a lawsuit on July 10, 2026, against OpenAI and its chief hardware officer Tang Tan in US district court in San Jose, alleging OpenAI encouraged departing Apple employees to bring confidential prototypes, designs, and supplier documents to the AI company.
Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief hardware officer Tang Tan on Friday, alleging systematic theft of trade secrets including unreleased parts, prototypes, confidential designs, and stealth project documents. Tan, a 24-year Apple veteran who oversaw iPhone product design, allegedly coached recruits on evading Apple's data security protocols and directed them to bring confidential parts to job interviews at OpenAI. Also named as defendants are io Products — a startup OpenAI acquired for $6.5 billion in 2025, cofounded by Tan and other former Apple executives including Jony Ive — and electrical engineer Chang Liu, who left Apple in January. Apple states in the filing: 'OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.' OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri responded: 'We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets.' Apple says it uncovered the alleged theft early this year after Liu failed to return a company-issued laptop. The case is being compared to the 2017 Waymo v. Uber dispute, which settled for $245 million. OpenAI has hired more than 400 former Apple employees, according to the lawsuit. The two companies have been partners since 2024 via a ChatGPT distribution deal, but their relationship has since deteriorated.