Apple vs. OpenAI: Key Allegations in the Trade Secret Lawsuit
Original: The wildest allegations in Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI
Why This Matters
The lawsuit directly challenges OpenAI's hardware ambitions and raises broad questions about IP protection in AI development.
Apple filed a 41-page trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI on July 11, 2026, alleging a coordinated effort by former Apple employees to extract confidential information. The complaint includes detailed claims of unauthorized system access, misappropriated trade secrets, and misconduct described as normalized by OpenAI leadership.
Apple's complaint targets former Apple employee Chang Liu, now at OpenAI, who allegedly accessed Apple's internal network storage by exploiting an authentication bug from a colleague's Apple-issued work computer. In a message cited in the complaint, Liu wrote, 'LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.' A current Apple employee, Yu-Ting 'Alyssa' Peng, allegedly acted as a conduit and later joined OpenAI herself, though she is not named as a defendant. Apple also alleges Liu sent a message saying 'I still have another computer' within hours of leaving Apple, referencing a device he planned to use to access confidential data. Apple describes OpenAI's culture as 'rotten to its core,' arguing that misconduct was 'normalized and exemplified by leadership' rather than carried out by rogue individuals. The complaint also states that 'discovery will expose that the misappropriation has been occurring on a scale many times greater than the several instances described below,' suggesting Apple views the current allegations as only the beginning. Apple also frames the claims in the context of OpenAI's rumored hardware ambitions, alleging its nascent device business was built on misappropriated Apple trade secrets.