Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of stealing trade secrets and breaching contracts through a pattern of misconduct involving former Apple employees. The case was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and, as reported by TechCrunch, directly implicates OpenAI's senior leadership.
At the center of the complaint is Tang Tan, OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, who spent 24 years at Apple before leaving, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple alleges that Tan used confidential Apple project code names during recruiting, coached departing Apple employees on how to get around the company's security procedures, asked job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, and pressed candidates for details about unannounced Apple products.
A second OpenAI employee is also named. Apple says Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer who spent eight years at the company, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after joining OpenAI in 2026 and used that computer to download confidential technical documents. Liu is also accused of sharing that information with other Apple employees who were applying for OpenAI jobs, and coaching at least one of them on what to study before their interview.
The stolen materials, according to Apple's complaint, included technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data tied to unannounced technologies, features, and products. Apple says its internal investigation also found that OpenAI and its partners used at least one piece of confidential Apple information during the development of OpenAI's own hardware product, specifically a proprietary metal finishing technique. Apple alleges OpenAI misled a manufacturing partner into thinking it had Apple's permission to use that technique.
The broader context here is hard to ignore. OpenAI is widely believed to be building its first consumer hardware product, likely a device that would compete directly with the iPhone. In April, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested the product could be an AI-first smartphone that replaces traditional apps with AI agents. That would put it in direct competition with one of Apple's most profitable product lines. OpenAI's hardware push got a major boost last year when the company acquired Jony Ive's device startup io for $6.5 billion. Ive, Apple's legendary former lead designer, was not named in the filing, though io was.
Apple says it sent a letter to OpenAI in February raising these concerns and received no response. The company is now asking the court to:
- Bar OpenAI from using or disclosing any Apple trade secrets
- Require OpenAI to return all confidential Apple materials
- Preserve all evidence related to the alleged misconduct
The lawsuit also gives Apple a practical advantage: the legal discovery process will allow the company to dig into OpenAI's internal communications and files to understand the full scope of what it calls an orchestrated operation to extract Apple's confidential information.
Apple's complaint does not mince words. “This is the tip of the iceberg,” the filing states. “Apple lacks visibility into what's been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership. As a natural result, OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
In a public statement, Apple said it takes the protection of its teams' work and intellectual property “very seriously” and confirmed it is “taking all appropriate steps” to defend its innovations. OpenAI responded by pointing to a statement posted on X: “We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
This case lands at a sensitive moment for both companies. Apple and OpenAI have an existing partnership, with ChatGPT integrated into Apple's operating systems as part of Apple Intelligence. A prolonged legal fight could put that relationship under serious strain, and it signals just how high the stakes have become as the two companies increasingly eye the same space in consumer AI hardware.
