Apple sues OpenAI for stealing trade secrets related to AI hardware development

Apple filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California on Friday (July 10, 2026), accusing OpenAI and his former employees of misappropriating Apple’s trade secrets for the development of AI hardware devices. Apple pointed out in the complaint that after joining OpenAI, former Apple Vice President of Design Tang Tan and former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu were suspected of systematically stealing the design, components, process and supplier information of unreleased products. Apple emphasized that this behavior has seriously damaged its intellectual property rights and requested the court to issue an injunction and compensation. Former employees involved in secret theft According to the complaint, Tan used his knowledge of Apple's resignation procedures to assist other employees in secretly passing on information before leaving, and even instructed applicants who were still working at Apple to bring actual hardware parts to OpenAI for interviews for a "show and explain" session. Liu retained the Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company and exploited system vulnerabilities to download dozens of confidential documents, including more than a thousand pages of technical documents covering the complex circuit board manufacturing details of Apple products. Apple said the conduct had become an "established pattern" and that Tan had possessed and distributed an internal management document labeled "Need to Know" that disclosed Apple's exit security procedures to new employees in advance. OpenAI Hardware Business Questioned Apple accuses OpenAI leadership of creating a "culture of hardware theft" and calls its hardware business "fundamentally corrupt" because it relies on stolen Apple information. The complaint alleges that OpenAI used Apple's confidential supplier information to mislead one partner into using Apple's proprietary metal surface treatment technology and asked another long-term supplier specific questions about Apple components. Apple noted that OpenAI never responded to Apple’s concerns after being contacted in February, forcing A