Apple sued OpenAI, two former Apple employees now at OpenAI, and io Products for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to unreleased products and confidential information. The lawsuit was filed in July 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California [1, 2, 3].
The former employees named are Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer and a former Apple vice president of product design with 24 years at Apple, and Chang Liu, a former senior electrical engineer at Apple who worked there for eight years [1, 2, 3, 4]. Apple alleges Tan emailed himself confidential supplier and industrial information before leaving and encouraged Apple staff to bring hardware parts and secrets to OpenAI interviews [1, 2, 5]. Liu allegedly failed to return an Apple laptop and exploited a software bug to keep unauthorized access to Apple's internal network for downloading confidential files. He reportedly mocked these actions internally, saying, "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny." The bug was quickly fixed and does not appear to have been widely exploited [5, 6, 7, 4, 8].
Apple claims OpenAI, which acquired io Products in 2025 for $6.5 billion, used the stolen information to approach Apple's manufacturing partners and request demonstrations of proprietary metal finishing techniques [1, 5, 9, 10, 4]. The legal filing states, "OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets" [3].
At least 400 former Apple employees have joined OpenAI, helping to build its consumer hardware business [2, 5, 6]. Apple first raised its concerns in February 2026 by sending OpenAI a letter requesting an investigation into the leaks, but received no response [3, 11, 4].
An Apple spokesperson said, "Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations." OpenAI’s spokesman Drew Pusateri responded, "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere." [1, 9]
Apple demands OpenAI stop using its confidential information, destroy proprietary materials, and redesign products that might incorporate the stolen technologies [2, 3]. The case will proceed in federal court over the coming months.
