- Apple filed suit in the Northern District of California on July 10, accusing OpenAI, its io Products hardware unit, and two former Apple employees of stealing trade secrets connected to unreleased hardware.
- The complaint names former senior electrical engineer Chang Liu and former iPhone and Apple Watch design chief Tang Tan, now OpenAI's hardware lead, and states that more than 400 former Apple staff have moved to OpenAI.
- OpenAI denies the claims, with spokesperson Drew Pusateri saying the company has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."
Apple accuses OpenAI of theft "at every level"
Apple sued OpenAI on July 10 in federal court in the Northern District of California, alleging that the AI company systematically took confidential information about Apple's unreleased hardware. The filing arrives as Apple prepares a new class of devices and as OpenAI builds toward its own consumer hardware through io Products, the unit tied to former Apple design leader Jony Ive.
The complaint is unusually direct about scope. Apple alleges that "at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information."
Two former Apple employees sit at the center of the case. Apple accuses Chang Liu, now a member of OpenAI's technical staff, of downloading dozens of confidential hardware files, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and data for unreleased products. Liu is also alleged to have coached an Apple colleague on bypassing internal security teams while copying files. The second defendant, Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president who now serves as OpenAI's hardware chief, is accused of directing job candidates still employed at Apple to bring physical parts to interviews for "show and tell" sessions.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Court and date | US District Court, Northern District of California, filed July 10, 2026 |
| Corporate defendants | OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, and io Products |
| Individual defendants | Chang Liu, former Apple senior electrical engineer; Tang Tan, former Apple VP and current OpenAI hardware chief |
| Core claim | Theft of trade secrets covering unreleased products, technical specifications, and supply-chain vendor details |
| Context figure | Apple states over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI |
OpenAI rejects the allegations
Apple framed the suit as a defense of its core work, with the company emphasizing the stakes for its research pipeline.
At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously.Apple statement on the OpenAI lawsuit, July 10, 2026
OpenAI pushed back the same day, casting the recruitment of Apple veterans as ordinary talent movement rather than a scheme.
We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.Drew Pusateri, OpenAI spokesperson, July 10, 2026
CEO Sam Altman was blunter in public than the company statement, responding directly on X the next day.
The dispute now moves into discovery, where Apple must convert its narrative of a coordinated campaign into specific evidence of what was taken and how it was used. The subtext is a hardware race. Apple is defending a device roadmap it has not yet shown the public, and OpenAI is building the physical products meant to carry its models beyond the phone. The lawsuit does not just allege theft. It marks the moment the two companies stopped being partners in AI and started competing for the same seat in the pocket.
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