Apple Sues OpenAI, Alleging Executives Ran a Scheme to Steal Hardware Secrets

Apple sued OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a years-long scheme to steal confidential hardware designs, engineering documents, and details about unreleased products by systematically recruiting Apple employees and coaching them to bring secrets out the door.

The complaint alleges that the scheme reached “at every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners.”

The Two Key Figures

The lawsuit focuses heavily on two individuals.

Tang Tan, OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, spent 24 years at Apple as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch before moving to OpenAI. According to Apple’s complaint, Tan directed OpenAI’s entire hardware hiring operation and turned job interviews into extraction sessions. Apple alleges he used confidential Apple project codenames in recruiting conversations, asked candidates to bring physical hardware components to interviews, coached departing Apple employees on how to evade Apple’s security procedures during offboarding, and repeatedly asked interviewees to share details about products that had not yet been announced.

Chang Liu, a former senior systems electrical engineer at Apple, spent eight years at the company before leaving for OpenAI in 2026. Apple alleges that Liu failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after his departure, downloaded confidential technical documents onto that device in his final weeks, and shared Apple’s proprietary information with other prospective OpenAI hires.

Apple says Liu’s actions were not a one-off lapse. The complaint describes a coordinated recruitment flow where information traveled between Apple and OpenAI via a network of recent hires and ongoing candidates.

What Was Allegedly Taken

The filing describes stolen materials including technical specifications and engineering presentations, proprietary project data about unannounced technologies, details about Apple’s component and vendor selection processes, and a proprietary metal finishing technique that Apple says OpenAI later used in its own hardware development.

That last item points toward the bigger strategic story here. OpenAI has been quietly building its first consumer hardware product for several years, accelerated after the company acquired Jony Ive’s design firm io for $6.5 billion in 2025. That device, widely reported to be a smartphone competitor with AI agents replacing traditional apps, is expected to launch sometime in 2026 or 2027.

Apple is clearly viewing that product as a threat, and the lawsuit suggests it believes OpenAI has been using Apple’s own institutional knowledge to build it.

An Awkward History

The timing is striking given how the two companies got to this point. In 2024, Apple and OpenAI announced a high-profile partnership that integrated ChatGPT into iPhone’s operating system, including Siri handoffs and access to GPT features through Apple Intelligence. That deal was worth significant distribution for OpenAI and lent Apple’s consumer credibility to a then-scrappier AI product.

Now Apple is accusing its partner of running a theft operation at the same time the partnership was being negotiated and expanded.

Apple is seeking injunctions to prevent OpenAI from using or disclosing the trade secrets, an order compelling the return of all confidential materials, and monetary damages. OpenAI has not yet filed a public response to the complaint.

The lawsuit joins a growing list of legal battles shaping the AI industry’s early years, including ongoing copyright disputes between OpenAI and publishers, and similar IP fights involving Meta and Google.

Sources: TechCrunch | Fortune | Washington Post | CNN