Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets
Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging that former employees that now work for the AI company have stolen Apple’s trade secrets “for the benefit of OpenAI.” In...
Key points
- Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging that former employees that now work for the AI company have stolen Apple’s trade secrets “for the benefit of OpenAI.” In its complaint, Apple alleges that it has uncovered “a pattern of theft of Apple’s trade secrets by OpenAI employees who were formerly at Apple,” and it names IO Products (Jony Ive’s hardware startup that OpenAI bought in 2025), Tang Tan (OpenAI’s chief hardware officer), and Chang Liu (who joined OpenAI from Apple in January) as defendants.
- Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple.
- Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple.
- Liu is accused of accessing Apple’s systems after leaving the company and downloading information, including “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.” He also instructed a former Apple colleague on how to copy confidential Apple files and “avoid trouble” with the company’s security team ahead of her joining OpenAI.
What happened
Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging that former employees that now work for the AI company have stolen Apple’s trade secrets “for the benefit of OpenAI.” In its complaint, Apple alleges that it has uncovered “a pattern of theft of Apple’s trade secrets by OpenAI employees who were formerly at Apple,” and it names IO Products (Jony Ive’s hardware startup that OpenAI bought in 2025), Tang Tan (OpenAI’s chief hardware officer), and Chang Liu (who joined OpenAI from Apple in January) as defendants. Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple. Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple. Liu is accused of accessing Apple’s systems after leaving the company and downloading information, including “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.” He also instructed a former Apple colleague on how to copy confidential Apple files and “avoid trouble” with...