Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of trade secret theft and seeking an injunction to stop OpenAI from possessing, using, or disclosing Apple’s technologies. The lawsuit names OpenAI, io Products, and two former Apple employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, as defendants, alleging a months-long scheme to systematically steal confidential information about unreleased devices, manufacturing processes, components, and vendor relationships.
Over 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. Tang Tan, one of the named defendants, served as VP of product design at Apple leading iPhone and Apple Watch product design before departing in February 2024 to work with Jony Ive. Chang Liu spent eight years at Apple as a senior system electrical engineer before joining OpenAI in January 2026. OpenAI’s entire hardware initiative is led by Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, following OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s startup io last year.
The pattern of alleged theft
Apple claims the theft was coordinated, not accidental. According to the lawsuit filed with the Northern District of California, Tang Tan and Chang Liu directed Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI to provide details on unreleased devices, components, manufacturing processes, and vendor relationships.
Tan allegedly coached new hires on how to avoid scrutiny when departing Apple. He warned them not to tell Apple they had taken OpenAI jobs, allowing them to remain at the company as long as possible. After his own departure, Tan improperly retained or obtained an internal Apple managers’ document marked “Need to Know” that describes security procedures for employee departures.
Chang Liu is accused of exploiting a security bug to download confidential engineering files after leaving the company. Apple alleges Liu downloaded “a compilation of technical files with over a thousand pages” detailing manufacturing documents for complex circuit boards used in Apple hardware products.
Supplier manipulation and targeted extraction
The lawsuit also alleges OpenAI manipulated Apple’s supply chain to extract proprietary information. Apple claims OpenAI had a trusted Apple partner carry out Apple’s proprietary metal-finishing technique by misleading the partner into believing it had Apple’s permission. OpenAI also allegedly approached a second longtime Apple supplier that works on power and battery manufacturing, using insider terminology to ask “targeted questions” about specific Apple components.
Apple’s statement to 9to5Mac emphasized the seriousness: “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.” Apple accuses OpenAI leadership of creating a culture of hardware theft and says OpenAI’s hardware business is “rotten to its core” because of its reliance on stolen information.
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions and the timing
The lawsuit arrives as OpenAI prepares its first consumer hardware devices for market. Ming-Chi Kuo reported in April 2026 that OpenAI is developing its own smartphone, potentially launching in 2028. The Information has also reported on OpenAI’s work on a HomePod-style smart speaker. In this context, Apple’s allegations of systematic theft are not defensive posturing, they directly concern OpenAI’s core competitive advantage in hardware design and manufacturing.
The io acquisition brought over 50 engineers, developers, and other employees into OpenAI’s fold. The original announcement touted that Ive founded io in collaboration with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tan. Hankey led Apple’s design team for several years after Ive departed. The concentration of design and engineering talent under Ive’s leadership makes the trade secret allegations consequential: if Apple’s claims hold, OpenAI’s hardware roadmap is built on stolen intellectual property.
The broader fracture between Apple and OpenAI
The lawsuit compounds an already deteriorating relationship. Apple executives “have been fuming for more than a year” over OpenAI’s recruiting tactics, with the company aggressively poaching talent for hardware initiatives. The two companies reached a partnership in 2024 that saw ChatGPT integrated into features like Siri and Image Playground across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. But OpenAI was unhappy with the execution, the company expected ChatGPT to be more deeply integrated across additional Apple apps and to have more prominent placement within Siri. OpenAI executives also believed Apple had not sufficiently advertised the integration, resulting in fewer customers knowing about it.
In May 2026, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI was preparing “legal action” against Apple over how the Siri partnership played out. That threat now exists alongside Apple’s lawsuit. Both companies have grievances, but they are not equivalent: one alleges theft of confidential information about unreleased hardware; the other complains about marketing placement.
What Apple is seeking
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop OpenAI from possessing, using, or disclosing Apple’s technologies, as well as damages “in an amount to be determined at trial.” If Apple’s allegations survive discovery, that Tan distributed security protocols, that Liu exploited security bugs to download engineering documents, that OpenAI coached departing employees to hide their new employer, the damages could be substantial.
What distinguishes this lawsuit is the specificity and scale: a systematic, months-long scheme involving over 400 current OpenAI employees, at least two senior former Apple executives allegedly acting as coordinators, deliberate instruction to hide job changes from Apple, exploitation of security vulnerabilities, and direct manipulation of Apple’s supply chain. If even half of these allegations are provable, OpenAI’s hardware division is built on foundations Apple will spend years attacking in court. The lawsuit filed today is the legal opening of what could become a defining hardware rivalry of the late 2020s.
