Apple sued OpenAI and two Chinese employees on Friday (July 10th) in the Northern District of California Federal District Court, alleging theft of Apple’s trade secrets to develop unreleased AI hardware.
According to a report by CNN on Friday, Apple’s lawsuit names OpenAI, OpenAI’s hardware director Tang Tan, OpenAI employee Chang Liu, and the AI hardware startup io Products as defendants.
In the lawsuit, Apple alleges a series of theft actions led by OpenAI’s hardware director, Tang Tan. Chang Liu also played a key role in these ongoing theft actions.
Defendant Tan Tan, a Malaysian Chinese, had worked at Apple for 24 years before joining OpenAI, serving as the Vice President of iPhone and Apple Watch product design.
The iPhone manufacturer accuses Tan Tan of using Apple’s secret project codes during the recruitment process at OpenAI, requesting job applicants to bring Apple components to interviews, and instructing departing Apple employees to bypass OpenAI’s security procedures. He is also accused of disclosing information related to Apple’s supplier meetings to OpenAI.
Another defendant, Chang Liu, worked as a senior systems electrical engineer at Apple for eight years and joined OpenAI after leaving Apple in January 2026.
Apple stated that Liu did not respond to Apple’s requests to sign non-disclosure agreements, attend exit interviews, or return company equipment upon leaving.
The lawsuit alleges that after leaving Apple, Liu retained Apple-issued laptops and downloaded dozens of Apple’s internal confidential documents during his time at OpenAI, including detailed information on unreleased products, engineering presentation slides, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.
He also maintained close contact with an Apple employee, Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, to continuously access project updates, supplier decisions, and engineering details from Apple.
Upon discovering he still had access to Apple’s network storage after joining OpenAI, Liu sent a text message to Peng boasting, “Haha, I found out I can still access (Apple) network storage, so funny.”
Apple’s investigation revealed that OpenAI and its partners used Apple’s confidential information, such as a proprietary metal surface treatment process, during the development of their own hardware products. OpenAI misled partners to believe they had Apple’s authorization.
Apple had written to OpenAI expressing concerns in February 2026 but received no response.
Defendant io Products was founded by Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive and was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion last year, although Ive himself is not listed as a defendant.
Apple is seeking a court order to prohibit OpenAI from using or disclosing related trade secrets, return all confidential materials, and preserve relevant evidence.
In a statement, Apple said, “We highly value protecting our team’s research achievements and intellectual property… We will always defend the hard work and innovative results of our team.” OpenAI has not commented on the matter.
Apple and OpenAI announced a collaboration in 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into Apple products. However, a Bloomberg report in May 2026 mentioned that OpenAI had considered suing Apple for allegedly failing to adequately promote OpenAI’s products.
According to LinkedIn data analyzed by CNN, OpenAI has recently recruited at least 10 engineers directly from Apple.
Competition around AI hardware has been extremely fierce in recent times.
Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculated in April this year that the device being prepared by OpenAI could be an intelligent smartphone operated by AI agents.
The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI’s new device could be a smart speaker capable of sensing the user’s surroundings.
Apple plans to release a new version of Siri later this year.
This lawsuit may add uncertainty to OpenAI’s hardware plans and its upcoming initial public offering.