Apple has sued OpenAI in federal court, alleging a coordinated campaign to steal trade secrets for OpenAI’s upcoming hardware. The complaint names OpenAI’s hardware chief, an Apple veteran, and a former engineer accused of keeping a company laptop. It’s a stunning reversal for two firms that partnered on ChatGPT in 2024. OpenAI denies the claims.

Key Takeaways

• Apple sued OpenAI in federal court alleging trade secret theft
• The suit claims theft to build OpenAI’s rival hardware device
• OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan, an Apple veteran, is a defendant
• A former engineer allegedly kept an Apple laptop to take files
• OpenAI denies it, saying it has no interest in others’ secrets

What Apple Is Alleging

The filing landed Friday. Apple sued OpenAI in federal court in Northern California, alleging trade secret theft and breach of contract, claiming the AI lab took its intellectual property to develop its own consumer hardware.

Apple’s language is blunt. The company 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 taking Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information.

Apple casts this as only the beginning. The filing describes the known conduct as the tip of the iceberg, arguing Apple lacks visibility into what has happened behind closed doors at OpenAI, where it claims such misconduct is normalized by leadership.

The remedies sought are sweeping. Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the return of any confidential materials, and preserve evidence, and it is seeking a jury trial. It’s important to note these are allegations that OpenAI disputes and that a court has not ruled on.

The Specific Accusations

The complaint centers on two named individuals. The first is Tang Tan, an Apple veteran who worked on the iPhone and Apple Watch and now serves as OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.

Apple’s claims about Tan are detailed. The company alleges he directed job candidates still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” to interviews for “show and tell” sessions, such as batteries and logic boards, so his OpenAI team could draw out more confidential information, and that he used Apple’s internal codenames to elicit further detail. Apple also says he circulated an internal offboarding document to teach new OpenAI hires how to dodge Apple’s exit security checks.

The second is Chang Liu, a former senior electrical engineer. Apple alleges Liu, who spent eight years at the company, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving for OpenAI in 2026 and used it to download confidential technical documents, including specifications and engineering presentations for unannounced products, while also coaching Apple colleagues applying to OpenAI on what to study.

The scale of talent movement frames it all. Apple says more than 400 former employees now work at OpenAI, the backdrop against which it alleges a pattern rather than isolated incidents.

The Trusted-Partners Angle

The case reaches beyond employees. Apple alleges that OpenAI and its partners used Apple’s confidential information while developing the hardware device, widening the scope of the complaint.

One example stands out. The filing references a proprietary metal-finishing technique that OpenAI allegedly used after misleading a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to do so.

That claim raises the stakes. If proven, it would suggest the alleged misappropriation extended into Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing know-how, not just documents carried out by departing staff.

OpenAI’s Response

OpenAI rejects the accusations. A company representative said OpenAI has no interest in other companies’ trade secrets and remains focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.

The hardware ambitions are real, though. IO Products, the hardware vehicle Tan co-founded for OpenAI, is also named in the suit, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in November that the company had finished its first prototypes.

The product itself remains under wraps. OpenAI has not announced what its hardware will be or exactly when it ships, though a senior executive indicated earlier this year that the device would arrive in the first half of 2026.

A Stunning Reversal From Partners

The lawsuit is remarkable given the relationship. The two companies entered a high-profile partnership in 2024, when ChatGPT was integrated into the iPhone’s operating system through Apple Intelligence.

Apple stayed quiet on that front. The company did not say whether the lawsuit would affect the existing ChatGPT integration, leaving the future of the partnership an open question.

The friction may run both ways. Reporting earlier this year indicated OpenAI had itself been weighing legal action against Apple over the partnership, reportedly considering a breach-of-contract notice, so tensions were building before Apple’s filing.

The Bigger Legal and IPO Stakes

The timing matters for OpenAI. The suit adds to mounting legal pressure as the company gears up for what’s expected to be a historic IPO, the kind of overhang that can complicate a market debut.

It follows another courtroom test. Apple’s complaint comes about two months after OpenAI won a high-profile trial against Elon Musk, in which a federal jury found Musk had waited too long to sue over claims about the lab abandoning its nonprofit roots.

Discovery is the wild card. By taking the case to court, Apple gains the chance to learn far more through the legal discovery process, which could surface internal OpenAI communications and expose the true extent of what each side did.

Why It Matters

This is the AI hardware race turning combative. As OpenAI moves from software into physical devices, the fight over who owns the underlying know-how, and the people who carry it between companies, becomes central.

The talent-and-secrets tension is the core theme. With hundreds of ex-Apple staff at OpenAI, the case tests where legitimate hiring ends and unlawful appropriation begins, a line every fast-moving tech company now has to watch.

For now, these remain unproven allegations, and OpenAI firmly denies them. But a courtroom clash between two of tech’s biggest names, with a landmark IPO in the balance and discovery ahead, ensures this dispute will be one of the most closely watched in the industry.

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