Apple filed a federal lawsuit Friday against OpenAI over allegations of trade secret theft and breach of contract, accusing the AI company of orchestrating a systematic scheme to extract confidential Apple intellectual property through former employees — a scheme the iPhone maker says was directed by OpenAI’s senior leadership.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and senior systems engineer Chang Liu as central figures in the alleged misconduct. Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple — most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch — is accused of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring Apple hardware components to their interviews, and coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” the filing states. “As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
The accusations arrive as OpenAI is widely rumored to be developing its first hardware product, which would likely compete directly with the iPhone. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested earlier this year that this device could be a smartphone powered by AI agents instead of traditional apps — a potential paradigm shift that would pose one of the largest threats to Apple’s core hardware business in decades.
Apple’s former lead designer Jony Ive’s device startup io was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.5 billion deal to support the company’s hardware ambitions. While io was named in the filing, Ive himself was not.
The complaint also alleges that Chang Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior systems electrical engineer, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving for OpenAI in 2026 and used the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents — including information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, as well as engineering presentations and proprietary project data.
Apple says it sent a letter to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns and received no response. The company is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the return of confidential materials, and preserve evidence related to the case.
