Apple has filed a trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its hardware executives who previously worked at Cupertino.
The complaint targets Tang Yew Tan, OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer and a 25-year Apple veteran who oversaw iPhone and Apple Watch development, and Chang Liu, a former iPhone electrical engineer. Apple alleges both men took confidential files — including CAD data, unreleased product specs, and presentations — when they left for OpenAI. The accusations go further than a standard data-leak claim: Apple says Liu exploited a network vulnerability using a work laptop he allegedly took with him, may have messaged someone to gloat about it, and coached other Apple employees on how to exfiltrate files before their own departures. Tan, the suit claims, was contacting Apple recruits using internal codenames and using Apple's proprietary knowledge to direct a manufacturing partner to apply a specific metal finishing technique, falsely implying Apple's approval.
The stakes extend well beyond two executives. OpenAI is actively working with designer Jony Ive on an AI hardware device, and Apple's complaint is essentially an attempt to poison that well before a product ever ships — if the allegations hold, courts could block OpenAI from commercializing hardware derived from Apple's work. Apple can also use the litigation as leverage to unwind or limit the ChatGPT integration currently shipping in Siri and Image Playground, pushing harder toward its Google Gemini partnership instead.
OpenAI's public response so far has been limited to a brief statement insisting it has no interest in rivals' secrets — a posture that will face considerably more scrutiny once discovery begins.