Apple sued OpenAI in federal court on Friday, accusing the AI firm and two ex-employees of stealing trade secrets for a hardware push built on its $6.5 billion io deal.
Key Points:
- The complaint names OpenAI, io Products, hardware chief Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu as defendants.
- More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, according to the filing.
- OpenAI denies the claims and says it has no interest in other companies' trade secrets.
Apple Accuses OpenAI Of Coordinated Secrets Theft
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, targets OpenAI and its device unit io Products. It also names Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan and engineer Chang Liu as defendants. Tan spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple alleges Tan used confidential project code names while recruiting, asked candidates to bring actual hardware, batteries and logic boards among them, to show and tell interview sessions, and coached departing staff on dodging exit checks. The filing says he kept an internal document marked Need to Know that outlines exit procedures, and that the file circulated among new hires before they resigned.
Liu, a senior systems electrical engineer at Apple for eight years, allegedly held onto a company laptop after joining OpenAI in January and downloaded dozens of confidential files on unreleased products. He also allegedly coached at least one colleague on what to study before an OpenAI interview. Apple raised concerns in a letter to OpenAI in February and never heard back.
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OpenAI Rejects Claims As Device Launch Nears
OpenAI pushed back within hours.
"We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets," the company responded in a public statement. Apple wants the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its secrets, force the return of confidential materials, preserve evidence and award damages. The case lands as OpenAI reportedly readies its first consumer device for launch and moves toward a widely anticipated public listing.
The filing states that more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, and that some emailed themselves confidential information on the way out. Apple also claims the startup misled a manufacturing partner into demonstrating a proprietary metal finishing technique by implying it had permission.
The suit caps a two-year unraveling between companies that announced a high-profile partnership in 2024, when ChatGPT was folded into Apple's operating systems.
Ties soured after OpenAI paid $6.5 billion last year for io, the hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, who is not named as a defendant. Last month, Apple reportedly chose Google's Gemini to power its revamped Siri, and earlier reports said OpenAI had weighed legal action of its own over the partnership.
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