Apple is suing OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft

Yahoo Finance ·

Apple is suing OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft Daniel Howley · Technology Editor Fri, July 10, 2026 at 5:36 PM EDT 3 min read AAPL Apple ( AAPL ) is suing OpenAI ( OPAI.PVT ), accusing the AI lab of trade secret theft as part of its effort to develop its own AI hardware devices. "OpenAI and its cohorts have been engaging in a coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level," Apple claims. In its suit, filed in the US District Court for Northern California, Apple alleges that OpenAI's hardware chief Tang Tan, who previously served as vice president of product design at Apple, and Chang Liu, a former Apple electrical engineer who now works at OpenAI, colluded to steal information from the iPhone maker that would help it build its own AI products. According to the suit, Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years and was vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, began emailing himself information about Apple's suppliers before leaving his position at the company and moving on to OpenAI. The lawsuit also states that Tan would use internal Apple codenames when interviewing candidates for positions at OpenAI who worked at Apple. The suit further alleges that Tan requested candidates who still worked at Apple to bring "actual parts" to interviews for "show and tell" sessions. Liu, the suit claims, used a former Apple colleague's Apple-issued laptop to access Apple's network and exploited a previously unknown bug to open the company's shared network folders, downloading hardware-related files about unreleased products and other proprietary data. Liu also allegedly told his former Apple colleague, whom he was recruiting to OpenAI, how to dodge Apple's security teams. Apple has also named io Products, an AI hardware company founded by Tan and former Apple designer Jony Ive, in the suit. "The Corporate Defendants, with or through their employees or partners, have been acting in concert and as an enterprise, exploiting Apple's confidential information to advance OpenAI's efforts to enter the consumer hardware market," the lawsuit states. "They have used confidential Apple information in approaching Apple's trusted partners, even having one carry out a specific trade secret metal-finishing technique for OpenAI, misleading the partner to believe they had Apple's permission to do so," the suit says. Apple and OpenAI initially appeared to be on track for a fruitful relationship after Apple debuted a version of its Apple Intelligence platform that features OpenAI's ChatGPT software in 2024. But the relationship has deteriorated since, with OpenAI reportedly threatening to sue Apple over the way it integrated ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. Apple is set to relaunch a version of its Siri voice assistant powered by OpenAI rival Google's ( GOOG , GOOGL ) Gemini AI platform later this year. The Apple lawsuit comes after OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman defeated Elon Musk in his lawsuit against the company and its chief executive, in which he claimed he was duped into providing cash to help the startup get off the ground under the assumption it would remain a nonprofit. Apple's suit could also serve as yet another roadblock in OpenAI's attempt to go public. The company confidentially filed its S-1 paperwork last month, a week after rival Anthropic filed its own S-1. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com . Follow him on X at @DanielHowley . Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

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