'This case is about Apple's former employees stealing Apple's trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI'
Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and two former senior employees, accusing them of a systematic campaign to steal its most sensitive hardware trade secrets to accelerate the artificial intelligence company's push into consumer devices.
The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, names OpenAI, its hardware subsidiary io Products, former Apple VP of Product Design Tang Yew Tan, and former Senior System Electrical Engineer Chang Liu as defendants.
Apple is seeking injunctions, compensatory and exemplary damages, as well as the return of all misappropriated materials.
"This case is about Apple's former employees stealing Apple's trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI. Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it," the company states in the complaint.
"At every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information."
Central to Apple's case is the conduct of Liu, who left Apple in January 2026 to join OpenAI.
According to the complaint, Liu failed to return an Apple-issued laptop upon departure and later discovered an authentication vulnerability that allowed him to access Apple's internal network storage after his employment had ended.
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