Apple sued OpenAI, hardware chief Tang Yew Tan, former Apple engineer Chang Liu and io Products in federal court, alleging that OpenAI’s consumer hardware push was built on misappropriated Apple trade secrets.
The 41-page complaint was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Apple brought claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, California trade-secret law and employment agreements tied to confidential Apple hardware work.
Apple alleged that Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer on the iPhone product line, joined OpenAI in January after more than eight years at Apple and kept access to Apple confidential systems after leaving. The company claims Liu downloaded confidential hardware files, failed to return an Apple-issued work laptop and continued receiving information from Apple employees while working on OpenAI products.
Tan, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, spent more than 24 years at Apple and served as vice president of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple alleged that Tan was centrally involved in extracting Apple hardware information and that OpenAI interview processes encouraged Apple candidates to discuss unreleased projects.
Filing Targets Parts, Interviews And Hiring
Apple’s complaint claims Tan asked candidates still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” to interviews and take part in “show and tell” discussions around Apple hardware. The company also cited more than 400 former Apple employees now working at OpenAI.
The lawsuit names io Products, the hardware startup tied to Jony Ive and Tang Tan, alongside OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC. OpenAI acquired Ive’s hardware venture in 2025 as it prepared a dedicated consumer AI device, moving the ChatGPT maker deeper into Apple’s product territory.
Apple said it sent OpenAI a letter in February raising concerns that confidential Apple information could be entering OpenAI’s business improperly. OpenAI did not respond, Apple said in the complaint.
The filing asks the court for injunctive relief, return or destruction of Apple confidential information, damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief. Apple also wants defendants barred from using or disclosing the alleged trade secrets.
Partnership Turns Into Hardware Fight
The lawsuit lands less than two years after Apple integrated ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence, putting OpenAI’s model inside iPhone, iPad and Mac software workflows. That partnership gave Apple a faster route into generative AI while its own Siri overhaul faced delays and market pressure.
Apple’s AI execution has already carried a market cost. The company recently erased about $230 billion in intraday valueafter investors reacted to its Siri AI reveal and delays around more advanced assistant features.
OpenAI has been moving in the opposite direction. The company filed a confidential S-1 as the AI IPO race accelerated, while its hardware ambitions expanded through the io Products deal and a planned consumer AI device.
Apple’s complaint called OpenAI’s hardware business “rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.” The case is Apple Inc. v. Liu, No. 5:26-cv-07078, in the Northern District of California.
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