Company seeks an injunction, royalties, and exemplary damages
Apple has filed a sweeping federal lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two of its former senior engineers of systematically stealing Apple’s confidential hardware technology to accelerate OpenAI’s push into consumer devices.
The 41‑page complaint, filed July 10 in the Northern District of California, describes what Apple calls a coordinated effort inside OpenAI to obtain proprietary engineering files, manufacturing processes, supplier relationships and unreleased product information.
The suit centers on former Apple engineers Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan, both of whom left the company for senior roles in OpenAI’s hardware division. Apple alleges Liu, who worked eight years on iPhone system engineering, failed to return an Apple‑issued laptop and used it—along with a colleague’s authenticated device—to access Apple’s internal network after joining OpenAI. According to the complaint, Liu exploited a previously unknown authentication bug to download dozens of confidential files, including detailed engineering presentations and specifications for unreleased products. In one message left on an Apple laptop, Liu wrote, “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny,” a line Apple included in the filing.
Apple says Liu also coached a former colleague, whom he was recruiting to OpenAI, on how to copy confidential files without triggering Apple’s security team. He allegedly advised her to study proprietary information about unannounced Apple products before her interview at OpenAI and directed her to communicate via private messaging apps to avoid detection.
The complaint’s most serious allegations focus on Tang Yew Tan, a 24‑year Apple veteran who oversaw product design for iPhone and Apple Watch before becoming OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer. Apple claims Tan used Apple’s internal project codenames during OpenAI interviews to solicit confidential details about unreleased products. He allegedly instructed Apple candidates to bring physical components—including prototypes and internal parts—to OpenAI interviews for “show and tell” sessions. One candidate reportedly responded that he “didn’t even know we could take those from the office.”
Apple further alleges Tan retained an internal Apple “Need to Know” security document outlining offboarding protocols and shared it with Apple employees preparing to leave for OpenAI, helping them evade Apple’s departure procedures. According to the complaint, OpenAI encouraged candidates to discuss Apple’s proprietary engineering methods, supplier strategies and system integration tools as part of its hiring process.
The lawsuit also describes what Apple calls institutional misconduct involving OpenAI’s hardware subsidiary, io Products, which OpenAI acquired in 2025. Apple claims OpenAI and io used insider knowledge to approach Apple’s suppliers and even directed one partner to perform a proprietary Apple metal‑finishing technique, allegedly misleading the partner into believing Apple had approved the work.
Apple says it contacted OpenAI in February to raise concerns and request an investigation, but OpenAI never responded. The company argues that discovery is now necessary to determine the full extent of the alleged misappropriation.
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets,” Apple writes in the complaint.
Apple is seeking injunctive relief, damages and a court order requiring OpenAI, Liu, Tan and io Products to stop using Apple’s confidential information and return all proprietary materials. OpenAI has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.
