Apple sues OpenAI over alleged theft of “consumer device” trade secrets

In an interesting turn of events, Apple has filed a federal lawsuit against OpenAI. The 41-page complaint accuses the ChatGPT maker of orchestrating a coordinated, institutional campaign to steal decades worth of hardware product designs, manufacturing methods, and supply chain strategies to rapidly accelerate OpenAI’s secretive push into consumer devices.

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The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday, July 10, 2026, marks an explosive breakdown in relations between two behemoths that partnered just a year ago to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone ecosystem. The legal filing pulls no punches, alleging that OpenAI's nascent hardware ambitions now rest "on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets."

A Coordinated Institutional Dragnet

Rather than framing the dispute as an isolated case of rogue employees rogue-downloading data, Apple's legal team claims OpenAI systematically coached departing Apple engineers on how to evade internal corporate security layers. The complaint directly names two high-profile former Apple employees who now anchor OpenAI’s hardware push, alongside naming Jony Ive’s startup, io Products, which OpenAI recently acquired for an estimated $6.5 billion, as a co-defendant.

The specific allegations outlined against the tech workers paint a picture of highly aggressive corporate espionage:

• Tang Yew Tan: A 24-year Apple veteran who formerly served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch, Tan is now OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer. Apple alleges Tan methodically used internal project code names during recruitment and explicitly instructed job candidates still working at Apple to bring "actual parts," prototypes, and confidential components to their OpenAI interviews for unauthorized "show and tell" sessions.

• Chang Liu: A senior systems electrical engineer who spent eight years at Apple before jumping to OpenAI in January 2026. The lawsuit claims Liu kept his Apple-issued laptop and later exploited an internal authentication bug to illegally re-enter Apple's secure network storage. Liu allegedly messaged a former colleague, "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny." He then reportedly downloaded dozens of proprietary technical presentations and a 1,000-page engineering cache.

High Stakes Ahead of Wall Street Milestones

OpenAI has pushed back against the sweeping accusations, with a corporate spokesperson stating the firm has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets" and remains fully focused on building innovative technology. However, the legal firestorm lands at a highly sensitive operational moment for the AI startup. OpenAI is currently navigating early-stage preparations for a massive initial public offering (IPO) near an $852 billion valuation, while simultaneously readying its very first physical consumer AI device for market release later this year.

Apple is aggressively seeking permanent injunctions to block OpenAI from utilizing any of the disputed data, alongside demanding substantial financial damages. If the federal court grants Apple’s requests, OpenAI’s multi-billion dollar hardware roadmap could face massive delays, transforming a collaborative tech partnership into an all-out war for intellectual property survival.