Apple Sues OpenAI and Two Former Executives: 'Industrial Secrets Used for New AI Devices'

A new front has opened in the clash between Apple and OpenAI in the United States. The Cupertino company has indeed filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against OpenAI, the OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, the startup io Products, and two long-time former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan. At the center of the accusations is the alleged use of confidential information and industrial secrets belonging to Apple to accelerate the development of a future hardware device dedicated to artificial intelligence.

According to the complaint, Apple claims that in recent years more than 400 of its former employees have joined OpenAI's hardware projects. The company does not contest the simple transition of staff to a competitor but asserts that some of these employees would have continued to access internal company data or transferred confidential documentation regarding unreleased products, manufacturing processes, supply chains, and proprietary technologies.

The accusations particularly focus on Chang Liu and Tang Tan. Liu worked as a senior electrical engineer at Apple for about eight years before joining OpenAI in early 2026. Tan, on the other hand, is a historical figure in the Californian company, having contributed to the development of products such as iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch. After leaving Apple in 2024, he co-founded the startup io, which was later acquired by OpenAI to lead its hardware initiatives.

Apple claims that Liu did not return a company computer after resigning and that he made unauthorized accesses to the company's internal network, downloading dozens of files containing confidential information about future products. According to the reconstruction contained in the lawsuit, Tan allegedly sent confidential documents regarding strategic suppliers and other internal information to his own email address before leaving Cupertino.

The accusations are not limited to isolated incidents. Apple asserts that Liu and Tan would have organized a recruitment strategy for other Apple employees, providing instructions on how to extract files and company devices while avoiding internal security systems. The company also claims to possess messages in which Liu positively commented on the success of these operations, believing they were executed without detection.

Another element of the lawsuit concerns relationships with Apple's industrial partners. According to Cupertino, OpenAI allegedly induced some suppliers to share confidential information by making them believe they were operating with the company's authorization. Among the cited examples is a metal finishing technique used for Apple products, as well as data related to batteries, power systems, and other hardware components.

OpenAI aims to develop its own family of devices dedicated to artificial intelligence. Rumors speak of a screenless device designed to continuously gather audio and video information from the surrounding environment and provide contextual responses through proprietary generative models. Sam Altman has previously specified that this product is not meant to replace the smartphone, similar to how smartphones have not eliminated the use of laptops. At the same time, OpenAI is also reportedly working on a smartphone heavily oriented towards artificial intelligence, which is expected to hit the market between 2027 and 2028.

Furthermore, Apple states that it has gathered evidence indicating that some OpenAI employees continued to use old company credentials to access internal systems and copy confidential files. The company claims to have notified its disputes to OpenAI as early as February without receiving a satisfactory response and is now seeking an injunction from the court, along with damages.

This case follows a gradual deterioration in relations between the two companies. In 2024, Apple and OpenAI announced a collaboration to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple's ecosystem devices. However, it has emerged that OpenAI's expectations regarding the evolution of the agreement were not met, and the company began to consider possible legal initiatives as early as May.

Apple clarifies, however, that the current lawsuit does not directly involve that business agreement, but solely concerns the alleged violations of its industrial secrets during the development of future devices based on artificial intelligence.