Apple submitted a treatment Friday against OpenAI for claims of trade secret theft and breach of contract.
The iPhone maker alleges that this misconduct, which it says reveals a pattern of theft by OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple, was directed by OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Tan of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s hiring process, asking candidates to bring Apple hardware to interviews, instructing departing Apple employees on how to circumvent the company’s security procedures regarding the company’s products.
Prior to joining OpenAI, Tan spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch.
The accusations come at a time when OpenAI is rumored to be developing its first hardware product, which would likely compete with the iPhone. In April, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that this device could be a smartphone based on AI agents instead of apps. If true, it would be one of the biggest threats to Apple’s core hardware business to date.
Former Apple chief designer Jony Ive’s io startup was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.5 billion deal to help the AI company with its hardware ambitions. While io was named in the deposition, Ive was not.
Tan is not the only OpenAI employee named in the new complaint. Apple also claims that Chang Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior electrical systems engineer, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after he left the company for OpenAI in 2026 and had used the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents.
Apple says in the complaint that the stolen documents included information about unannounced technologies, features and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations and proprietary project data.
Liu is also accused in the lawsuit of sharing Apple’s confidential information with other Apple employees applying for OpenAI jobs, advising at least one of them on what to study before his interview.
Apple wrote to OpenAI in February to express its concerns and received no response, the company said in the complaint.
It alleges that the behavior of these former employees is part of OpenAI’s strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information, which included asking Apple employees to bring designs and prototypes to their interviews and answer questions about things like component and supplier selection processes.
Apple says its ongoing investigation has revealed that OpenAI and its partners have even used Apple’s confidential information while the AI model maker develops its own hardware product. For example, the filing refers to a proprietary metal-finishing technique OpenAI used after it allegedly misled a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to do so.
Like many technology companies, Apple typically investigates potential theft of trade secrets or other improper activity by analyzing communications made on company-owned devices and reading its server logs. By taking the case to court, Apple will have the opportunity to learn more about the extent of the alleged business through the legal discovery process.
Apple is asking the court to prohibit OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, to require the company to return any confidential Apple material and to preserve evidence related to the case.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple has no visibility into what goes on behind closed doors at OpenAI, where this type of misconduct is normalized and demonstrated by leadership,” the filing said. “As a natural consequence, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to the core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
In a prepared statement, Apple also said:
At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the world’s best products and services, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously. Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting that individuals employed by OpenAI illegally obtained Apple’s secret and confidential information about our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always champion the hard work and innovations of our teams and take all appropriate steps to do so.
OpenAI has been contacted for comment. The company responded after publication, noting his public statement shared with Xwhich states: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
Deposit is available hereor you can read it below.
This story is developing and will be updated. Originally posted at 1:32 pm. PT.
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