Apple Sues Former Engineer, OpenAI Over Trade Secret Theft

Apple sued former engineer Chang Liu and OpenAI on July 10, alleging Liu kept access to the company's most sensitive hardware files after he left for OpenAI in January and used that access to download confidential materials. The complaint also names Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president who now runs OpenAI's hardware subsidiary, and alleges a coordinated campaign to steal trade secrets. None of the claims have been tested in court.

Liu was a senior system electrical engineer at Apple for eight years. Apple says he left on January 22, 2026, and never returned a company laptop. Within weeks, the complaint states, Liu discovered a security bug that still let him reach Apple's internal network storage, a repository of confidential engineering files. Instead of reporting it, he messaged a former colleague still at Apple: "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny."

The colleague, Yu-Ting "Alyssa" Peng, replied "I'm ready," according to the filing. Apple alleges that while Liu was building hardware for OpenAI, he downloaded dozens of confidential files, including a compilation of technical material covering more than 1,000 pages and presentations on how Apple manufactures and tests its main logic boards. He also used Peng's Apple-issued computer to get onto the network while she was still an employee and he was not.

Liu told Peng how to copy files from Apple workstations "to avoid trouble with the security team," pointed her to specific project folders, and instructed her on which confidential materials to study before her own OpenAI interview. The two switched to the LINE messaging app to evade detection. Peng later received an OpenAI offer and left Apple on April 16.

Tang Tan spent 24 years at Apple, working on the iPhone and Apple Watch before leaving in February 2024 to co-found io Products. OpenAI acquired io Products in 2025 for roughly $6.5 billion, and Tan became OpenAI's chief hardware officer. Apple says Tan used internal Apple codenames when interviewing candidates who still worked at Apple and asked them to bring "actual parts" such as batteries and logic boards for "show and tell" sessions. The filing also claims he passed around an internal Apple "Need to Know" document covering the company's departure security protocols, handing it to new OpenAI hires before they had given notice.

Apple wrote in the filing that the conduct is part of a larger campaign: "At every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple's trade secrets and confidential information." The company says what it has laid out so far is "the tip of the iceberg."

OpenAI pushed back the day the suit was filed. Its director of strategic communications, Drew Pusateri, posted: "We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere." That statement did not address the specific allegations against Liu or Tan.

The timing of the lawsuit matters for OpenAI's IPO. OpenAI confirmed in June that it had confidentially filed draft IPO paperwork. Reports have pegged a potential valuation above $1 trillion, though the company's finance chief has signaled the listing could slip to late 2026 or 2027. OpenAI was last valued around $852 billion in a March funding round. A confidential filing keeps the prospectus private until roughly 15 days before the investor roadshow. The public version is where audited financials and the full list of risk factors first appear. A live lawsuit over the exact hardware OpenAI is racing to market belongs in that risk section, in front of investors seeing the numbers for the first time.

Trade-secret cases often take years or settle quietly. Apple has promised that discovery will turn up more, and the filing explicitly frames the allegations as a broader theft campaign. Apple wants damages and court orders forcing OpenAI to stop using its information.

The relationship between the two companies has cooled. In 2024, Apple built OpenAI's ChatGPT into the iPhone, and Sam Altman attended the announcement at Apple's headquarters. This year, Apple said its rebuilt Siri would run on Google's Gemini models instead of OpenAI's. The suit also handed Elon Musk, an OpenAI co-founder who now runs competing xAI, fresh material for his public feud with Altman.

For now it all rests on claims that have not been answered in court. None of the named individuals have filed a response. Semafor noted that Apple likely referred the matter to the FBI, as it has done in similar cases, though no referral has been confirmed. The next concrete date will come when defendants file their response, typically within 21 days of service.