Apple sued OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft for hardware, citing emails and downloads. The suit names 400 former Apple employees now working at OpenAI.
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Apple filed a lawsuit Friday against OpenAI and two of its employees, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets tied to unreleased hardware to build its own devices.
The two named employees are Tang Tan, OpenAI's chief hardware officer, and Chang Liu, a technical staff member. Both previously worked at Apple, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the complaint filed in California state court. Tan is accused of emailing himself information about Apple's suppliers and asking Apple employees to bring prototype parts to OpenAI during job interviews. Liu allegedly downloaded confidential files from Apple's internal network and coached an Apple employee on how to copy those files, the Journal reported.
Apple's complaint argues the theft was not a one-off. "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 lawsuit said, according to the Journal. Apple acknowledged it does not know what OpenAI did with the data.
An Apple representative told CNBC that "significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes and products." Apple said it wrote to OpenAI in February to discuss concerns about confidential information. The company received no reply, Reuters reported.
Apple is demanding that OpenAI stop the alleged practices, destroy any proprietary materials and redesign upcoming products so they do not use any Apple technology, Bloomberg reported. Neither Apple nor OpenAI immediately responded to requests for comment.
OpenAI currently employs more than 400 former Apple workers, Reuters reported. The company acquired io, an AI device startup whose co-founders include Tan, in May 2025. That acquisition gave OpenAI a hardware team and a ready-made product line.
The lawsuit sharpens the conflict between two companies that are also partners. Apple and OpenAI struck a deal in June 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into Apple's iOS, iPadOS and macOS platforms. That deal gave OpenAI access to Apple's users while Apple got a proven AI assistant. Now the same relationship sits alongside a legal battle over hardware neither company has fully described.
Dozens of employees left Apple for OpenAI and Meta through late 2024, according to reports from December. Apple has struggled to match the pace of AI development at competitors. The lawsuit argues OpenAI accelerated its hardware push by poaching both staff and secrets.
No hearing date has been set for Apple's request for an injunction that would force OpenAI to redesign products already in development.
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