Apple Inc. has sued OpenAI, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets by colluding to obtain information about Apple’s unreleased products. Apple claims that OpenAI encouraged its employees to share confidential details—including information about unreleased products, components, schematics, and other materials—to develop its full lineup of hardware products.

Apple is demanding that OpenAI cease such activities, destroy all of Apple’s proprietary materials, and redesign its upcoming products to ensure none incorporate any Apple technology.

[PANews]

On July 11 (UTC+8), Apple sued OpenAI, its hardware director Tang Tan, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu, accusing the three parties of organized theft of Apple's trade secrets for the development of OpenAI's proprietary hardware.

Apple claims that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to provide information, parts, and design drawings of unreleased products during interviews. Employees preparing to change jobs were also instructed to conceal their destinations to prevent Apple from revoking internal access prematurely.

Liu joined OpenAI in January of this year. Apple alleges that he downloaded dozens of confidential documents before leaving, including unreleased product information, technical specifications, and project data.

Tan was responsible for the design of products such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. After leaving Apple, he co-founded the hardware company io Products. OpenAI acquired this company for $6.50 billion last year.

Apple is demanding that OpenAI cease using and destroy the relevant materials, and also redesign unreleased products that may use Apple technology. OpenAI responded that the company has "no interest" in the trade secrets of other companies and will continue to focus on developing innovative technologies that benefit users worldwide.

The two companies had previously collaborated to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence. Now that OpenAI is developing its own hardware, the two parties have gone from partners to litigation opponents. (Source: Bloomberg)

[ME AI]

AAPLX

Apple accuses OpenAI of systematically stealing hardware secrets

Apple is suing OpenAI, its hardware chief Tang Tan, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu, accusing the three parties of orchestrating the theft of Apple's trade secrets for the development of OpenAI's own hardware.

Apple claims that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to provide information, parts, and design schematics of unreleased products during interviews. Employees preparing to leave were also instructed to conceal their destinations to prevent Apple from revoking internal access prematurely.

Liu joined OpenAI in January of this year. Apple alleges that he downloaded dozens of confidential documents before his departure, including unreleased product information, technical specifications, and project data.

Tan was responsible for the design of products such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. After leaving Apple, he co-founded the hardware company io Products. OpenAI acquired this company last year for $6.5 billion.

Apple is demanding that OpenAI cease using and destroy the relevant materials, and also redesign unreleased products that may use Apple's technology.

OpenAI responded by stating that the company has "no interest" in the trade secrets of other businesses and will continue to focus on developing innovative technologies that benefit users worldwide.

The two companies had previously collaborated, integrating ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence. Now, with OpenAI beginning to develop its own hardware, they have transitioned from partners to legal adversaries.

[Beating]

Apple accuses OpenAI of systematically stealing hardware secrets, as former partners completely turn against each other.

Apple has sued OpenAI, its hardware lead Tang Tan, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu, accusing the three parties of organized theft of Apple's trade secrets to develop OpenAI's proprietary hardware. Apple alleges that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to provide unreleased product information, parts, and design drawings during interviews. Employees planning to switch jobs were also instructed to conceal their destination to avoid Apple prematurely revoking internal access.

Liu joined OpenAI in January this year. Apple accuses him of downloading dozens of confidential files before his departure, including unreleased product information, technical specifications, and project data.

Tan, who was responsible for the design of products such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, later co-founded a hardware company, io Products, after leaving Apple. OpenAI acquired this company for $6.5 billion last year.

Apple has demanded that OpenAI cease using and destroy the relevant materials, and also redesign any unreleased products that may incorporate Apple's technology. In response, OpenAI stated that the company has "no interest" in the trade secrets of other companies and will continue to focus on developing innovative technology that benefits global users.

The two companies had previously been collaborating, integrating ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence. Now, with OpenAI venturing into in-house hardware development, the former partners have turned into legal adversaries.

[Dynamic Beating]

Apple Accuses OpenAI of Systematic Hardware Secret Theft, Former Partners Now Arch Enemies

Apple has sued OpenAI for stealing trade secrets, accusing OpenAI of obtaining information about Apple’s unreleased products through coordinated efforts. Apple claims that OpenAI encouraged its employees to share information, components, blueprints, and other materials related to Apple’s unreleased products to develop its own full lineup of hardware products.

Apple has demanded that OpenAI cease such activities, destroy all Apple proprietary materials, and redesign its upcoming products to ensure they contain no Apple technology.

[Odaily]

Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets of unreleased products.

Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets

OpenAI responded to Apple's lawsuit by stating that it has no interest in other companies' trade secrets and remains focused on building innovative technology.

[Odaily]

OpenAI: Not interested in other companies' trade secrets

Apple has sued OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of running a scheme to steal trade secrets tied to its unreleased hardware. The complaint also names two former Apple employees central to OpenAI’s device push. The filing marks OpenAI’s second major legal fight in a month. Just weeks earlier, the company shook off trade secrets claims from Elon Musk’s xAI, only to face a far larger accuser.

Why Apple Sued OpenAI Apple filed the suit on July 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It names OpenAI, its io Products hardware unit, and two former Apple staff as defendants. Apple was blunt about the scope. Follow us on X &nbsp;to get the latest news as it happens

That chief hardware officer is Tang Tan. He led design for the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods before leaving in early 2024. Apple says he had job candidates bring parts such as batteries and logic boards to interviews. The suit also accuses former engineer Chang Liu of keeping a work laptop after leaving. He allegedly exploited a bug to reach Apple’s cloud storage and download dozens of files.

Apple says more than 400 of its former staff now work at OpenAI. Apple wants an injunction barring OpenAI from using the secrets, plus damages to be set at trial. It adds to a run of Big Tech legal battles over talent.

A Second Legal War for OpenAI OpenAI just escaped a similar fight, when a judge dismissed xAI’s trade secrets suit with prejudice on June 15. Weeks before that, a California jury needed under two hours to reject Musk’s mission-betrayal suit as filed too late. The dispute now caps a bruising year of clashes over competing AI models.

OpenAI’s hardware push traces to its purchase of Jony Ive’s startup io, a roughly $6.5 billion deal last year. Apple, by contrast, brings deeper pockets and decades of hardware secrets to defend. The fight also shadows OpenAI’s looming IPO plans.

The two remain partners today, with ChatGPT built into Apple’s devices and a GPT-5 upgrade due this year. OpenAI had not publicly answered the allegations by press time. The coming filings should show how much of Apple’s evidence survives scrutiny.

ELON

OpenAI Back in Another Legal War Weeks After Beating Elon Musk

Apple Inc. has sued OpenAI for stealing trade secrets, accusing the AI startup and its head of hardware of participating in an organized effort to steal information about Apple’s upcoming products.

In the lawsuit filed on Friday, the iPhone maker alleged that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information, components, schematics, and other materials related to future products—a move tied to the AI company’s efforts to develop its own full suite of devices.

In the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple also named Tang Tan, OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer. Tan previously served as Apple’s Vice President of Product Design, leading the development of the iPhone, smartwatches, AirPods, and several other products within Apple’s hardware engineering division. [Wall Street Insights]

[ME AI]

Apple sues OpenAI for stealing its top trade secrets, sparking a blockbuster lawsuit

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ sued privately held ChatGPT parent OpenAI and one of its top executives Friday alleging the AI company stole trade secrets as part of its effort to develop competing devices. The civil suit filed in the Northern District of California accuses OpenAI's chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, and Chang Liu, a member of its technical staff, of taking Apple's confidential information through various methods. Both are former Apple employees who went to work for OpenAI. The lawsuit shows how the relationship between the two companies has rapidly deteriorated since 2024, when they signed a deal to have OpenAI's ChatGPT work with Apple's Siri chatbot. Apple's new Siri AI, announced in June, is powered by Gemini technology from $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$. Tan is leading OpenAI's efforts to develop its own devices, a crucial strategic effort so that the company can reach consumers directly, rather than via other companies' devices such as Apple's iPhone. The suit alleges that Tan emailed himself information about Apple's suppliers and that he has directed job candidates still working for Apple to bring "actual parts" from Apple to their interviews for "show and tell" with the OpenAI team. Apple accuses Liu of using a former colleague's work computer to access Apple's network, alleging that Liu downloaded "dozens of Apple's confidential hardware-related files." Liu coached the former colleague, whom he was recruiting to join OpenAI, on ways to "avoid trouble with the security team" when copying confidential files, the suit says. Tan spent 24 years at Apple, rising to become a senior executive on its product design team. He worked closely with Jony Ive, Apple's head of industrial design. Tan left Apple to join Ive's AI device startup io Products, which subsequently merged with OpenAI. The lawsuit doesn't name Ive. OpenAI is facing other legal claims, including a trade-secrets suit brought by iyO, a startup developing a screenless, voice-controlled device worn in the ear. That company alleged last year that a former engineer stole files from the company and handed them over to Tan, then a senior executive connected to io Products. OpenAI has denied any theft of iyO's ideas and said its device is different from the startup's product. OpenAI also considered sending a breach of contract notice to Apple earlier this year, alleging that the iPhone maker didn't uphold the terms of their 2024 agreement to promote ChatGPT within Siri, according to a person familiar with the matter. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month a California federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from Elon Musk's xAI that accused OpenAI of recruiting a former engineer to induce him to share information about the company's Grok chatbot. Meanwhile, $New York Times (NYT.US)$ has sued $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ and OpenAI over alleged theft of a different kind, accusing the technology companies in late 2023 of using its content without permission to create and train their AI products. The Times and other publishers asked a federal judge this week to levy sanctions against OpenAI, saying the company has withheld evidence during the legal proceedings. The Wall Street Journal's parent company, News Corp, has a content deal with OpenAI.

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Apple Sues OpenAI, Alleging It Stole Trade Secrets

MSFT

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<h1>Apple Says Tang Yew Tan Allegedly Using Apple Trade Secrets As OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer; Chang Liu Allegedly Stole Dozens Of Confidential Hardware Files After Joining OpenAI; Alleges OpenAI Instructing Job Candidates To Bring Apple Prototypes And Design Artifacts To Interviews, Asked Suppliers Highly Specific Questions On Apple Manufacturing Processes &amp; Components That Only Insiders Would Know To Ask, Persuaded Apple Partner To Perform Co's Metal-Finishing Techniques For OpenAI Hardware Development</h1>- Reuters Citing Court Records

Apple Says Tang Yew Tan Allegedly Using Apple Trade Secrets As OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer; Chang Liu Allegedly Stole Dozens Of Confidential Hardware Files After Joining OpenAI; Alleges OpenAI Instructing Job Candidates To Bring Apple Prototypes And...

APPLE: TANG YEW TAN ALLEGEDLY USING APPLE TRADE SECRETS AS OPENAI CHIEF HARDWARE OFFICER

Express News | Apple: Tang Yew Tan Allegedly Using Apple Trade Secrets as OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer

APPLE: CHANG LIU ALLEGEDLY STOLE DOZENS OF CONFIDENTIAL HARDWARE FILES AFTER JOINING OPENAI

Express News | Apple: Chang Liu Allegedly Stole Dozens of Confidential Hardware Files After Joining OpenAI

<div><div><div>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with industry reaction, additional details and a statement from OpenAI.Apple Inc. <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/AAPL">(NASDAQ:</a><a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/AAPL">AAPL</a>) sued OpenAI in federal court in Northern California on Friday, accusing the AI company of taking Apple’s trade secrets to accelerate its own push into consumer devices.The complaint lands as <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/markets/private-markets/26/07/60398590/new-york-times-led-publishers-escalate-copyright-fight-seek-court-sanctions-against-openai">publishers seek court sanctions against OpenAI</a> in a separate Manhattan case tied to what they allege were misleading statements about tracking copyrighted material inside its systems. • Where is AAPL stock<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/AAPL"> headed?</a>Apple’s filing, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/10/apple-openai-lawsuit-trade-secrets.html">reported</a> by CNBC, frames the dispute as a sharp break from the companies’ 2024 collaboration that brought ChatGPT into the iPhone’s software. That partnership has since cooled after OpenAI moved toward building hardware, including a $6.4 billion purchase of former Apple designer Jony Ive’s startup, IO Products.For consumers and investors, both the Apple suit and the publishers’ sanctions push raise the same practical stake: whether OpenAI can be forced by courts to preserve records and prove what data or know-how it used, which can drive damages, injunctions and product delays.Apple’s court papers allege that OpenAI Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan, previously an Apple vice president, steered recruiting conversations toward extracting confidential details from Apple employees who were interviewing. Tan is named as a defendant.<h2>Inside Apple’s Allegations</h2>Apple also accuses OpenAI of encouraging departing Apple staff to sidestep internal security steps during their exits. The suit names Chang Liu, described as a former Apple employee who joined OpenAI, and alleges Liu took an Apple laptop.In its filing, Apple contends Tan asked candidates to bring physical Apple components to interviews for show-and-tell sessions aimed at pulling out additional nonpublic information. Apple says the effort extended beyond individuals to coordination with business partners.Apple further claims OpenAI asked outside hardware partners to use a metal-finishing method Apple says it created, while suggesting Apple had authorized that work. Apple is seeking damages and court orders that would bar OpenAI from using the alleged secrets and require it to stop.An OpenAI spokesperson responded to the allegations in a statement to Benzinga: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”<h2>Industry Reaction And New Details Emerge</h2>Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman added further detail on the scale of the dispute. According to Gurman, Apple says OpenAI has hired roughly 400 people from the iPhone maker to date — “a gigantic number,” he noted. Gurman also reported that Apple characterizes the lawsuit as unrelated to the companies’ partnership around ChatGPT in Siri — an arrangement that OpenAI has itself considered suing Apple over.<h2>OpenAI’s Separate Court Fight With Publishers</h2>Meanwhile, OpenAI is also battling publishers led by The New York Times in federal court in Manhattan over allegations that its models were trained on journalism without permission. In that case, the publishers are asking the judge to sanction OpenAI, arguing it withheld datasets and ChatGPT usage records that they say are key to testing copyright claims.The sanctions request points to accusations that OpenAI claimed it could not locate copyrighted material inside its systems, while testimony from an OpenAI employee is cited by publishers as suggesting searches were possible after all. The publishers also allege OpenAI compressed and deleted vast amounts of conversation logs while the dispute was underway.OpenAI has pushed back in that case, saying producing conversation records could expose user privacy. A spokesperson called the publishers’ allegations false and said the company would keep defending user privacy and fair use principles.Apple’s lawsuit adds another front to that same tension between evidence preservation and privacy, because Apple’s claims focus heavily on how information moved through interviews, laptops, and supplier interactions. Apple’s product roadmap has already shifted, with the company’s next Siri upgrade slated for the fall, built on Google’s Gemini models instead of ChatGPT. According to CNBC, Apple’s complaint also names IO Products, the startup OpenAI bought, as a defendant.Photo: Shutterstock</div></div>This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/apis?utm_source=benzinga.com&amp;utm_campaign=article-bottom">Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs</a>© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, <a href="https://google.com/preferences/source?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.benzinga.com">click here</a>.</div>

Apple Accuses OpenAI of Using Job Interviews to Extract its Hardware Secrets in New Lawsuit (UPDATED)

苹果公司以窃取商业机密为由起诉OpenAI，指控后者通过协同行动窃取苹果未发布产品的相关信息。苹果称，OpenAI鼓动其员工分享未发布产品的相关信息、零部件、图纸及其他资料，以此来开发自家的全系列硬件产品。

苹果要求OpenAI停止相关行为、销毁所有苹果的专有资料，并重新设计其待发布产品，确保其中不包含任何苹果的技术。

[PANews]

苹果起诉OpenAI涉嫌窃取商业机密

蘋果公司以竊取商業機密為由起訴OpenAI，指控後者通過協同行動竊取蘋果未釋出產品的相關資訊。蘋果稱，OpenAI鼓動其員工分享未釋出產品的相關資訊、零部件、圖紙及其他資料，以此來開發自家的全系列硬體產品。

蘋果要求OpenAI停止相關行為、銷燬所有蘋果的專有資料，並重新設計其待發布產品，確保其中不包含任何蘋果的技術。

[PANews]