Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade-Secret Theft, Targeting Its Hardware Ambitions Directly

2. Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade-Secret Theft, Targeting Its Hardware Ambitions Directly

Apple Inc. filed suit against OpenAI Group PBC on July 10, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging systematic theft of trade secrets related to its consumer devices. The complaint names two individual defendants: Tang Tan, OpenAI's current chief hardware officer and co-founder of io Products Inc., and Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer who joined OpenAI this year. Apple alleges that Tan instructed recruits to stay at Apple as long as possible while sharing internal information, and that Liu failed to return a work laptop, used it to access Apple's internal network, and downloaded dozens of files containing details on unreleased products. Apple is seeking damages and a court order blocking OpenAI from using its trade secrets.

The lawsuit lands at a moment when OpenAI's hardware push is its most exposed flank. OpenAI acquired io Products in 2025, a startup built largely by Apple alumni, and has reportedly hired more than 400 former Apple employees to staff its device efforts, which include a smart speaker, smart glasses, and a smart lamp. Apple's legal theory goes beyond individual misconduct: the complaint claims coordination "at every level," from technical staff to the chief hardware officer. If Apple wins an injunction blocking OpenAI from using the alleged trade secrets, it could stall or reshape product timelines for OpenAI's hardware division before it ships a single consumer device. That is the competitive goal here, not just damages.

The timing sharpens the irony. Apple and OpenAI signed a software partnership in June 2024, building a Siri-to-ChatGPT routing integration. By January 2026, Apple announced it would shift that integration toward Google's Gemini models. The lawsuit now makes the commercial divorce official and adversarial. Watch whether OpenAI's hardware roadmap faces delays, whether io Products co-founder Tan steps back from his role during litigation, and whether other AI labs with hardware ambitions recalibrate how aggressively they recruit from device-focused incumbents.

Source: Apple sues OpenAI, former employees over alleged intellectual property theft