Apple Sues OpenAI, Alleging Former Engineers Stole Hardware Secrets for Its ChatGPT Devices

Apple filed suit against OpenAI on July 10 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the ChatGPT maker of a coordinated effort to obtain Apple's confidential hardware information. The complaint claims that "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," according to CNBC and TechCrunch, which reviewed the filing.

The suit names two former Apple employees. Tang Tan, now OpenAI's hardware chief, spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple alleges he used confidential project code names during OpenAI's recruiting and asked departing Apple candidates to bring hardware components and details of unreleased products to interviews. The second defendant, engineer Chang Liu, is accused of keeping an Apple laptop after leaving and exploiting a bug to reach Apple's cloud storage, reportedly writing "LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny."

The two companies signed a high-profile partnership in 2024 to put ChatGPT inside Apple's operating system. The relationship grew tense after OpenAI moved into hardware, most visibly through its $6.4 billion acquisition of former Apple designer Jony Ive's io Products. The allegations are Apple's and remain unproven. OpenAI had not filed a formal response as of publication.