Apple Accuses OpenAI of Poaching Secrets to Build Rival Hardware

Apple has sued OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets and breaking contract terms as it builds a new hardware business that could eventually challenge the iPhone. The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Northern California, says the alleged conduct matters because it could give OpenAI an unfair head start in consumer devices and expose Apple’s still-unreleased product plans.

The complaint expands the increasingly tense relationship between the two companies from product rivalry into a legal fight over talent, confidential materials and hardware strategy. Apple says former employees who moved to OpenAI carried sensitive information with them, while OpenAI leadership allegedly encouraged or benefited from that flow of data.

What Apple says happened

Apple’s filing paints the picture of a systematic effort to obtain information about unreleased Apple products, internal engineering details and supplier decisions. The company claims OpenAI used recruiting conversations and employee departures as opportunities to gain access to confidential information that was never meant to leave Apple’s walls.

According to the complaint, the alleged conduct included asking candidates to bring Apple hardware parts to interviews, using Apple project code names during recruitment, and coaching departing employees on how to avoid Apple’s security controls. Apple also alleges that interviewers asked about component sourcing, vendor selection and other details that would normally be tightly guarded.

Who is Apple targeting in the lawsuit?

Apple names OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, as a central figure in the alleged misconduct. Tan worked at Apple for 24 years before joining OpenAI and previously served as vice president of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple says his past access and later role at OpenAI are part of what makes the allegations especially serious.

The lawsuit also refers to OpenAI’s acquisition of io, the hardware startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Ive is not named as a defendant, but the filing points to the acquisition as further evidence that OpenAI is moving aggressively into hardware.

Apple argues in its complaint that the problem is not isolated or accidental, but part of a broader pattern involving former employees and OpenAI leadership.

Why this case matters for the AI hardware race

The lawsuit lands at a moment when OpenAI is widely believed to be developing its first consumer device. That possibility matters because any new OpenAI product would not simply be another chatbot feature; it could be the company’s first step into a market dominated by Apple’s hardware ecosystem.

Industry watchers have speculated that OpenAI’s device could take the form of a smartphone or another pocket-sized product centered on AI agents rather than traditional apps. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested in April that such a device could become one of the biggest competitive threats to Apple’s core business in years if it reaches the market in meaningful volume.

Apple’s case suggests the company sees that danger as more than theoretical. If a rival hardware project is built using information drawn from Apple’s unreleased products, Apple would be facing both a business competitor and, in its view, a company that may have gained an improper advantage.

How OpenAI’s hardware push changed the stakes

OpenAI’s hardware ambitions became more visible after it acquired io in a deal worth $6.5 billion last year. The purchase brought in talent and design expertise to support what appears to be a broader effort to move beyond software and into physical products.

That shift has raised the temperature around Apple’s complaint. The two companies are already linked through Apple’s integration of ChatGPT into certain products and services, but the lawsuit suggests the relationship may now be defined as much by competition as cooperation.

How the alleged theft works, according to Apple

Apple says its investigation uncovered a pattern involving former employees and confidential materials. One of the more specific allegations centers on Chang Liu, who worked at Apple for eight years as a senior systems electrical engineer before joining OpenAI in 2026.

Apple claims Liu did not return a company-issued laptop and used it to download confidential technical materials. The company says those files included information about products that had not yet been announced, along with engineering presentations, specifications and internal project data.

Apple further alleges that Liu shared some of that information with other Apple workers who were seeking OpenAI jobs and even advised at least one prospective applicant on how to prepare for an interview.

What kinds of information are in dispute?

Apple says the material at issue covers a wide range of sensitive development work. The company describes the alleged stolen information as including product road maps, proprietary processes, technical specifications, engineering presentations and details about unreleased technologies and features.

That kind of information can be highly valuable in the hardware business because it can reveal design priorities, supplier relationships, manufacturing choices and product timing long before a device reaches the public. For a company preparing to launch a new product category, such intelligence can shorten development cycles and reduce costly trial and error.

What Apple says it told OpenAI before suing

Apple says it first raised its concerns in February by sending OpenAI a letter. The company says it received no response. That detail matters because it suggests Apple tried a pre-litigation warning before taking the dispute to court.

By filing suit, Apple is not only seeking remedies but also opening the door to discovery, a process that could force OpenAI to turn over internal communications, documents and other records relevant to the case. In trade secret disputes, discovery can become as important as the complaint itself because it can reveal how widespread a suspected leak may be.

Apple’s filing argues that the court should require OpenAI to stop using or sharing any Apple trade secrets, return confidential materials and preserve evidence linked to the dispute.

The company says its legal action is meant to protect unreleased technologies and prevent further use of confidential material.

Why Apple believes the harm is ongoing

Apple says the risk is not limited to what may already have left the company. The complaint suggests the damage could continue if OpenAI’s hardware plans have already incorporated Apple-derived information, intentionally or otherwise.

One example referenced in the filing concerns a proprietary metal finishing technique. Apple alleges that OpenAI used the technique after misleading a partner into thinking it had Apple’s approval. The detail is important because it suggests the dispute may extend beyond employee mobility and into how OpenAI and its partners source and apply manufacturing know-how.

For Apple, that makes this more than a leak case. It becomes a question of whether a rival product line is being shaped by material obtained through improper means, and whether that product line should be allowed to move forward unchanged.

Who are the key people mentioned in the case?

The lawsuit centers on a small group of former Apple employees whose moves to OpenAI are now under scrutiny. Their backgrounds help explain why Apple appears to view the case as especially sensitive.

• Tang Tan — OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and a former Apple product design executive with 24 years at the company.
• Chang Liu — A former Apple senior systems electrical engineer accused of keeping and using Apple laptop data after joining OpenAI.
• Jony Ive — Not named as a defendant, but his startup io was acquired by OpenAI to support hardware ambitions.

Apple does not accuse every former employee of wrongdoing, but the complaint presents these moves as part of a broader talent pipeline that the company says turned into a conduit for confidential information.

What happens next in Apple’s case?

Apple is asking the court for several forms of relief, including an order blocking OpenAI from using or disclosing the disputed trade secrets, a requirement to return confidential Apple material and an instruction to preserve relevant evidence. If the court allows the case to move forward, both sides may enter a discovery phase that could expose emails, chats, device records and internal decision-making.

That process could be especially consequential in a case like this because the parties are already operating in a fast-moving industry where product secrecy is critical and hiring battles are intense. Even the allegations alone may affect how firms handle employees moving between rival AI and hardware teams.

OpenAI has been asked to comment, but a response was not included in the filing. The matter remains unresolved and the underlying facts have not been tested in court.

How the dispute fits into the broader AI industry

This lawsuit is about much more than two companies in conflict. It touches on some of the biggest questions facing the AI sector: how aggressively startups can recruit from established hardware giants, how much knowledge employees are allowed to carry with them, and where the line falls between expertise and theft.

Those questions are becoming more urgent as AI companies expand into new product categories. Software companies want physical devices, device makers want AI platforms, and the result is a growing overlap between talent acquisition and competitive intelligence. Apple’s case is likely to become a reference point for future disputes in that space, regardless of the outcome.

The case also underscores the strategic importance of hardware in AI. For years, AI companies were judged mainly by their models and interfaces. Now, the companies with the strongest ambitions are moving toward dedicated devices, custom chips and consumer-facing form factors that could reshape the market.

Why the hardware angle is especially sensitive for Apple

Apple’s business depends on control over product design, manufacturing, user experience and ecosystem integration. If a rival AI company builds a successful consumer device, especially one that uses always-on agents instead of app-based workflows, it could pressure Apple in one of its most profitable and defensible markets.

That is why the allegations in this suit carry a weight beyond ordinary corporate litigation. Apple is not just defending confidential documents. It is defending the strategic secrecy that underpins the way it launches products, protects margins and stays ahead of competitors.

Timeline of the dispute

What the public filing reveals — and what it does not

The complaint is detailed, but it is still one side’s version of events. Apple has laid out its suspicions, its evidence and its interpretation of the conduct, yet OpenAI has not publicly answered those allegations in the filing itself. That means some of the most important questions remain open: how much information, if any, actually reached OpenAI decision-makers; whether the contested material affected product development; and whether any of the conduct was unauthorized or misunderstood.

Still, the legal filing is significant because it shows Apple believes the matter is serious enough to move beyond private complaints and into federal court. For companies that rely on secrecy to protect future products, filing a lawsuit is often both a defensive step and a signal to the market that the issue is being treated as a direct threat.

The dispute is likely to attract intense attention from the AI sector, venture investors and consumer electronics competitors alike. If OpenAI is indeed building a hardware product, then Apple’s suit is not just about the past — it is about who gets to define the next generation of personal computing.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Apple says it will continue defending the work of its teams and the intellectual property behind their unreleased technologies.