Apple Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI Over Trade Secret Misappropriation
Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as the ChatGPT maker seeks to develop its own hardware, marking a major rupture in their partnership. The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, alleges that the theft is part of a “coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level” by OpenAI.
“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the filing states. “Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it.” Two former Apple employees now working at OpenAI are named as defendants: Tang Tan, former Apple designer of iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPod, now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer; and Chang Liu, a former electrical engineer who left Apple earlier this year.
Allegations of Stolen Confidential Information
Apple claims that its investigation uncovered a pattern of theft by former employees who moved to OpenAI. The lawsuit alleges that Liu accessed and downloaded several confidential hardware-related files on an Apple-issued device he kept after departing. Tan is accused of directing job candidates still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” from Apple to their interviews at OpenAI.
OpenAI has not publicly described the device it is building, but has characterized it as a new way to interact with AI beyond “traditional products and interfaces.” The lawsuit asserts that this hardware effort is built on stolen Apple knowledge: “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.”
Broader Context and Apple’s Response
Apple said it reached out to OpenAI in February to raise concerns but received no response. An Apple spokesperson stated Friday: “We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.” The lawsuit highlights a growing tension as AI companies like OpenAI expand into hardware, a domain long dominated by Apple.
The case underscores the competitive landscape where talent mobility and intellectual property protection collide. OpenAI’s push to create a physical embodiment of AI advances follows efforts by Amazon and Google a decade ago with screen-free speakers. Apple’s legal action seeks to halt what it describes as systematic theft of its proprietary innovations.
