OpenAI Back in Another Legal War Weeks After Beating Elon Musk

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.

“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 and confidential information,” Apple made the claim in its complaint.

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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.

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2026

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.