Apple accuses OpenAI leadership of stealing trade secrets in Northern California

Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday in a federal court in Northern California, accusing the artificial intelligence company of stealing its trade secrets to build its own line of consumer devices. The filing lands just days before OpenAI is set to show off a new piece of hardware of its own on July 15.

In its court filing, Apple did not hold back. “This much is clear, however: 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,” the company wrote.

The lawsuit marks a sharp turn for two companies that were close partners not long ago. Back in 2024, Apple built ChatGPT directly into the iPhone’s software, a deal announced with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman making a trip to Apple’s campus for the occasion. That goodwill began to fade last year once OpenAI made clear it wanted to build its own hardware, a move it backed by buying IO Products, the startup founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion.

Apple has since moved away from OpenAI too. The redesigned Siri launching this fall will run on Google’s Gemini models rather than OpenAI’s technology.

Much of what Apple is alleging centers on former staff who left to interview with or join OpenAI. The company claims OpenAI’s hardware chief, Tang Tan, a former Apple vice president, pushed Apple employees who were interviewing at OpenAI to hand over company secrets during the process.

Tan is named as a defendant in the case. According to the filing, he told job candidates who were still working at Apple to bring “actual parts” from the company to their interviews for “show and tell” sessions, which Apple says gave him and his team a way to pull out even more confidential details.

Apple names ex-staffer as defendant

Apple also claims OpenAI walked departing staff through ways to get around Apple’s security checks on their way out the door.

One former employee, Chang Liu, who later joined OpenAI, is accused of taking an Apple laptop with him. Liu is also named as a defendant. Separately, Apple says it believes OpenAI has been asking outside manufacturing partners to use a metal finishing process that Apple developed, all while letting those partners think Apple had approved it.

OpenAI has not said exactly what its hardware plans look like, though Altman mentioned back in November that early prototypes were already finished.

The timing is rough for OpenAI

OpenAI is dealing with the suit while also preparing for what is expected to be a massive public stock offering.

The case also comes about two months after OpenAI came out on top in a legal fight with Elon Musk. As reported by Cryptopolitan previously, a federal jury decided Musk waited too long to sue the company over claims that Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman and OpenAI broke early promises to run the lab as a nonprofit. Musk has said he plans to appeal that ruling.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s next hardware reveal has nothing to do with Ive’s project. A short teaser posted on X shows a small, square gadget covered in buttons, built for Codex, OpenAI’s coding tool, with the caption, “Your favorite Codex shortcuts are getting an upgrade.”

OpenAI built the device with Work Louder, a company that makes programmable keyboards and macro pads for developers and designers. The shape in the teaser looks a lot like Work Louder’s existing Creator Micro 2 pad, which lets users assign shortcuts and commands to physical keys. Full details on pricing and features are expected around the July 15 launch.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.