Overview
- Apple filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday alleging OpenAI, its io Products unit, and two former Apple employees ran a coordinated effort to take confidential hardware designs, supplier details, and manufacturing know‑how.
- The complaint names former Apple engineer Chang Liu and OpenAI chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan and accuses Liu of keeping a work laptop, exploiting an authentication bug to access Apple’s cloud, and downloading dozens of confidential hardware files.
- Apple alleges Tan coached recruiting and offboarding practices that solicited Apple parts during interviews and used internal supplier lists to approach vendors, including one supplier that demonstrated a proprietary metal‑finishing technique after being misled.
- OpenAI has publicly denied an interest in other companies’ trade secrets and said it is focused on building technology, while Apple is seeking injunctions to block use of the alleged material, orders to return and preserve files, and monetary damages.
- The suit marks a sharp break in a partnership that began in 2024, highlights tensions over talent mobility with roughly 400 former Apple employees at OpenAI, and could complicate OpenAI’s hardware timetable, supplier contracts, and plans tied to a potential IPO.