Apple Sued OpenAI Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft Tied to Its AI Device Push

Apple sued OpenAI in federal court on July 10, 2026, alleging that OpenAI, hardware chief Tang Tan, former Apple engineer Chang Liu, and io Products misappropriated Apple trade secrets to speed up OpenAI’s consumer-device effort. The case was filed in the Northern District of California and centers on Apple’s claim that confidential hardware information was taken as OpenAI expanded beyond software into devices.

The complaint matters because it ties a trade-secret fight directly to OpenAI’s hardware expansion beyond software and turns a strategic partnership into a courtroom dispute. The public reporting so far is based on Apple’s complaint and press summaries, not a tested court record.

Apple’s July 10, 2026 complaint against OpenAI and former Apple employees

Apple’s filing says OpenAI ran or benefited from a campaign to obtain Apple confidential information through recruiting and work tied to former Apple employees, AP reported. Bloomberg Law reported that the complaint names OpenAI, Tang Tan, Chang Liu, and io Products as defendants.

Tang Tan is a former longtime Apple executive who later became OpenAI’s hardware chief, while io Products is the device startup OpenAI moved to acquire as part of its broader consumer-hardware push, as described in TechCrunch’s earlier reporting on OpenAI and io’s device work. That background is why Apple frames the alleged trade-secret theft as central to a race over AI-native hardware, not as an isolated employee exit.

The complaint asks the court for relief that includes stopping the alleged use of Apple secrets and addressing materials Apple says were taken, MacRumors reported in its summary of the filing. Some detailed allegations reported in the press have not yet been independently verified in a publicly accessible full complaint text.

The allegations against Tang Tan, Chang Liu, and io Products

Apple’s core allegation is that former employees took or disclosed internal Apple information relevant to product design and engineering as OpenAI built up its device team, according to AP and Axios. Trade-secret cases often turn on a simple question dressed in dense filings: did know-how leave in people’s heads, or did protected files, parts, and documents walk out too?

Axios reported that Apple accused Chang Liu of taking Apple documents before leaving and described recruitment-related conduct that allegedly sought confidential information. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Apple’s complaint includes claims about interview requests for “actual parts,” a detail that, if proved, would make the case look less like ordinary hiring friction and more like a direct attempt to obtain proprietary hardware material.

Apple also alleges that Tang Tan was involved in the orbit of the effort to build a rival device business using Apple-derived know-how, as reflected in the complaint summarized by Bloomberg Law. The reported theory is not just that ex-Apple staff joined OpenAI, but that OpenAI and io Products used that transition to compress the normal timeline for building consumer hardware.

That timeline matters because device programs are slow, supply-chain-heavy projects. If Apple can show specific protected information shortened that process, it would give the lawsuit more bite than a generic complaint about talent poaching.

OpenAI’s response and the hardware-rivalry context

OpenAI publicly denied Apple’s allegations after the suit was filed, 9to5Mac reported. That means the central facts remain disputed at this stage.

OpenAI said it denies the claims, according to 9to5Mac’s report on the company’s response.

The broader context is that OpenAI has been pushing into hardware while also facing OpenAI’s mounting legal and political pressure. Its acquisition of io Products and earlier reporting on an AI device project, described by TechCrunch, made a fight with Apple more plausible than it would have seemed a year earlier.

What changes now is the relationship around those ambitions. Apple and OpenAI have had reasons to cooperate in AI, but this lawsuit turns OpenAI’s hardware push into a direct adversarial issue for Apple. If the case survives early motions, discovery could expose how aggressively OpenAI recruited Apple hardware talent and what kind of device work io had underway.

The next milestone is the defendants’ formal response in court and any early motion practice in the Northern District of California, where the scope of Apple’s claims will start to get tested.

Key Takeaways

• Apple sued OpenAI on July 10, 2026, alleging trade secret theft tied to its consumer AI device push.
• The defendants named in press reports include OpenAI, Tang Tan, Chang Liu, and io Products.
• Apple alleges former employees took or solicited confidential hardware information, including claims involving documents and interview requests for “actual parts.”
• OpenAI has denied the allegations publicly, so the core facts are disputed.
• The case matters because it connects alleged trade-secret misuse to OpenAI’s broader move into hardware through io.

Further Reading

• Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets, AP’s summary of Apple’s complaint, the defendants, and the basic allegations.
• Apple sues OpenAI over trade secrets, Axios report on the recruitment allegations and claims involving Chang Liu.
• Apple Sues OpenAI for Trade Secret Theft in Blockbuster Case, Bloomberg Law on the court, filing date, and named parties.
• Apple sues OpenAI, alleging trade secrets theft from former employees, San Francisco Chronicle report with additional complaint details, including the “actual parts” allegation.
• Court filings reveal OpenAI and io’s early work on an AI device, Background on the io project and why Apple links the alleged theft to OpenAI’s hardware ambitions.