Apple sues OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft
Apple claims OpenAI and two former employees used confidential hardware information as the AI company pushes into consumer devices.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Apple has sued OpenAI and two former employees in federal court in California, accusing them of taking trade secrets tied to its hardware business. The case threatens a high-profile partnership between Apple and the ChatGPT maker as OpenAI tries to build consumer devices.
The complaint says OpenAI benefited from confidential Apple material covering product design, manufacturing methods and supply chain planning. Apple named OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI Group PBC, io Products, former senior system electrical engineer Chang Liu and former iPhone and Apple Watch product design vice president Tang Yew Tan as defendants.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to AP and Reuters. Liu and Tan also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Allegations against former Apple staff
Apple alleges Liu kept a company laptop after leaving and later used a flaw in an authentication system to enter Apple’s internal network. The company said in the filing that Liu downloaded multiple confidential hardware files.
The lawsuit also accuses Tan, who now leads hardware work at OpenAI, of using Apple information to help his new employer. Apple said Tan emailed himself supplier details and internal industry reports before leaving the iPhone maker.
Apple further alleged that Tan pushed Apple workers interviewing at OpenAI to bring company parts to interviews for demonstration sessions. In one incident described in the filing, Apple said an OpenAI job candidate appeared surprised that such parts could be removed from Apple offices.
Apple told the court that more than 400 of its former employees now work at OpenAI. The company said their prior access to Apple secrets does not give OpenAI the right to use those materials to speed up its hardware plans.
OpenAI’s device push
OpenAI has not publicly specified the device it is developing, according to AP and Reuters. The company has described the effort as a new way for people to interact with artificial intelligence beyond conventional products and interfaces.
Apple claims that work was aided in part by information taken from Apple. The complaint also says OpenAI employees sought confidential material from Apple suppliers.
Apple alleged that one supplier used a confidential metal finishing process for OpenAI because the supplier believed OpenAI had permission from Apple. The filing says Apple had not authorized that use.
OpenAI expanded its hardware ambitions last year by buying io Products, the startup founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, in a $6.5bn deal. Ive is not named as a defendant in Apple’s lawsuit.
A partnership under strain
Apple said it contacted OpenAI in February to raise concerns that its confidential information was reaching the AI company and asked to discuss the issue. Apple said OpenAI did not reply.
Reuters reported in May, citing a person familiar with the matter, that OpenAI had been weighing legal options against Apple, including a possible breach-of-contract notice, though not necessarily a lawsuit.
The dispute follows a 2024 partnership that brought ChatGPT into Apple devices. Under that arrangement, users can reach ChatGPT through Siri, and iPhone users can sign up for ChatGPT memberships from the iOS settings menu.
Apple recently released a delayed Siri overhaul, two years after it first promised major upgrades. The lawsuit shows how competition over artificial intelligence talent and hardware technology is testing ties between two companies that are also partners.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.