Apple sues OpenAI for trade theft, sending shock waves through Silicon Valley

Apple sued OpenAI and two ex-employees in a bombshell suit accusing them of stealing the consumer tech giant’s trade secrets. The complaint alleging coordinated theft of product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies was filed Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI. Apple brings this suit to put a stop to it,” the lawsuit stated, according to 9 to 5 Mac.

The sued employees were identified as Chang Liu, a former senior system electrical engineer at Apple, and Tang Yew Tan, a former VP of product design. They reportedly went to work for OpenAI in 2024 and this year, respectively — taking unreleased Apple tech with them, the suite alleged.

The complaint alleged theft of product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies.

Liu was accused of failing to return an Apple -issued work laptop, later exploiting a bug to access the company's internal network and downloading “dozens of Apple's confidential hardware-related files.”

The suit said Tan “has been methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI” — emailing himself info about the company's suppliers and internal industry summaries before his exit.

The suit seems sure to throw a monkey wrench into a high-profile partnership Apple and OpenAI launched in 2024, with the consumer hardware company integrating the AI lab's tech into the iPhone operating system.

Apple has been on a drive to increase its AI efforts after lagging behind competitors for years.

OpenAI recently ventured into the hardware space, buying io Products — founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive — in a $6.5 billion deal last year.

Tan worked for Ive, according to 9 to 5 Mac.