In a sleek conference room in Cupertino last February, Apple engineers watched data logs flicker across screens and realised the quiet exodus of talent had become something more calculated. On 10 July 2026 the company took that suspicion to federal court in San Jose, filing suit against OpenAI, its chief hardware officer Tang Yew Tan and former senior systems electrical engineer Chang Liu, along with io Products. The 41-page complaint paints a picture of coordinated extraction rather than simple recruitment.
Apple alleges OpenAI encouraged job candidates and serving employees to disclose secret project details, prototypes and even physical components during interviews. The claims extend beyond individual opportunism. More than 400 former Apple staff now work at the AI firm, a flow the suit describes as feeding an institutional pattern that reached senior levels, including the chief hardware officer himself. Trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract sit at the centre of the case.
One former Apple engineer, Chang Liu, allegedly kept his company laptop after leaving and exploited an authentication vulnerability to pull down confidential hardware files once inside OpenAI. The complaint details how such material, covering unreleased products, manufacturing techniques, supplier relationships and device components, appears to have been funnelled toward OpenAI's own consumer hardware ambitions. Those ambitions gained fresh momentum after the firm acquired io Products, the startup founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive.
This pattern of misconduct, directed at every level from technical staff to leadership, threatens the foundation on which private companies invest billions in long-term research.
The suit arrives against a backdrop of earlier collaboration. Apple integrated ChatGPT into iOS features in 2024, a move once hailed as pragmatic partnership. Yet private overtures in February this year, when Apple raised its concerns directly with OpenAI, produced no meaningful reply. Only then did the company turn to the Northern District of California.
Legal experts tracking intellectual property enforcement note that cases of this granularity rarely reach public filings unless the evidence is substantial. The remedies sought underscore the stakes: damages, a permanent injunction barring OpenAI from possessing or using the alleged secrets, and orders for the return or destruction of any misappropriated materials. Without robust protection, the incentive to fund speculative hardware breakthroughs diminishes. Why pour resources into years of classified iteration if rivals can simply hire the institutional memory?
OpenAI has pushed back. In a statement issued shortly after the filing, spokesman Drew Pusateri said the company has no interest in other companies' trade secrets and remains focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere. An Apple representative countered that significant evidence had emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took confidential information regarding unreleased technologies, processes and products.