Apple on Friday filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the artificial intelligence company engaged in the theft of trade secrets, intellectual property and actively coached departing Apple employees how to evade the company’s security policies.
“At every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,” the suit says.
The suit, filed in federal court in Northern California, calls for an injunction against OpenAI, as well as unspecified damages resulting from the theft of Apple’s trade secrets.
We’ve gone through the entire lawsuit; here are four of the biggest allegations Apple claims.
Holding on to company property
One of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit is Chang Liu, who was a Senior System Electrical Engineer at Apple for eight years, and joined OpenAI in January 2026. The suit alleges that Liu realized he was able to still access Apple’s confidential files after leaving, and then also instructed another colleague on how she could also pass along information.
“Within hours of leaving Apple, Mr. Liu shared with Ms. Peng, “I still have another computer” he was planning to use to access Apple’s confidential information so he could discuss it with Ms. Peng that evening. Within weeks of departing Apple, Mr. Liu also used Ms. Peng’s Apple-issued work computer that was authenticated to Apple’s network — accessing it while she was still employed at Apple and he was not.”
Mr. Liu discovered that, surprisingly, he still could access the Apple’s network repository after leaving Apple, the result of a then-unknown authentication vulnerability. Rather than bringing this to Apple’s attention or protecting Apple’s confidential information as required by his IPA, Mr. Liu celebrated his find with Ms. Peng and set about exploiting it: “LOL, I found out I can access the [network storage], so funny.” Ms. Peng’s response was immediate: “I’m ready.”
Show-and-tell
Apple alleges that, as part of OpenAI’s interview process, Tang Yew Tan, who was the Vice President of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch, and now OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, asked Apple employees to bring detailed CAD drawings, prototypes and other samples.
“Mr. Tan has directed candidates to bring physical hardware components, “parts,” and product samples from their Apple work to their OpenAI interviews for “show and tell” sessions that would disclose Apple’s proprietary technologies. For example, messages left on an Apple-issued work device show that Mr. Tan instructed an Apple employee to “bring some parts [she] worked on” such as “Batteries,” “SIP” (Systems-in-Package), “mlb” (multi-layer or main logic boards), and “shields” and that it may “be good to show” other interviewers these Apple components.”
Going after Apple’s vendors
The lawsuit also alleges that OpenAI went after Apple’s suppliers to gain additional information about Apple’s manufacturing processes and components.
“OpenAI also has been targeting Apple’s prized partner network and supply chain directly. It has been using misappropriated knowledge of Apple’s confidential relationships, manufacturing and design processes, and proprietary terminology to extract from trusted third parties additional trade secret information and processes.”
Coaching departing Apple employees
It’s no secret that a number of Apple employees have left to go to OpenAI; the suit alleges that the company coached them how to announce their departures in such a way that they could continue to remove confidential information.
“OpenAI has actively coached Apple employees on how to manage their exits from Apple in ways that avoid scrutiny. This helps OpenAI’s new hires evade Apple’s security procedures and reduce the chance that their confidentiality violations and trade secret theft would be detected.”
“OpenAI has counseled departing employees not to disclose their next employer and given advice on how to avoid the “dreaded walk out” that would promptly remove them from the company rather than giving them a standard two weeks in which they could continue to access Apple’s confidential information and trade secrets.”
The takeaway
Obviously, this is a huge lawsuit with massive implications. As recently as two years ago, the companies were in a partnership to use ChatGPT in Apple products, but as OpenAI has announced its ambitions to get into hardware, there’s been increasing friction between the companies — not helped by the fact that a number of Apple employees have gone to work at OpenAI.
Most likely, this suit will take years to settle, but it could drastically shape the fortunes of both companies.
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