苹果起诉OpenAI指控其窃取商业秘密用于硬件开发

Apple has sued OpenAI, alleging that engineers stole Apple secrets to advance the AI startup’s hardware plans. In its complaint, Apple says it uncovered “a pattern of theft of Apple’s trade secrets by OpenAI employees who were formerly at Apple. ” In addition to OpenAI, the lawsuit also names IO Products — Jony Ive’s hardware startup, which OpenAI bought in 2025 — along with two specific employees, Tang Tan (OpenAI’s chief hardware officer) and Chang Liu (who joined OpenAI from Apple in January).

Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing hardware secrets Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple. Apple alleges that it has uncovered a ‘pattern of theft’ from OpenAI employees who formerly worked at Apple.

An Apple spokesperson shared this statement with 9to5Mac: At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously.

Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.

OpenAI’s Drew Pusateri tells The Verge that “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere. ” Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge. Liu is accused of accessing Apple’s systems after leaving the company and downloading information, including “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files, including voluminous, detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.

” He is also said to have instructed a former Apple colleague on how to copy confidential Apple files and “avoid trouble” with the company’s security team ahead of her joining OpenAI. Liu allegedly told her they should communicate over Line Messenger to avoid being detected.

“Mr. Liu’s material breaches of his contract are equally clear and deliberate: he accessed, copied, and directed the disclosure of Apple Confidential Information after his employment ended, in direct violation of his post-termination obligations,” Apple says. “This is a systematic effort to acquire, retain, and use Apple’s trade secrets to help OpenAI” Apple alleges that Tan has been “methodically using Apple’s confidential information to benefit OpenAI,” including emailing information to himself about Apple suppliers before leaving the company and asking for confidential Apple information when interviewing Apple employees for OpenAI jobs.

OpenAI has also told Apple staffers to bring things like “CAD/design artifacts” and “prototypes” to interviews, according to the suit. “This is a systematic effort to acquire, retain, and use Apple’s trade secrets to help OpenAI try to replicate the secret technologies, business processes, and supply chain innovations that took Apple decades to build in its consumer hardware business,” Apple says.

Apple alleges that OpenAI has also been “targeting Apple’s prized partner network and supply chain directly,” including having an Apple partner, which works with Apple on industrial design and metal-finishing techniques, “perform Apple’s proprietary, trade secret processes for OpenAI’s benefit.

” More than 400 former Apple staffers now work at OpenAI, Apple claims. The company accuses OpenAI of advising Apple staffers that are departing to let OpenAI know if Apple personnel “ask you to sign anything. ” Apple says it reached out to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns and ask OpenAI to say what it was doing to look into the problem.

“OpenAI never responded,” according to Apple. OpenAI’s first hardware product is expected to arrive next year. In the lawsuit, Apple casts doubt on OpenAI’s ability to ship — at least without relying on Apple’s work. “OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations,” the lawsuit says, “rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets.

” Update, July 10th: Added statement from OpenAI.

Apple filed a lawsuit Friday against OpenAI over allegations of trade secret theft and breach of contract. The iPhone maker alleges that this misconduct, which it says reveals a pattern of theft from OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple, was directed by OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Chief Hardware Officer Tang Tan.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Tan of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures, and asking for details about the company’s unannounced products.

Before joining OpenAI, Tan had spent 24 years at Apple, most recently as VP of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch. The accusations come at a time when OpenAI is rumored to be developing its first hardware product, which would likely compete with the iPhone.

In April, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested this device could be a smartphone that would rely on AI agents instead of apps. If true, it would be one of the largest threats to Apple’s core hardware business to date. Apple’s former lead designer Jony Ive’s device startup io was acquired by OpenAI last year in a $6.

5 billion deal to aid the AI company with its hardware ambitions. While io was named in the filing, Ive was not. Tan is not the only OpenAI employee referenced in the new complaint. Apple also alleges that Chang Liu, who spent eight years at Apple as a senior systems electrical engineer, failed to return an Apple-issued laptop after leaving the company for OpenAI in 2026 and had used the computer to download confidential Apple technical documents.

Apple says in the complaint that the stolen documents included information about unannounced technologies, features, and products, including technical specifications, engineering presentations, and proprietary project data. Liu is also accused in the lawsuit of sharing Apple’s confidential information with other Apple employees applying for jobs at OpenAI, advising at least one of them on what to study before their interview.

Apple sent a letter to OpenAI in February to raise its concerns, and received no response, the company said in the complaint. It alleges that the behavior of these former employees is part of OpenAI’s strategy to extract Apple’s confidential information, which included asking Apple employees to bring designs and prototypes to their interviews, and answer questions about things like component and vendor selection processes.

Apple says its ongoing investigation revealed that OpenAI and its partners have even used Apple’s confidential information while the AI model maker develops its own hardware product. For instance, the filing references a proprietary metal finishing technique that was used by OpenAI after it allegedly misled a partner into believing it had Apple’s permission to do so.

Like many tech companies, Apple typically investigates potential trade secret theft or other improper activity by analyzing communications that took place on company-owned devices and reading through its server logs. By taking the case to court, Apple will have an opportunity to learn more about the extent of the alleged operation through the legal discovery process.

Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using or disclosing its trade secrets, require the company to return any confidential Apple materials, and preserve evidence related to the case. “This is the tip of the iceberg. Apple lacks visibility into what’s been happening behind closed doors at OpenAI, where such misconduct is normalized and exemplified by leadership,” the filing states.

“As a natural result, OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets. ” In a prepared statement, Apple also said the following: “At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously.

Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.

” OpenAI was asked for comment. The filing is available here, or you can read it below. This story is developing and will be updated, and originally published at 1:32pm PT.